Paying for shadows ...
"Men are paying for shadows at the price of their immortal soul." ~ Leonard Ravenhill
Who will search for spiritual momentum?
Spiritual momentum is the creating and pursuing of rhythms to soak the soul, man’s eternal life-force. Begin the way you wish to finish, for the time is now; the apprenticeship to learn a new craft.
The pursuit of spiritual momentum bears a cost no man can foretell. It is the wrestle of the soul with the flesh; the denying of delights for the unseen favors of heaven. It is the first expression of maturing faith and a spirit now alight from a Divine match. When the human spirit flickers in the heat of Holy Spirit fire it seeks closeness that it can burn bright, strong and warm many. The natural man withdraws from heat to comfort and so the battle is lost ever before it is waged.
"What use is worldly wealth if we have spiritual poverty. ... The aspirant for spiritual wealth and for the ear of God will know much loneliness and will eat various ‘breads of affliction’. ... For lovers love to be alone and the high peaks of the soul are reached in solitude." ~ Leonard Ravenhill
So Elisha left Elijah and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. (1 Kings 19:21)
As with Elisha (now Elijah's acolyte), there coincides an unpalatable stripping and a much lesser known joy to the soul. It is these who choose self-death, who are aiming to bear much fruit.
The Last Word:
This is the lifting of Christ’s cross within the heart, thus investing in heaven.