Day 200 - Miracles Rooted In Unbelief

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 85

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that multitudes can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner.  In the event you sign up to receive the weekly emails (see info at bottom) and then sometime in the future stop getting the emails, please remember you can go to the BLOGSITE and read each posting each week.  Then let me know (my email address below), and I will work to correct the problem.

In my first reading through this book of Michael’s, “Day 200” has 3 “big!’s” - 2 “Wow!’s” – 1 “yes!” – and 1 “Amen & Amen!” in the margin of my book.  To me, it is that kind of reading.  See if you agree with my exclamations…

DAY 200

Miracles Rooted in Unbelief

And behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves; but He Himself was asleep. --Matthew 8:24

I have two thoughts on this passage. Jesus is asleep, the storm comes, the disciples are frightened, and they call on Him. Should we not always call on Him in a storm? Yet when they call on Him they are rebuked. Why? Jesus had permitted the storm for their perfection, a process interrupted by unbelief. Jesus stopped the storm, He did a miracle, and all that at their bidding, but it was not a positive. It was not a revelation of their importance but of their unbelief. Instead of crying out for the storm to stop, they should have crawled next to Him and gone to sleep, resting in the storm. The storm would not have harmed them either way; it was not the issue. What the storm could perfect in them or expose in them was the issue. In Christianity today, calling on Jesus and forcing a miracle is viewed as proof of spirituality, but the opposite is true. Imagine having a rebellious child; the parents have a choice in that storm: call on Jesus to stop it or lie down next to Him and rest. I know which one they will do! They will beg for the storm to stop!

My second thought is this: We have prayed to share in the power of the resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be like Him in His death. What is the fellowship of His sufferings? It is many things. However, there is one thing that it must certainly be. If we are parents, we must have a child that refuses Him. That was His greatest suffering. All the created children of God, every one to the last man, refused Him. We must share in that pain to begin to see just how deeply He suffered. We begin to understand the gospel as we share in suffering, death, and the power. Suffering comes before the power. We do not like what is happening, but we can refuse to beg to be taken out of it, refuse to ask Him to quiet the storm before the storm has perfected us.

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

OK…check my markings:

“big!” – “Jesus had permitted the storm for their perfection, a process interrupted

             by unbelief.”

 “big!” – “It was not a revelation of their importance but of their unbelief.”

 “big!” – “What the storm could perfect in them or expose in them was the issue.”

 “wow!” – “All the created children of God, every one to the last man, refused Him.”

 “wow!” – “We do not like what is happening, but we can refuse to beg to be taken out

               of it, refuse to ask Him to quiet the storm before the storm has perfected

               us.”

 “yes” – “In Christianity today, calling on Jesus and forcing a miracle is viewed as

             proof of spirituality, but the opposite is true.”

 “amen & amen!” – “Instead of crying out for the storm to stop, they should have

                            crawled next to Him and gone to sleep, resting in the storm.”

What did you think?  Agree with me?  A wonderful writing giving us some beautiful truths to think of the next time a “storm” of life comes our way!

This day’s writing tests our believing, and the faith God has gifted us with when we REALLY believe Him.  This plays off last week’s email on Day 199.  Faith is not believing.  Faith is God’s gift of solidification of our believing where nothing (circumstances) or no one can deter us. 

What is “walking by faith”?  It is: us believing, God solidifying our believing by gifting us with His faith to carry on…knowing not, seeing not…in the storms of life.  WOW!

One last thing we must remember: how quick after salvation we can forget our rejection of Him…”we must share in that pain to see how deeply He suffered.”

To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com 

If you desire to get a weekly email of this blog, look to the top right hand side of the web page, enter your email address in the box under “Follow,” then click on SUBMIT.  You will receive a “confirmation email,” and when you click on the link and “confirm,” you will receive all new posts via email.

NOTICE: a new blog on Michael Wells’ book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness, called Getting Out of the Wilderness.  You can access by logging onto www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                       936-559-5696

Day 199 - Maximize Your Joy; Walk In Faith

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 84

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that multitudes can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner.  In the event you sign up to receive the weekly emails (see info at bottom) and then sometime in the future stop getting the emails, please remember you can go to the BLOGSITE and read each posting each week.  Then let me know (my email address below), and I will work to correct the problem.

Don’t you just love Michael’s shocking statements?!?  Accurate, truth, and a shock to our belief system due to erroneous teaching for years in many circles.  Well, get ready for another one at the start of today’s copy from Michael’s masterpiece, My Weakness for His Strength.

DAY 199

Maximize Your Joy; Walk In Faith

For we walk by faith, not by sight. –II Corinthians 5:7

I often say, "When you know the will of God, congratulations! You are an unbeliever! Abraham went and he knew not. Knowing not and going anyway is faith. Knowing everything and going takes no faith and is tantamount to unbelief." If we knew the will of God, what was around every corner, and if we always knew the outcome, how boring would life be? If we knew everything that was going to happen, our joy would not be full; in fact, our joy would be stolen. One example is Betty’s and my need of paying bills. When the money is there, we pay and think nothing of it. However, when there is no foreseeable way of doing it and we open an envelope in which is the exact amount needed because the Lord put us on someone’s heart, I cannot adequately describe the joy this brings. Had we known the check was coming, would we have had the same joy? If the Prodigal Son's father had always known the son would return, would his joy have been as great the day he saw him coming down the road? It is in not knowing, in walking by faith, that joy is made full. 

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

Well, how did you like that poke in the ribs?  Hit close to home, though, didn’t it?  When we don’t have a lot of what I call “life verses” that fundamentally solidify our walk in the Lord, we fall victim to a “walk by sight” rather than by faith.

I love that story in Hebrews chapter 11 of Abraham “going while not knowing,” don’t you!  So much encouragement.  And Proverbs telling me that all I have to do is “Trust in the Lord with all my heart, lean not to my own understanding, acknowledge Him in all my ways, AND HE WILL DIRECT MY PATHS” (Prov. 3:5-6).  Hallelujah!

God’s instructions could not be any more plain and simple than “the just (righteous) shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).  So why is it that the vast majority of Christians will not “walk” unless they “see,” instead of living by faith?  Why are so many defeated because they fear they are “not in the will of God,” or are unsure just what “the will of God is”?  Does this not put a whole new perspective on the “importance” of the “will of God”?

Michael gives us an excellent illustration (he and Betty paying bills) of how we can walk trusting God, and find exuberant joy when He shows Himself strong and faithful to us.  And just stop and think about that famous story of the Prodigal Son…how many have ever thought of what it would have been like IF the father “had always known the son would return”…most likely “the rest of the story” would have been quite different!

God has given us His instructions.  God has given us many illustrations and examples.  What more is it going to take to get us to live by faith, and maximize our joy???

To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com 

If you desire to get a weekly email of this blog, look to the top right hand side of the web page, enter your email address in the box under “Follow,” then click on SUBMIT.  You will receive a “confirmation email,” and when you click on the link and “confirm,” you will receive all new posts via email.

NOTICE: a new blog on Michael Wells’ book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness, called Getting Out of the Wilderness.  You can access by logging onto www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                    936-559-5696

Day 171 - Jesus, Please Make Me a Bipolar Manic-Depressive!

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 83

         

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       www.abidinglife.com

Notice:  this email is part of a BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”.  Why a blog?  So that multitudes can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner.  In the event you sign up to receive the weekly emails (see info at bottom) and then sometime in the future stop getting the emails, please remember you can go to the BLOGSITE and read each posting each week.  Then let me know (my email address below), and I will work to correct the problem.

Hang on to your hats!  Michael goes where very, very few have ever trod in this day’s writing.  But then…he doesn’t go where the title indicates.

And as you see, almost every sentence could be highlighted, underlined, or made bold print.  See what fits you the most….

Day 171

Jesus, Please Make Me a Bipolar Manic-Depressive!

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. --John 14:27

Of course, “bipolar manic-depressive” is misdiagnosed more often than it is correctly diagnosed. The problem with such labels is that they, then, receive the treatment, not the individual. Well, amen. At any rate, as the world sees it, a bipolar person is one whose emotions swing abnormally from a depressive low to a giddy high in a matter of moments. Normal emotions are to roll slowly in response to events within and without a person. For example, in coping with the death of a loved one, the emotions of loss, loneliness, and even anger can take many months to level out at a place called normal. I would not look at a woman who had just lost her husband of fifty years and ask, “Why do you not laugh?” If she did laugh it would be abnormal; she would be bipolar. However, many Christians are praying that God would, for all practical purposes, make them bipolar when they have experienced a negative event, a failure in their lives, a disappointment with another, or an offense; once they forgive they want their emotions immediately to go from the bottom to the top. That, to me, is completely unrealistic. Forgiveness can occur in a moment, but the emotions will take their time in coming back to a place of normalcy. Emotions must be given time to calm down after the fact without attempts to have them be a bipolar-type up and down in an instant. Believers can acknowledge God in a death, move in faith, put their eyes on Him, and rejoice for the departed loved one, but the deep feeling of loss will take time to subside and give way to the feeling of hope. God works slowly. We are not to be praying to be bipolar. Our spirit will soar, but emotions will take awhile.

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

In Michael’s book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness*, he quickly draws attention to the roller-coaster ride (actually seeking to constantly be on a mountaintop experience) so many Christians experience from having eaten from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is illustrated by the bipolar diagnosis of the rising and falling emotions.  Because so many are experiencing this, and receiving the world’s erroneous diagnosis, and no biblical help…very few ever get free from this kind of life once they are on the ride.

Michael points out 4 great truths:

1. “The problem with such labels is that they (the labels), then, receive the treatment

     and not the individuals.”

         How true.  All we have to do is hear someone mention that they or someone

         else have been diagnosed as such…ask them what sort of treatment they are

         getting…and listen as they give the medical prescription that is their

         supposed “answer,” no counseling for the issues causing the “diagnosis.”

2. “Normal emotions are to roll slowly in response to events within and without a

     person.”

         Helping someone with emotional problems is far different than most other

         issues.   The saddest part is that very few ever get help with God’s healing of

         their emotions…just with the medicinal salve.  Believe me, God can and does

         heal the emotions of His kids damaged by a hurt, loss, etc.

3. “Forgiveness can occur in a moment, but the emotions will take their time in coming

     back to a place of normalcy.”

         Why is it that “the church” cannot stand to have someone in a place other than

         the “mountaintop”?  It is perfectly fine for someone to be “coming back to a

         place of normalcy” after a traumatic event in their life, and not be “soaring.”

4. “God works slowly.  We are not to be praying to be bipolar.  Our spirit will soar,

     but emotions will take awhile.”

         Aha.  I told you Michael was not going where the title indicates!  Michael

         pointing out that “God works slowly” is so important.  His timing in all things is

         what we should want.  Amen?

Tell me, how have you been treating those damaged emotions…yours or others?  How many times have you been going back to Jesus, to receive His peace: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

* if you do not have Sidetracked In The Wilderness, go to ALMI’s website, www.abidinglife.org , and get one!  You will be thrilled you did!

 To access ALL past weekly blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital “C” by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com 

If you desire to get a weekly email of this blog, look to the top right hand side of the web page, enter your email address in the box under “Follow,” then click on SUBMIT.  You will receive a “confirmation email,” and when you click on the link and “confirm,” you will receive all new posts via email.

NOTICE: a new blog on Michael Wells’ book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness, called Getting Out of the Wilderness.  You can access by logging onto www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                         936-559-5696