Flesh Cannot Enter In

God is very clear that our earthly, fleshly life, with all of its systems and procedures, cannot partake in His kingdom of righteousness, peace, love, and joy. It is not capable of it nor does God want us to enter into our allotment, our promised land, in our present fleshly human condition. What can we really do anyway? ALL things are in God’s hands. Does God condemn us for what we truly are unable to do?

There is so much deception as we reflect on our life experiences and accomplishments. Hindsight reveals even more clearly that we were led, doors were opened to us, opportunities to be blessed in our calling, even our adversity was balanced by the loving hand of the Father. This is a promise of freedom and rest, not a condemnation for failure.

The book of Romans makes it very clear that we are unable, we cannot please God by any fleshly activities, including fleshly religious activities not led by the Lord.

“Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:7-9 NIV

That’s good news! Here lies a secret to entering in to His rest, to stop any fleshly efforts to please God. Which part of us are we living and drawing from—the natural man who is capable of good and of evil or the spirit of God within us that creates in us a new creation man, born of the spirit, rebirthed by God by writing His words on our hearts to establish His ways within us?

When we realize it is truly impossible for our flesh to get cleaned up enough to be spiritual, we turn to the One who makes all things possible, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Does the spirit of God live in you? As a believer, our answer should be a resounding yes! Jesus states emphatically that the kingdom of God is within us, not out there somewhere in the sky or found in an earthly locale.

We must have His holy spirit within to lead, guide, and change us into the incorruptible realm of the spirit where He is. This is how we are enabled to live with God forever, enjoying His full allotment for us. We must realize that we are God’s project:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 ESV

There is a difference between giving up our struggles with the flesh in defeat or despair and truly surrendering to God. Giving up brings resignation, even resentment and despair, as our own efforts so often meet with failure. We end up wondering how to do the impossible, to be obedient to what the scriptures tell us to do, while we need to stop, to learn to rest in trusting the Father will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we could beat our flesh into submission, we would, because our heart so desires to please the Lord. There may be times when we think we are doing well, pleasing God and living the holy life promised to us, only to have this fade as adversity and trials reveal what is, disappointedly, still within. Somehow we need to be brought to the place where we realize and accept that the flesh cannot please God and never will.

This is when we stop trying to do what only He can do. We accept that He made it this way, so all the glory is His and it is good news! We lay down the heavy burden to trying to please God in the flesh, knowing it is impossible in us. All things are possible with God, however, and the way is up, into the realm of the spirit.

Many of us have lived years in the frustration of trying to be good enough, to make our flesh die in order to please God. But when surrender of our own will to God is complete, there is no more struggle. When I received the word to die to my flesh, I really tried to do it! I had a big figurative mallet that repeatedly beat on my flesh to get it to submit and do right according to God’s principles.

Godly change became the big carrot that God promised, held in front of me but never achievable. No matter how hard and fast I raced after it, it was always, always out of reach. As I learned more and more of His will and ways, this mountain of true obedience from the heart to obtain righteousness got higher and more unattainable.

Most of us truly want to be obedient, to please our Lord, but find ourselves unable to do so. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is not only weak, it is incapable. If it were not so, there would be no reason for Jesus Christ to do what He had to do for us. We remain stuck in Romans 7:

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Romans 7:14-15 NIV

How difficult it is to rest and trust in Him rather than trying to do it ourselves. As we mature in Christ, we learn to know this truth deep within as we begin the transition from doing to being. It is the way of sincere human nature, even though well-meaning, to try hard, to do better. That is why being good is not exclusive to Christians. There are many who truly do good, who are not evil, just natural human beings.

But to be in Christ, to overcome with His nature within, that is the rare and lasting gold of His own mind, His pure nature, that God is working in those who seek Him with their whole hearts. God set it up this way and such is the promise only He can fulfill within us. He can and does what we cannot and do not accomplish.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:20-21 NIV

Knowing this, however, we still have need of patience—to endure waiting while He is doing this work within us. We turn and turn and turn again to our Father God, through Jesus Christ our Savior, looking to Him who is the author and finisher of this great work in humanity. There are many trials, many struggles we go through on our way to truly living in Him.

One of the biggest is in the waiting. It is our battle of time. We know He is able, we do trust that He will take us through to victory, but when?

“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise…” Hebrews 10:36 KJV

The promise is sure, but endurance is needed to receive it. Endurance in the Greek is hupomone, meaning “cheerful endurance, constancy, patience, patient continuance, waiting.” Ah, yes we wait upon the Lord with a cheerful patient attitude to see these promises fulfilled. We must sustain faith in what God says rather than judging our own or others’ progress. We are not to measure ourselves.

The psalmist says the afflictions of the righteous are many, but He delivers them out of them all:

“This wretched man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Psalms 34:6 NASB

Now why would we, the righteous, have so very many afflictions? Is this not in contrast to those who promise an externally good life as the outcome of walking in God? Afflictions do not come because God does not love us or else He is a complete liar in His word. So, how far do we want to go? Are we willing to be crucified with Him, so that we are enabled, elevated in the spirit to to reign with Him, sharing in His victory over flesh?

Many things are free through the grace of God, including our salvation, but rewards are earned and cost us deeply. They cost us our self-life—our mind, our will, our emotions—as we learn to surrender to what He wants when He wants it. This is frequently in sharp contrast to our own desires, what we see as our earthly needs.

Look around the world and you will see deep and costly suffering everywhere. Some suffer in silence while the suffering of others is broadcast to everyone. For some, only the Lord knows, while others cry out for mercy and justice that only God is able to bring. How God delivers us from all of our distress differs from the way we would have it. He surely takes much longer than we would want!

Do we consider it a deliverance when our loved one dies rather than is healed? When the answer to our prayers of desperation seem to fall on deaf ears? When the answer is wait or no rather than yes and amen? This, my dear friends, is the struggle of an overcoming Christian, one becoming more and more desirous to be truly like our Lord. This company of believers continues looking to God alone to make the necessary changes to enter in. It becomes the truth of our lives as we walk on to know Him, as Paul states:

“But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish,

so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:7-12 NASB

Who can say they have attained? Who is not sharing this same struggle with the rest of us? These are the concerns of our hearts if we truly want to know Him, yet many shrink from the suffering part. They want or even believe that only the blessings are what He is to grant us, blaming the devil for every bad, evil thing that happens to us. And surely the enemy of our souls is most active when we are suffering!

Oh, the words he whispers in our minds, the attacks on our faith and trust in God through our mind, will, and emotions! Sometimes we think we are suffering so much, we cannot take any more, yet God, in His infinite love and purpose for us, allows more. At those times, I find myself saying to Him, “Really God? Really? Do I need all this happening to me, when I love you so much and am trying so hard to follow You?” And He answers, “Yes, my child, you do if you want to be like Me.”

Oh. Well, in that case, what can I do but endure unto the end? I might as well wait with as much joy and peace as He grants me. It is too late to turn back, to say no more, to stop part way up the mountain of my flesh. For many of us, there is nothing to go back to. There’s only God. Would we come this far, only to turn back to the old fleshly ways from which He has delivered us? When the crowd of followers disappeared, Jesus asked His disciples if they too would leave.

“So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You [only] have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-69 BSB

One of the truths of life is that we learn so much more from the pain we suffer than the blessings He gives along the way. And we most cherish His blessing and comfort during these times of suffering. Is this not what He does? As Jesus Christ overcame, He made the way for us to do so, too. There is always someone, somewhere, often many , who are suffering much more than we are.

As we shed earthly desires for things and experiences that formerly were important, He continually refines the desires of our hearts so that what we want is what He wants. We begin to see the value of His kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy within rather than the external happiness or momentary escape from troubles, along with fading love that always brings loss. When the Lord makes things right(eous) in us, then we have peace, followed by joy!

Do you, along with me, wish you were easier to convince, to change? It gets very old walking around the same mountain of our flesh rather than climbing higher in Him. Even with surrender of our will to His will, there remains challenges to our flesh in yielding patiently to His work within us. It is not easy for us to just wait!

Flesh must be burned up by His fiery presence within, exactly what is happening while we learn to walk it out. Earlier in Philippians, Paul talks about this:

“And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 NASB

Salvation is free, but righteousness is costly. It cost Jesus Christ His life, with the unimaginable pain of the death that was set before Him. We are to take up our cross daily to walk with Him, each of us facing suffering and affliction that only He chooses. When we have asked to be like Him, we suffer many unfair situations and experiences to enter into His kingdom, to reign with Him.

This is not some visible heavenly throne we imagine showing up in the future. This is reigning with Him over our flesh, conquering it through the spirit, just as He did, through Father God within. Overcoming the flesh is not a popular message and some try to bypass it altogether, one way or another. But consider all the scripture about overcoming, particularly in the book of Revelation, surely a word for such a time as this.

The Lord made many promises to His own in the symbolic book of Revelation, each with requirements to receive the reward waiting for those who overcome. The Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, purposed to be seen in His purified people through overcoming. Consider the church of the Ephesians, told to repent. The Ephesians are commended for their deeds of hard work, persistence as well as their discernment and hatred of evil.

They are also commended for rejecting the teaching of the Nicolaitans which puts the priesthood, the leadership, between the people and God. This grievous erroneous teaching, puts a barrier between the people of God and their Lord and King. Such doctrine replaces God’s direct relationship, His intimate spiritual communication within believers with a human.

The Ephesians are nevertheless told to return to their first Love.

“Yet you have this [to your credit], that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the Nicolaitans [that mislead and delude the people], which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant [the privilege] to eat [the fruit] from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:6-7 AMP

The believers in Smyrna, martyrs who died for their faith, are reassured that God knows their suffering and their poverty, while reminding them they are rich in Him.They need not fear the suffering of the second death, that death to the flesh we’re addressing here:

“Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested [in your faith], and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death [if you must die for your faith], and I will give you the crown [consisting] of life.

He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] will not be hurt by the second death (the lake of fire).” Revelation 2:10-11 AMP

The body of Christ at Pergamum is said to be living where satan rules; that is, a place where the minds of carnal men dominate rather than faith in Jesus Christ. They are commended for keeping their faith in Him through it all, but judged for having those who did keep the doctrine of the Nicolatans as well as those teachings of Balaam, which is prophecy for hire. These are things for which the Pergamum saints needed to repent before God:

"Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], to him I will give [the privilege of eating] some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name engraved on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.’” Revelation 2:17 AMP

The teachings of Balaam are significant because Balaam was hired to prophesy good things to the rulers around him. This error is still in the church of today, where some offer to give you a word from the Lord or provide a generalized prophetic utterance in exchange for a monetary gift. Others cover this by asking for an offering for what they produce and sell, instead of putting a purchase price on it. Have we forgotten this, missed it somehow in the book of revelation?

The Lord Jesus Christ goes on to address those in the church in Thyatira, finding more fault that requires repentance as the accounts continue. The Thyatiran, are chastised for tolerating false teachings from the harlot system of Babylon, prioritizing religious organizations with their laws and teachings above the Lord. This surely remains evident today in many religious communities and gatherings.

God predicts death to her children—that is, no life to those who are birthed and stay in these dead systems. He reminds them that He searches hearts and minds, so He knows what is within them.

“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” Revelatin 2:19-26

But to those who have not embraced the doctrine and teachings of satan, He has a different message: .

“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the depths of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you, except to hold tightly to what you have until I come.

And he who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] and he who keeps My deeds [doing things that please Me] until the [very] end, to him I will give authority and power over the nations;

and he shall shepherd and rule them with a rod of iron, as the earthen pots are broken in pieces, as I also have received authority [and power to rule them] from My Father; and I will give him the Morning Star. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation 2:20-29 AMP

To the saints in Sardis, the Lord bluntly states that their reputation for spiritual life is false. They are to wake up spiritually and repent so as not to be surprised when He returns in His saints. Yet there are those who have not polluted their garments with false religious doctrine from the fleshly minds of men.

“These are the words of Him who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds; you have a name (reputation) that you are alive, but [in reality] you are dead.

Wake up, and strengthen and reaffirm what remains [of your faithful commitment to Me], which is about to die; for I have not found [any of] your deeds completed in the sight of My God or meeting His requirements.

So remember and take to heart the lessons you have received and heard. Keep and obey them, and repent [change your sinful way of thinking, and demonstrate your repentance with new behavior that proves a conscious decision to turn away from sin]. So then, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

But you [still] have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes [that is, contaminated their character and personal integrity with sin]; and they will walk with Me [dressed] in white, because they are worthy (righteous).

He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] will accordingly be dressed in white clothing; and I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess and openly acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels [saying that he is one of Mine]. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches."' Revelation 3:2-6 AMP

The church at Philadelphia has a little power through brotherly love. They are the only group of believers who are not told to repent like the others. They have an open door to enter in to His Kingdom of Life, and are commended for enduring patiently:

“And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He who has the key [to the house] of David, He who opens and no one will [be able to] shut, and He who shuts and no one opens:

‘I know your deeds. See, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut, for you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not renounced or denied My name. Take note, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know [without any doubt] that I have loved you.

Because you have kept the word of My endurance [My command to persevere], I will keep you [safe] from the hour of trial, that hour which is about to come on the whole [inhabited] world, to test those who live on the earth.

I am coming quickly. Hold tight what you have, so that no one will take your crown [by leading you to renounce the faith]. He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God; he will most certainly never be put out of it, and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My [own] new name.

He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:7-13 AMP

The Laodicean church is strongly chastised for their ambivalent faith that is neither hot nor cold. Believing they are rich, already having it all, they have stopped growing. God is not happy with this and is no longer allowing them to speak for Him. They are so far from Him that He is knocking to get back in to the center of their hearts. Look around and you will see this Laodicean condition in the lives of many of God’s people.

Perhaps there’s a time or two when each of us thought we had arrived because we believed we had all the best God had to offer. We felt rich in our fellowship, spiritual teaching and anointed leadership, while God was seeing the poverty in that thinking. The Laodiceans receive a very strong rebuke from the Lord, to vomit those out of His mouth.He will not speak through them any more and He means it. He is very passionate about it!

They need to submit their natures to the fires of change, to purify then, to allow Him to test them to purify them. Such a process is destined for such as these.

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust].

Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have prospered and grown wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked [without hope and in great need], I counsel you to buy from Me gold that has been heated red hot and refined by fire so that you may become truly rich; and white clothes [representing righteousness] to clothe yourself so that the shame of your nakedness will not be seen; and healing salve to put on your eyes so that you may see.

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I rebuke and discipline [showing them their faults and instructing them]; so be enthusiastic and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will].

Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me.

He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant to him [the privilege] to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation 3:15-22 AMP

Here it is most astoundingly clear: Those He loves, He chastens and disciplines, like any good father does to His beloved sons and daughters. He desires inner change that will result in righteous being and right living. The strongest rebuke towards redemption is what God hates the most. He sees no true inner change in those hearts who are sitting, complacent and superior to those outside their circle. Perhaps without realizing it, we become self-satisfied in our religiosity.

This must be burned up by the fiery presence of the Lord. The The fires of change burn all that way of thinking and believing about self, replacing it with His pure heart, the gold of His nature. We are to expect this because He loves us and wants us to know it is His method, His way of providing the ability to overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil. God Himself exposes us to ourselves, so that we do repent!

How much higher are His thoughts than ours, how difficult to understand His ways! Oh, the unfathomable riches of His wisdom and power! The promise of great rewards are given to the overcomers, those who conquer as He has conquered.

Below are the promises the Lord Jesus Christ to each of the overcomers present in each church. Each of the rewards of overcoming is specific and needs much study beyond the purposes of this post. Nevertheless, it is important to be aware of what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying to us, His called-out people, through the words to these seven churches.

To the overcomers at Ephesus:

“Who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the ecclesias: ‘To the one who is conquering, to him will I be granting to be eating of the log of life which is in the center of the paradise of God.’" Revelation 2:7 CLV

To the overcomers at Smyrna:

“Become faithful until death, and I shall be giving you the wreath of life. Who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the ecclesias. ‘The one who is conquering may under no circumstances be injured by the second death’.” Revelation 2:10b-11 CLV

To the overcomers at Pergamum:

“Who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the ecclesias. ‘To the one who is conquering, to him will I be giving of the hidden manna, and I shall be giving him a white pebble and on the pebble a new name written, of which no one is aware except the one who is obtaining it.” Revelation 2:17 CLV

To the overcomers at Thyratira:

“And to the one who is conquering and keeping My acts until the consummation, to him will I be giving authority over the nations; and he shall be shepherding them with an iron club, as vessels of pottery are being crushed, as I also have obtained from My Father. And I will give him the morning star.” Revelation 26-28 CLV

To the overcomers at Sardis:

'"The one who is conquering, he shall be clothed in white garments, and under no circumstances will I be erasing his name from the scroll of life, and I will be avowing his name in front of My Father and before His messengers.” Revelation 3:5 CLV

To the overcomers at Philadelphia:

“… Before you have I granted an open door, which no one is able to lock…Lo! I shall be making them that they will be arriving and worshiping, before your feet, and they may know that I love you… I, also, will be keeping you out of the hour of trial which is about to be coming on the whole inhabited earth to try those dwelling on the earth.

The one who is conquering, him will I be making a pillar in the temple of My God, and he may be coming out nevermore, and I will be writing on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which is descending out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” Revelation 3: 8a:9b;10; 12

To the overcomers at Laodicea:

“Lo! I stand at the door and am knocking. If ever anyone should be hearing My voice and opening the door, I will also be coming in to him and dining with him, and he with Me. The one who is conquering, to him will I be granting to be seated with Me on My throne as I, also, conquer, and am seated with My Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:20-21 CLV

We can press toward the prize of these most precious spiritual rewards promised to those who repent, who are victorious in overcoming all as He overcame. Just what did Jesus Christ conquer but His flesh, His own human will and ways? Is this not what He struggled mightily with in the Garden of Gethsemane? He well knew we would need the Holy Spirit, His coming again within us, to overcome, to conquer all things as He did.

Consider this passage from John:

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’

Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ ‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’

Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’” John 3:1-8 NIV

No, flesh cannot do it—it never could and it never will. Oh, to work this deep within our hearts so that we may endure to the end, knowing He is with us through it all. We must be born again, not in a one time yielding to Him through confessing belief—not if you want to be like Him, desiring to overcome all, to rule and reign with Him in His kingdom.

Oh, no, when we are given much, much processing is required of us. We say “Yes, Lord” long before we know what we are committing our hearts and our will to become, to experience as we follow on to know Him.

The old hymn, “Are Ye Able?” says it well:

“Are ye able," said the Master,"To be crucified with me?" "Yea," the sturdy dreamers answered,”To the death we follow Thee."

“Lord, we are able. Our spirits are Thine. Remold them, make us, like Thee, divine. Thy guiding radiance above us shall be a beacon to God, to love and loyalty.”

“Are ye able to remember, when a thief lifts up his eyes, that his pardoned soul is worthy of a place in paradise?

“Lord, we are able. Our spirits are Thine. Remold them, make us, like Thee, divine. Thy guiding radiance above us shall be a beacon to God, to love, and loyalty.”

“Are ye able when the shadows close around you with the sod, to believe that spirit triumphs, to commend your soul to God? “

“Lord, we are able. Our spirits are Thine. Remold them, make us, like Thee, divine. Thy guiding radiance above us shall be a beacon to God, to love, and loyalty.”

"Are ye able?" Still the Master whispers down eternity, and heroic spirits answer, now, as then, in Galilee.”

“Lord, we are able. Our spirits are Thine. Remold them, make us like Thee, divine. Thy guiding radiance above us shall be a beacon to God, to love, and loyalty.”

Earl Marlott (1926)