Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 246
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life Ministries
International
Littleton, Colorado
Notice: this email is part of a
BLOG, called Living Life With a Capital “C”. Why a
blog? So that many can receive these thoughts
in an easy manner. If you are not
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God
has told us that His people “perish” for lack of knowledge. How can we as a whole not disciple Believers
to the point of knowing, and hopefully believing, God’s truth of “who we are in
Christ”…no matter the old soul and old flesh still being a part of our activity. Jesus IS our LIFE, not us. Michael gives us liberating Truth today.
DAY 157
Flesh And The Ministry
There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. –Romans 8:1
If God is revealing a
person’s flesh, should he stop ministering? It is not as odd a question as one
might think. I am often asked it by those who do ministry, for it is a question
that the enemy loves to plant in the mind of a disciple of Christ. After
Peter’s denial, should Peter have just quit? I believe that God is dealing with us
continually and bringing us into conformity with what we have always had in
Jesus. Ministry remains constant while our
growth—the increasing revelation of what as Christians we have always had and
been--is in flux. In short, much
of our insight during times of ministry comes from having already been where
the people are to whom we are talking. I often look across my office and
see in a person the very things that have been in me. Our experiences equip us to minister. Peter
denied the Lord and yet ministered on the very topic later. He had been there.
If being there disqualifies a believer, Peter would have been disqualified. Past experiences (even failures)
equip us to minister in the present, and though we have grown through
them and can then minister from what we gained from them, that will not rule
out the possibility of a life full of like experiences. This may sound odd, but
personal growth in private
areas of life can be unrelated to the ministry occurring today, even though it
is preparation for further ministry in the future. Many make a mistake
when they see flesh in their lives and proceed to listen to the enemy as he
whispers that they are not fit, they will bring dishonor to Jesus, and they are
hypocrites. The enemy’s goal is accomplished to the extent that the believer
withdraws from ministry. What does such retreat really accomplish? Time is
taken away because of a newly revealed area of the flesh, and an attempt is
made to fix the issue. The believer’s eyes are taken off of Jesus, he is no
longer giving of himself to others, and he becomes absorbed with the problem,
all of which are counterproductive. Also, does he really believe that this will
be the FINAL issue in his life? Does he believe that this revelation of his
flesh is the last one? When
a believer thinks that he has dealt with all the flesh that will ever be
revealed, he is deceived and only seeing flesh from his own definition. He must come to see that the
continuous process of revelation of flesh and resulting renewed reliance upon
Jesus is what keeps his teaching fresh. “There is nothing the nearness of Jesus will not cure.”
Even today His nearness may be
fixing a problem in any or all of us!
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
Truth is always what is most important.
And, truth is, not one person leaves this world without at least “some”
flesh still involved in their life. For
Christians, it comes with having been left with the same soul we were
physically born with. For those who are
Unbelievers, it is just life. Therefore,
for Christians to think that their flesh is not going to be a problem is to
ignore the truth.
And what Michael gives us here in this writing is a huge help for
Believers to come to grips with “who we are” vs the flesh that shows
itself. What a statement: “I believe that God is dealing with us continually and
bringing us into conformity with what we have always had in Jesus.” Beautiful!
Growing in Christ’s grace is what it is.
Michael summarizes our problem: “When a believer thinks that
he has dealt with all the flesh that will ever be revealed, he is deceived and
only seeing flesh from his own definition.”
You betcha!
But, then comes the victory…those last 3 sentences! Well, amen!
To access ALL past weekly
blogs, go to Living Life With a Capital
“C” by logging onto www .leemccm.blogspot.com
NOTICE: another 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
P.O. Box 633244 Nacogdoches,
TX 75963 936-559-5696
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