Day 260 - The Call Followed By A Roadblock

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 111

         

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 many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

In this day’s writing, Michael shares one of the most important lessons for anyone about trusting God for His supply (His bringing something to pass, etc.).  God has promised to meet our needs.  Can we wait on Him to fulfill His promise?

DAY 260 

The Call Followed By A Roadblock

For this reason I have often been hindered from coming to you. --Romans 15:22

To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power. –II Thessalonians 1:11

God will often give the believer a call to accomplish something and then close every door to make the fulfillment impossible. Why? Because with the call comes a provision. The same One who gives the call must also accomplish it. However, the flesh of man will take the call and not the provision, choosing to look for fulfillment in self-power, and if completion is possible, sink into glory, kingdoms, pride, strength, and righteousness. The call and the provision are one; the problem is that we do not see them as one. Therefore, immediately after the call, all attempts to fulfill it must fail. We need not look far for an example. Joseph, after the call to be the leader of his family, actually thought it a turn of bad luck to end up in a pit. Then it was good luck to be taken out of the pit, followed by bad luck to fall in with men who sold him into slavery. Then more good luck came and made him head of a house before another turn of bad luck arose when he ended up in prison. In the end, though, he saw it was God who brought Him out. It was all God. The call and the provision were one. He completed the call with the provision and took no glory. This is to be the end result of a perfect call of God.

When you get a call, do not think that is all of it. Listen and wait for the provision. Do not try to do the thing on your own. You will only end up in a pit.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Hooooooooo-boy!  This is a humdinger of a writing!  I believe Michael was so used to experiencing this particular aspect of life and ministry that he was thinking faster than he could write, but God gave him exactly the simple, succinct words for us to get one of God’s greatest truths so clearly and profoundly.  And in addition…one of our most needed truths to live life by.

Would to God that all of us Christians could get the truth that “the call and the provision are one.”  God’s “calls” come regularly and often, but our not wanting His provision, or perhaps waiting a bit for His provision becomes our big downfall…into that PIT.  Trust God for His supply, and live on it.  That’s one of the biggest lessons we could ever learn.  The enemy steps right in after so many “calls” and says: “If you don’t like what your God has provided, let me suggest…  If your God won’t give it to you right now, sign right here and I will…  If your God hasn’t opened that door you wanted to walk through, step right over here and walk through this one I’ve opened for you.”

Perhaps the most difficult thing for us to believe is that God would give us a call, then not give us the supply we want, or that we think ought to go with the call.  How many stories like Joseph’s does God have to give us to get us to simply walk with Him and watch how He fulfills His call on us?

How many Christians are living in a pit they have dug themselves because they tried to fulfill the call all on their own?

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

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Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

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

Day 259 - The Body

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 110

         

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 many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

Everyone in Christianity should know about and understand the connection God makes in His Word about how He designed and built our physical body and its individual parts functioning to make our body “work,” AND how God designed and builds His Church to take the “parts” He places together to “work” as He sees fit.  Michael points out today that EVERY part is important, and often the ones we think are the “least” are ones He deems most important.  And he show us the sad end of the Church family not recognizing how important “unity in Spirit” of the Church family is.

DAY 259

           

The Body

So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. --Romans 12:5

One man said that the proof of God was the wondrous working of the thumb. Look at where it is and how it operates. God put us together physically. The more we understand the body, the more revelation we can have into THE Body.

There is the unseemly member, thus named because of the prevailing attitude from our awareness after the fall of man, though God ordained its function. We cannot talk about this unpresentable member in the physical body, but we know which one it is. Did God do right in locking up and assigning to this member the perpetuation of His ongoing creation? Are we right when we decide what is seemly and unseemly? God puts more abundant honor on the members that lacked it. One day I discover that I am the less honorable member of the Body, when I had judged that it was you!

When a young man falls in love and produces a photo, what does he show? The face, of course, not an x-ray of the kidneys. “These are the lovely kidneys of my girlfriend.” However, if the kidneys are not working, the young lady will not be presentable. What is the point? More and more I view what I do as an end result of the Lord's work through the organs, the unseen others. Many things have to come together for me to speak at any one church or meeting. Somewhere along the line I had to meet the host, or he at least needed to hear of me. He had to love the message. He had to know the people who could help him organize and set up the seminar, and all of them had some particular gift and other acquaintances that helped facilitate it all. All had to have jobs and finances that allowed us to be together at the exact time, all of us excited about our God. Someone invented the airplane, cars, e-mail, and more to get us here. I must stop for I am going mad! Do you see why I believe I am the less honorable member? The Scripture says to “grieve not the Holy Spirit.” Falling out with those on whom I am so dependent is just wrong. When we fall out with another member of the Body, for whom Jesus shed his blood, it grieves the Spirit. There is no forgiveness for unforgiveness, and every time we judge a person, we are guilty of unforgiveness. When judgment begins, where will God start? May the Church not go blindly on its way of not recognizing the Body.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Michael makes a beautiful observation that what He accomplished was the end result of the Lord’s work through so many.  And of course, the many were often unknown and unseen by so many others.  And then Michael makes notes of one of the most tragic mistakes made in the body of Christ…falling out with those on whom we are so dependent.

But it is Michael’s last 4 sentences that make such a huge impression:

“When we fall out with another member of the Body, for whom Jesus shed his blood, IT GRIEVES THE SPIRIT.” (my caps). 

     The grieving of the Spirit is one of the most unrecognized and less dealt with issues in way too many Christians’ lives.  And so often, it is because of pride in thinking one is more honorable than another member.

“There is no forgiveness for unforgiveness, and every time we judge a person, we are guilty of unforgiveness.”

     This is a shock, isn’t it?!? 

“When judgment begins, where will God start?”

     I think of this as “putting the handcuffs on God.”  In whom and when and where can God work when we have moved into unforgiveness?  We don’t see that, do we?

“May the Church not go blindly on its way of not recognizing the Body.”

     Is it because the Church does not know or understand the connection God has made between our physical body and the Body of Christ?  Is it because the Church does not care about the “unity of the Spirit” in the Body?  Whatever it is, leadership needs to embrace this, teach this, and lead the Church to be the Body God intends for it to be.

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 67 - Do We Need To confess EVERY Sin?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 109

         

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 many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner

Michael addresses an issue that plagues almost every Christian still to this day… the proverbial confession of “sins I am not even aware of.”  It is interesting, isn’t it, that we would perceive something to be that we are not sure if it exists, or not.

That’s what comes from being obsessed with sin.

DAY 67

Do We Need To Confess EVERY Sin?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. --I John 1:9       

In the Old Testament times, a sacrifice was made available that would cover any unknown sin. God provided for the fact that man sinned unknowingly. God is absolute, and sin is sin. It is interesting that those who dogmatically say we must confess every sin have only confessed every sin of which they are aware, not every sin. The Apostle John was a holy man who stayed next to Jesus, was the first at the tomb, was loved by our Lord, and is referred to as the apostle of love. Yet in Revelation, in the presence of Jesus, he falls down in fear as a dead man. Ultimately, trying to confess every sin is impossible. Not everything that is true is truth; a teaching may come from Scripture and be true but not truth. How do we tell the difference between the two? Teaching that lands at our feet and tells us what we must do is not truth. Teaching that ends at the feet of Jesus and explains what He does for us is truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; few doctrines are truth. We have all witnessed how easy it is for people to become obsessed with confession and, in so doing, to neglect a focus on Christ. We have a sacrifice that is for unknown sin, Jesus. There is no hindrance between the believer and God. 

How, then, does a sin come to mind to be confessed? As I said before, we have only confessed according to our perception. Often I counsel people and see in their lives sin with which God is not yet dealing; if I were to bring up that sin that God has not yet brought up, I introduce it without power as mere judgment on my part. When God reveals sin to a person, the revelation comes with the power to be free. Confession is then a delight. God pursues His purposes with a measureless I.Q. we can think of as well over 999 trillion. His conviction will come in an orderly manner, for He knows when, where, and in what order to work. God will convict as needed, and the believer will confess and experience the freedom that was always his in Him. In the meantime, he has a sacrifice for every sin.

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

 Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

How many know someone that dogmatically tells everyone that we must confess EVERY sin?  But, if they acknowledge ANY sin they have, they confess SOME and then throw in the “sins I am not even aware of” confession.  Or, perhaps, they throw in the “all the sins I have committed” confession.  That really brings them peace, doesn’t it?

Michael gives us four important things to remember in relation to sin, God’s conviction, and our confession:

        1. We have a sacrifice that is for unknown sin, Jesus.

                  2.  There is no hindrance between the believer and God.

              3. God’s conviction, if and when God deems it necessary, will come in an                       orderly manner, for He knows when, where, and what order to work.

             4.  God will convict as needed, and the believer and experience the freedom that was         always his in Him.

Well, amen.  The freedom that is a believer’s experience in Christ is what the one who is obsessed with sin truly wants anyway, isn’t it?

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 74 - Do Not Ask

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 108

         

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 many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner.

Faith and asking questions…interesting insight in today’s writing that should alert some believers to a startling issue in their life.

DAY 74

Do Not Ask

Who knows whether He will {not} turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him. --Joel 2:14

For who among men knows the {thoughts} of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the {thoughts} of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. --I Corinthians 2:11

I have often thought that theology is a course of study for the unbelieving believer, a man with an I.Q. of 150 attempting to understand a God with an immeasurably infinite I.Q. In the West we have developed an unhealthy fascination with questioning and understanding God. Unbelief can be measured in direct proportion to the number of our questions. Where did God come from? Is every action predestined? Why does God allow suffering? What kind of a God lets people be abused? Why does God not stop evil? If God knows all, why did He create Satan? Why would God create men, give them the ability to choose evil, and then send them to hell for so choosing? Is God passively active or just passive in the affairs of man?

Of course, I could ask the unbelieving believer equally pertinent questions that also cannot be answered. Why did you not die as a child? Why did your parents stay married when others have not? Why did God spare you in the snowstorm when there were so many other driving fatalities? Why did you not get cancer after smoking for twenty years? Why have you been able to make a house payment all these years? With two parents who were alcoholic, why did you not become one? Why has your life been so good?

Faith consumes itself not with questions but with a person, and that person is Jesus. Simply put, we are asking too many questions that would never be issues were we in His presence. All fear of the future would leave my young children's faces when they were in my lap. Climb into His lap and rest in faith. We know very little of what God is doing or will do. We only know that what He is doing will work together for the good. If the above questions were important, they would have been emphasized in the New Testament. They were not; therefore, if they become the emphases, the real intent and purpose of life and faith will elude us, and in the end we will be depleted, still asking questions. I appreciated my father at my mother's funeral. He refused to verbalize any questions, choosing rather to state what he believed: “God is working it all out for good.” Amen!

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Michael gives us three outstanding truths that show we must be acutely aware of how easy it is to question and they show a spiritual deficiency in us, in constant concern of our propensity to backslide, and eagerly enthusiastic to embrace and be consumed with the person of the Lord.

Acutely aware: that we ask too many questions that would never be issues were we in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That is a bold statement Michael makes that “unbelief can be measured in direct proportion to the number of our questions.”  I guess a valid question for every Christian is this: with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, how is it we would ever not be aware of His presence?

Constant concern: that we acknowledge and recognize that all our questioning (like the questions Michael mentions) is a sign that unbelief has crept into our life.  I guess a valid question for every Christian is this: does this startling revelation bring a quick self-analysis of what questions I am asking, if any…and why?

Eagerly enthusiastic: about being consumed with the person of Jesus.  Thinking of Him, recognizing Him, communing with Him…a constant embracing of His presence.  I guess a valid question for every Christian is this: how consumed am I with the person of Jesus versus all the other entities and activities of Christianity?

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…there’s just something about that Name.  Yes, and there’s something about Him (His person) that is worth our being consumed to know and fellowship with Him.  Well, amen.

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 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 231 - Rebuke Versus Condemnation

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 107

         

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 many can receive the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner.

No fluff.  All meat.  Some of it is difficult to chew…  But, just like every good mother tells her kids: “Don’t leave the table until you have finished everything.  And chew your food so you can easily digest it!”

DAY 231

Rebuke Versus Condemnation

Therefore you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. –Romans 2:1

Do you know the difference between rebuke and condemnation?  Jesus may on occasion rebuke you; I have had it happen to me. On different occasions others have rebuked me, but in both instances, whether rebuked by Jesus or a brother or sister in Christ, I have noticed that the rebuke did not end with me, for they pointed me to The Way, Jesus. However, condemnation is different, delivering knowledge about what I do wrong, and the whole thing lands at my feet. That kind of knowledge has no power and should therefore be rejected. Be careful when pointing out what is wrong in another, for it takes no great spiritual insight but is merely a revelation of your own actions manifested in the person. We know this to be true from the Scriptural truth that you who judge practice the very same things. Do not point out something unless you are prepared to help with it. If all of the stupid people you know suddenly agreed with your assessments and asked for help, would you be ready to offer it?

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Good question…do we know the difference between rebuke and condemnation?  One is “in the Spirit” and the other is “in the flesh.”  (The flesh is that condition of being under the influence of something other than Jesus…the flesh, when exercising power over the soul, silences the Spirit of Christ within.  MWfHS, Day 274, page 466).

Think about it…a rebuke ends with the one rebuked being pointed to The Way, Jesus.  Beautiful!  But how sad so many times condemnation (that ends at the feet of the one being condemned) is used to point out another’s wrong while the one condemning thinks THEY are being lifted up.  But, just as Michael points out, the Apostle Paul in Romans ch.2 gives the rebuke and then points to God as the One who is the just Judge.

The irony of all this is that the Bible points out that those who judge practice the same things!  Wow!  That’s an eye-opener.  And hopefully a prodding of our heart.  Are we going to tolerate ourselves passing judgment on others?  Am I going to still point out something to another without offering God’s help to change?  Do I know what God’s help for that individual is?

Which brings up a very important point: would you be ready to offer help after pointing out something in another?

And another point (that Paul also makes in Romans ch.2), do I think I could escape the judgment of God if I am doing the same things that I am judging others of doing ?

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

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