The Vision by Rick Joyner
The Writer's Remorse
EPISODE 50
I kept moving until I saw a man I considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. I had counted his insights into the truth to be possibly the greatest I had encountered in all my studies.
"Sir, I have always looked forward to this meeting," I blurted out.
"As have I," he replied with genuine sincerity.
I was surprised by his comment, but I was so excited to meet him that I continued, "I feel that I know you, and in your writings I felt like you somehow knew me. I think I owe more to you than to anyone else who was not canonized in Scripture."
"You are very gracious," he replied. "But I am sorry that I did not serve you better. I was a shallow person, and my writings were shallow, filled more with worldly wisdom than divine truth."
"I know that what you are saying must be true, because you can only speak the truth here," I told him. "Yet it is hard for me to understand. I think your writings are some of the best that we have on earth."
"You are right," this famous writer admitted with sincerity. "It is so sad. Everyone here, even those who sit closest to the King, would live their lives differently if they had them to live over. But I think I would live mine even more differently than most. I was honored by kings, but failed the King of Kings. I used the great gifts and insights that were given to me to draw men more to myself and my wisdom than to Him. Besides, I only knew Him by the hearing of the ear, which is the way I compelled other men to know Him.
I made them dependent on me, and on others like me. I turned them more to deductive reasoning than to the Holy Spirit, Whom I hardly knew.
"I did not point men to Jesus," he continued, "but to myself and others like me who pretended to know Him.
When I beheld Him here, I wanted to grind my writings into powder, just as Moses did to the golden calf. My mind was my idol, and I wanted everyone to worship my mind with me.
"Your esteem for me does not cause me to rejoice. If I had spent as much time seeking to know Him as I did seeking to know about Him in order to impress others with my knowledge, many of those who are in this lowest of companies would be sitting in the thrones that were prepared for them. And many others would be in this room."
"I know that what you are saying about your work must be true, but aren't you being a little too hard on yourself?"

I question. “Your works for me spiritually for many years, as I know they have multitudes of others."
"I am not being too hard on myself," he responded.
"All that I have said is true, and it was confirmed when I stood before the throne. Even though I produced a lot, I was given more talents than almost anyone here, and I buried them beneath my own spiritual pride and ambitions. Just as we learn from the example of Adam-who could have carried the whole human race into a most glorious future, but by his failure led billions of souls into the worst of dooms instead-with authority comes responsibility.
"The more authority you are given, the more potential for both good and evil you have. Those who will rule with Him for the ages will know responsibility of the most profound kind. No man stands alone, and every human failure or victory resonates far beyond our comprehension, even to generations to come."
I couldn't help reflecting on the beautiful and articulate phrases that this man had written. He was the epitome of a wordsmith, a craftsman who turned words into works of art. But here, he was speaking as a common man, without the flair for which his writings were so well known. Although he knew what I was thinking, as did everyone here, he continued with what he clearly thought was more important.

"Had I sought the Lord Himself instead of knowledge about Him, I could have successfully led many thousands, which would have resulted in many more millions being here now. Anyone who understands the true nature of authority would never seek it. They would only accept it when they knew they were yoked with the Lord, the only One who can carry authority without stumbling. Never seek influence for yourself, but only seek the Lord and be willing to take His yoke. My influence did not feed your heart, but rather your pride in knowledge."
"How can I know that I am not doing the same?" I asked as I began to think of my own writings.
"Study to show yourself approved unto God, not men, he replied as he walked back into the ranks. Before disappearing he turned, and with the slightest smile offered one last bit of advice: "And do not follow me."