Day 148 - "I Do Not Believe Because Of The Crusades!"

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 243

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

This is a beautiful writing by Michael which sheds truth on the tragedy of what is taking place in Unbelievers’ lives all around the world, day after day.  Every real Believer can see and understand what is really taking place in the Unbeliever’s eyes and mind…having been there and done that.

DAY 148

“I Do Not Believe Because Of The Crusades!”

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. --Philippians 3:13, 14

You may not hear it in the places you travel, but I have heard it so many times I actually find myself finishing people’s sentences for them. They do not believe in Christianity because of the Crusades! If it is not the wars, the people may finish the sentence with what a pastor once did, the behavior of the television evangelists, or the tenets or actions of some associated with a certain denomination. They have ready examples of abuse by Christians, whether in the past or present, that exempt them from having to question their own lives and allow them to discount Jesus and every positive example of believers. Make a list and put in the left column those things Christians have done wrong and in the right column the contributions of believers. From talking on the phone to turning on the lights, from getting vaccinations to women’s and children’s rights, from everyday great inventions that have become commonplace to mass education, the world is indebted to the inspiration received by Christians. The unbelieving world stands on the backs of the believers, reaps the benefit of believers, and makes their complaint against the believers. I just cannot recall a plethora of scientific contributions of Hindus or atheists. The argument against Christ because of the behavior of a few is flawed, if not ridiculous. Horses have killed people, so will I never own a horse? Electricity has killed people; do I not want electricity in my house? Cars kill people; should I never own a car? Doctors have immoral procedures; will I never go to a doctor? People kill people; should I never listen to another person? The Crusades took place; I will refuse any contact with Christianity. It is absurd. The issue is not the Crusades; the issue is pride, which no argument will break, for by its very nature pride is blindness that only Jesus can break through. Before a word is spoken to a proud person, it is predetermined that it will not be received. The only reason for speaking to such a one about it is the revelation of his heart and a coming judgment.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

One thing the Apostle Paul had “laid hold of”: the scales had been removed from Paul’s eyes and he had seen and trusted Jesus to be his Savior.  Holy Spirit had given Paul the capacity to see and know that Jesus IS “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” and that “no man cometh unto the Father, but by (Him).”

Michael makes an important point…”those who do not believe in Christianity have ready examples,” (that they feel worthy of) “exempting them from having to question their own lives and allow them to discount Jesus and every positive example of believers.”  All the while, “the unbelieving world stands on the backs of the believers, reaps the benefit of believers, and makes their complaint against the believers.”

But the heart of Michael’s writing today is summed up: “The issue is not the Crusades; the issue is pride, which no argument will break, for by its very nature pride is blindness that only Jesus can break through. Before a word is spoken to a proud person, it is predetermined that it will not be received.”

Four of my most favorite verses are 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (1^st verses I ever preached a sermon on...titled: “The Lost Don’t Know They Are Lost!”):  “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

These verses shed light (no pun intended!) on exactly what Michael has pointed out so well: a LOST person (Unbeliever) does not, and cannot, “see” Truth.  They are blinded by the god of this world.  And there is no extreme to which an Unbelieving Mind will go to believe a Lie, or to give examples (which ARE arguments which are flawed, if not ridiculous) of the behavior of a few as to “reasons” they will not believe in Christ or Christianity.  Sad, but reality.  We must pray for the scales to be removed from their eyes!

Can I hear an “amen” to what happened in your life to become a Believer: For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  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

(email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 146 - The Cross And The Flesh Pool

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 242

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

A great truth is this: what we perceive, we believe.  With this in mind, think about your perceptions of life as you read Michael’s perceptions of life, particularly the flesh’s involvement.

DAY 146

The Cross And The Flesh Pool

Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. --Philippians 2:6-8

Why would Jesus put His life in flesh? To answer that question we must ask another. Why did God put Jesus in flesh? The obvious reason is that He must dwell in the flesh, overcome it, and come back to dwell in our flesh as One who has already conquered. However, there is another reason. Being in the flesh would push Him to a moment-by-moment abiding in the Father. The flesh is permitted because it is used of God to push us to Him. Once we acknowledge that apart from Him we can do nothing, He then does everything. The flesh is only vexing if we do not want to be with Him and at the same time we do not want to walk in the flesh. They tell the story in Korea of an old man in the fish market. All the other vendors had big tanks, just like his, filled with fish, with this one exception: Their fish died as soon as they were put in the tank, and he sold his fish alive. Upon investigating, it was discovered that the old man had put in his tank the fish’s predator. By alertly swimming to stay away from the predator, the fish stayed alive and fresh. The flesh is just that for us. Truth is not only preached but demonstrated. In the state of recognizing abiding (again, abiding is not worked for but recognized), the flesh is not bothersome. Being in the likeness of a man, he emptied Himself, fell under God’s love, obeyed in everything, and there never was or has been a man on earth that had more joy.

I am happy that my flesh has driven me to God. When I empty myself, accept the death of the old “I” and let Him do everything, I feel like the happiest man on the earth. Ministry is pressure when a believer is bound in the power of a dead old “I” to create something that will please God. However, Jesus did not create ministry, He participated in it by letting God work the ministry through Him. I am not creating ministry; I am walking with Him, and of myself I can do nothing. Next, I stumble into a situation, and He is in me, ready to meet it. It is I, but not I! It is very easy to pray, “Jesus, like a Shepherd, lead me!” I have extended that attitude to my ministry. I do not have a big one-year, three-year, and five-year plan, but I do have a plan. Every morning I pray, “Jesus, like a Shepherd, lead me.” Over the years, through the experience of trying to minister in the power of the flesh and at the same time attempting to tame the flesh, I have been broken. The Lord used my flesh to bring me to the place I am today, where I can say, “Apart from You I can do nothing,” and, “Jesus, like a Shepherd, lead me.” The failings from trusting my old dead “I” have caused me to rest and wait on the new “I” to act. If ever I lose this attitude, the flesh is there to make me miserable and, in so doing, drive me back to Him.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Merriam-Webster online dictionary: “perceive” - to attain awareness or understanding of.  to regard as being such.  to become aware of through the senses; especially: see, observe.

Perception is important.  What we perceive, we believe.  What we believe, we act upon.  Therefore, it is important to know that we are affecting our actions in regard to spiritual matters by how we perceive truth God has given us.

Michael gives us one of the most dramatic differences that all Christians must take into consideration: “our flesh” works for us, or can cause great problems for us.  He gives us God’s purpose and use for allowing “flesh” to remain in us (Believers) after our New Birth.  The question is: do we know this, recognize this, and use this to our benefit, or let it make us miserable to the point of detraction and disruption of abiding?

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

(email) leemccm@gmail.com        936-559-5696

P.O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, TX  75963

Day 142 - How, Exactly, Do I Abide in Christ?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 241

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

Michael started his book out (Day 1) with saying, “Having spoken through hundreds of interpreters in nearly that many languages, I consistently find that the hardest word in the Bible to translate (my underlining to emphasize) is abiding.”  This day he talks about how to do it.  Interesting thoughts…

DAY 142

How, Exactly, Do I Abide in Christ?

Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.”

--Luke 9:23, 24

Abiding in Christ is something that every believer has experienced, and yet it seems most difficult to maintain. I have been asked, “What do you struggle with?” Like all teachers I struggle with the thing I most often teach, abiding! All of my other failures originate from this one. When Christ is my focus, nothing really bothers me, and when He is not, the smallest event can create a spiritual domino effect. So the question, “How, exactly, do I abide?” is a significant one.  

Let me share a few insights. First, abiding is not something that we do but the awareness that we trust the Lord completely. Psalm 139:7, “Or where can I flee from Thy presence?” Second, abiding is not dependent on us but on Christ, so it is a faith issue. He is the One keeping us in the abiding relationship, the branches in the Vine. Third, if we do not know how to set our minds on things above, then we can at least discover what it is to set our minds on the flesh and refuse to do it! Examine Luke 9:23 to understand the flesh, and if we say no to every opportunity to set our minds on it, by default the mind must go to the spirit. Fourth, abiding is the beginning point of an abundant spiritual life; therefore, all powers meet at this point. When forces would move you from your position in Him, do not succumb to the voice that whispers, “It does not work; it is not for you. You are exactly where you were years ago!” Once I was in a boat that capsized, and I was pulled under the water. I did not immediately begin to think, Well, I guess I will never have air again! Air sure does not last very long; it sure is not worth the effort of breathing! No, no, no! All I thought about was getting back to where there was air. We are not to let failure move us away. Rather, we can get back, start breathing again, and let our focus rest in Christ.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Michael’s 1^st insight, “abiding is not something that we do but the awareness that we trust the Lord completely,” draws me completely to the description Jesus made in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.”  Every branch knows it is completely dependent upon the vine for everything.  The vine does, the branch trusts.

Every faith issue is totally about “believing” and “trusting”…our work.  Christ’s faith is a gift to us for believing and trusting (Romans 12:3).

An abundant spiritual life is Christ’s Life.  His Life lived out through us by our abiding is what Jesus told us in John 10:10 that He came to provide for us.  His abundant Life.  Any other “life” is flesh.

So, as Michael points out, abiding is a focus in Christ, which highlights that everything is not dependent on us but on Christ.  Abiding is simple, isn’t it?  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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 141 - Hopeless

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 240

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

Hopelessness, what a state of mind to be in.  Yet, Michael points out one of life’s greatest truths in this day's writing…how to step out of hopelessness.

DAY 141

Hopeless

. . . having no hope and without God in the world. –Ephesians 2:12

I was standing talking with one of the brothers in Odessa at the Black Sea when a very old, neatly dressed, small woman with a cane approached and began to speak. Though I did not understand her Ukrainian words, I understood her look, one that vexes me more than any other and is observable in many parts of the world. I have seen hunger, emotional hurt, desperation, panic, fear, and anger written all over people’s faces, but this one look captures my attention, disturbs my spirit, and causes sleeplessness. The look is that of hopelessness, a blank stare seeming to convey a feeling akin to what would be experienced if a person were walking alone on a country road at night surrounded by fog, in a deep darkness like Pharaoh experienced, a darkness that could be felt! I reached in my pocket and gave her five dollars, nearly one month’s retirement pension. Her face remained expressionless as the tears formed in her eyes. She grasped my hand and kissed it, then turned and walked away. I despise hopelessness, especially when I see it on the face of a believer. What is its primary cause? “Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is set on Thee” (Isaiah 26:3). When a believer lacks hope and peace, the first question that is to be asked is, “What is your mindset?” There is no peace when the mind is set on oneself. When the mind is set on Jesus, its true dwelling place, we have peace and hope. His presence brings hope. But no one need take my word for it when he can so easily find out for himself.          

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

That great truth Michael points out begins with the opposite of what the text scripture describes.  The text: “without God in the world.”  The truth begins: “with God…”

If we will but soak on the last 6 sentences, we would find Jesus, our hope.  And as Michael points out, don’t take anyone’s word for it…each of us must find out for ourselves.

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 140 - Holy Terror

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 239

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

Michael speaks of something not many Christians give a moment’s thought to: to come into contact with pure holiness and light is, on the “fright scale,” much worse for the children of the Light, than darkness.  God’s Awesomeness is more powerful than we give credit to.

DAY 140

Holy Terror

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" --Revelation 6:15-17

There is a magnificent cathedral in Hamburg, Germany, called St. Michael’s. What I like the most is that adorning the front of the church is the statue of the fallen angel Lucifer, so muscular, so full of anger, so frightening, and yet lying flat on the ground, wings broken, and a foot on his neck! Towering above him is Archangel Michael with his shining, peaceful countenance. He holds his enemy down with one foot and points a spear, which is the cross, at the head of Satan. The scene is awing to behold. It is more correct to portray one angel defeating another than to portray God fighting something that is created, but it got me thinking how we are so fearful of darkness, things that go thump in the night, and evil. Many movies and books have been developed to play on these fears. As children we would see “The Mummy” or “Werewolf” and not sleep for several nights. However, those things are not as frightful as God. To come in contact with darkness does not frighten the children of the light, but to come in contact with pure holiness and light is, on the fright scale, much worse. 

We learned early on in life that contrast makes us uncomfortable. For instance, teenagers offer free cigarettes to their friends who do not want to smoke. What will the greatest contrast be like when man stands before a light so pure that it will seek out every bit of darkness? Each dark spot in man will be burning like a red-hot ember! We need a good movie to be made about real fear that comes from seeing holiness, from seeing God. 

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Years ago, some were preaching and drawing attention to a particular question: How BIG is your God?  That’s a question that needs answering.  Just as how HOLY is your God?  What is it like coming into contact with the Light and Holiness of your God?

Our answers give insight into whether we have seen “that movie,” or not.

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 139 - Heavy Loads

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 238

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

If the subject of today’s writing wasn’t so serious, it would be hilarious.  How can man get life so out of kilter?  Oh, Michael explains how…and HOW we can stop the insanity.

DAY 139

Heavy Loads

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you. --I Thessalonians 4:11

“Do not let down and do not stop working; the time is near!” “Are you doing all you can? People are dying, so where is your vision for missions? Get up! Go around the block preaching; there are those in your neighborhood who need saving!” “How can you enjoy your sandwich in the restaurant? Do you not know that sinners surround you?” “You only have so much time; do not waste it on anything but ministry!” Blah . . . blah . . . blah!

Usually we hear such things from someone who is in “full-time ministry” with no other job commitments. In the majority of the places to which I travel, those with whom I minister have full-time jobs and consider all of their activities to be an extension of ministry. “Ministry” must be redefined; it is not constant talking! Saint Francis said that we are to do everything possible to share the message of Jesus Christ, and then if we absolutely have to, say something! That is an overstatement, since the world must see but also must hear. The beauty of our “religion” is that we do not have to get out of the world, like the Buddhist, in order for it to work. It works right where we work! We do not have to move up a priestly ladder climbing toward heavenly work and moving away from earthly work. Our faith has its impact in the everyday tasks. As we live in Him and He lives through us, life’s activities are filled with Him. I Corinthians 10:31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Paul did not separate our work under the headings of “secular” and “religious”; he combined it with the use of one word, all. “Do all to the glory of God.” Separation of the all that a believer does has led many to feel as though they are second-class believers, who then become dissatisfied with their vocations while looking for “the great Christian someday,” a day when ministry will fulfill them. Considering the list of admonitions at the start of this article, how do any of them apply to the first thirty years of the Savior’s life? He had a Kingdom to start, apostles to train, the whole of mankind to save, and yet for years He continued to work at a carpenter’s bench! In Him we see that the life of heaven and the life of earth can become one in the daily tasks of humanity. I remember succumbing to the teaching that spirituality equals activity. I felt condemned if I were not witnessing to everyone I met, yet the effort was rarely fruitful. I then discovered rest and became motivated to live for the glory of God. I stopped pressing for salvation decisions and began looking for ways to love. Rarely a week goes by that I do not find myself witnessing, but now it is natural, not contrived of my own doing, and it is fruitful. I love Christianity, for there is nothing else like it; it is unique, absolute, and it is the way.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Pretty easy, isn’t it?  Get rid of the activity, discover rest, live for the glory of God, find your life actually being His Life…natural, fruitful, unique, absolute…The Way.

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 138 - Healing

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 237

         

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 these thoughts in an easy manner.  If you are not getting these weekly postings via an email, go to the website: www.leemccm.blogspot.com …in the top right corner there is a place to register to receive each post.

Michael gives us some great “steps” to recognize, acknowledge, and follow when we  encounter, either personally or of a loved one, a terminal illness.  It will do us good to soak on what Michael gives us this “day.”

DAY 138

Healing

Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. --John 16:24

Though death is something everyone will experience, it is written within man not to obsess on death lest he get nothing else done. He would not get in an automobile, join the army, take an airplane trip, or go ice skating or hunting because of the thought that those activities could lead to death. Often the closest we come to confronting our own mortality is when we experience firsthand the terminal illness of a loved one. In this situation, what is the sick one to do? First, he recognizes that death is an enemy. Many believers submit to death rather than fight it. An elderly saint told me that he did not want to die yet and be with the Lord in heaven. “It has taken eighty-five years to learn what I have about Christ and the Christian life. I want to stick around and share it with as many young believers as I can.” To that I say, “Amen!” Second, the ill person can discern if God has, indeed, told him that it is time to leave and go be with Him. These first two issues are crucial for him to deal with.

What are those of us who love the ill one to do? It should not come as a shock that anyone is dying, "inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once” (Hebrews 9:27). Since we are all born to die, we must see that the process toward death and what the process accomplishes are actually more important issues than death itself. First, we are to pray with absolute confidence for the loved one's healing. I prayed for the healing of my grandmother, grandfather, and mother right up to the very moment that they passed away. Why? Praying for the sick is commanded, and if I pray in faith, even though the person is not healed, I enter into the category of the “others” of Hebrews 11:39: “Having gained approval through their faith, [they] did not receive what was promised.” Frankly, though the physicians diagnose, God will have the last word. I will pray, and if I do not receive that for which I ask, I will continue to trust and love God.

Second, every event in life occurs to create faith, and we are not of those who rebel against faith. As a young parent I had to come to grips with my inability to be omnipresent for my children. I began to be full of fear of the park, of their walking to school, of the bullies, and of influences in homes that I could not control. One day, on my knees, I acknowledged, “Lord, these are Your children. Thank You that You watch over them and allow nothing to enter their lives that will not be used by You.” My eyes and heart could rest. The loved one is the Lord's, but we forget! What is coming into the ill person’s life has first passed through His hands and will be used for His purposes. What we see is part of a necessary process. At this point in my life there is absolutely not one single thing that has happened to me that I would change. All of it has been for my good. God shows no partiality, and everything that happens to the ill person is for his good. This awareness stirs faith. If the end of illness is death, then a loved one has gone to be with the Lord. I have a friend who loves hunting and was able to take a trip to Africa to hunt. When asked where my friend was, I would say with excitement, “He is hunting in Africa!” I said it with a lift in my voice, for I was happy for him. To say a loved one is with the Lord is not a depressing statement.

Third, we come to understand that we all need suffering. In the one who is ill, suffering is good preparation for the laying aside of the worn-out body that had heretofore encased the soul and spirit but is not suited for heaven. Suffering brings the greater acceptance of the temporal, for though much of life has consisted of the physical, the suffering person is ready to lay aside the body and leave the material world. At the same time, watching the suffering of a loved one prepares us to let go of him more willingly. I have known many who have lost a loved one instantly through something like an auto accident or suicide (there is also a process, which we have not discussed here, for those who undergo instant death), and those understandably need a more extended process of letting go after the fact of death. In the end, we see that God is, in fact, in all things. “Thou dost make Him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet” (Psalm 8:6).

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

With Christ as our Life (Colossians3-4 and others), filled with His Spirit, “we” will ask “in Christ’s Name” and whatever life brings our way, we will “receive (from Him), that our joy may be made full.”  Don’t you like that word, “made”?

Nothing puts everything into proper perspective like seeing that God is, in fact, in ALL things.  Thank you, Michael for this reminder.  Thank You, God, for Your words in Psalm 8:6.

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

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