Hi Gino....

You made me smile. Thank you for asking. You happened to hit on my all time favorite subject. "Death". Sounds morbid...huh? Not to the Lord.

I will get to your question but understand our Christian walk comes with sin, struggle, stumbling, hope and hopelessness. There are days, if we are honest, we can barely raise our head spiritually. Every one of us was made unique and with different struggles and obstacles we have to face. Each was given a measure of grace to overcome if we would only cry out to Him. There is not a one of us that doesn't sin and there won't be one of us made perfect till we are changed.

So...can we take a deep breath and all is OK? Yes and no. Yes in the since that He accepts us as we are and in whatever rotten state we happen to be. No in the sense that that whom the Father accepts into His Kingdom he is going to correct. He does it very lovingly but still we are the clay....He's the potter.

Sorry...but this isn't going to be a short answer because there are too many variables.

The easiest analogy is the children of God going through the wilderness. I mean...He delivered them from bondage in Egypt, why not just put them in hotels and teach them. It's not God's way because He knows how He's made us. We tend to be stubborn, self centered, and the list goes on. No...He wants a son or daughter that submits to "love" and "His Lordship". The wilderness is given to every person in a different way in order to "die to self". Otherwise we would not be able to make it in the promised land. We would see the giants as too big to overcome and the goodness of the land would move us away from our Lord, for we would not feel the need to depend on Him and we would depend on self.

God doesn't want independence, He wants dependence. As King David said in Psalms 42:1,2. As the deer pants for the water brooks so pants my soul after You, O God.

Gino...now after all my rambling I will answer your question. Are you so in love with the Lord that at times all you can do is think of Him? All you want to do is worship Him? Your desire for Him screams at you on the inside? All you want to do is please Him. If that is you, then you won't have to worry about being 100% or 99% pleasing to Him. The Holy Spirit will do the rest and you will gladly yield to repentance and know that at that moment you are walking pure before Him. Are there a billion things yet to learn...yes. Are there things inside yet to yield....yes. The key is daily surrender. A daily walk that says "Holy Spirit...I can't make myself Holy. I can't make myself pure or pleasing to the Lord. Will you start the work in me so that my walk, my thoughts, my desires please the King. That's a prayer of utter submission. Are we going to fall. Yes. But He will pick us up and love us as He keeps on trimming.

As we get closer to His Glory...our hearts become more exposed to the true motives inside and we see our sin. It's a lifelong process Gino, but one He calls each of us to.

Let me simplify all I said into a few sentences. The Father said He will not Glory in flesh. What are we? FLESH. He said He will Glory in His Son. So the only way that God can receive Glory from us is...if we die to self and Christ is able to live His life through us. Death brings forth life. The simple story of the seed.

If there is a question that I didn't answer or you have another one. Sincerely...please ask. Hopefully I can give you a Christ like answer.

Blessings on you Gino. You are precious in the sight of the Lord.   Steve W2