Day 220 - Persecution

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 30

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

It is the week of Easter, 2013.  So we have the excruciating crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ coupled with His exhilarating resurrection.  I see Jesus all throughout Michael’s words of Day 220 reminding me of the victory won on that old rugged Cross 2,000 years ago.

DAY 220

Persecution

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. --II Corinthians 12:10

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. --Philippians 4:11

In general, people being persecuted are ushered off to a remote place, a factory, or a small cell of isolation where there is no need for them to have daily concerns about providing for a normal lifestyle. It does no good to concern themselves with food, clothing, family, friends, work, heat, or electricity. So in the case of Christians, what normally would take attention away from Christ flies to the background as in essence they are cut off from everything but Him. This accomplishes the exact opposite of the end desired by the persecutors, because far from being a punishment, persecution actually causes believers to experience Jesus in a far more unhindered nearness. This testimony is heard often from those who have experienced persecution. 

Why bring up such a subject? Many believe that the end is near since there are many interesting signs taking place, one sign being the promise of persecution for our faith. I have noticed that the end result of this speculation for many is fear of the future, fear of the enemy, feelings of hopelessness, loss of control, and a clamoring to be prepared. There is no need to worry that the end of life is to be centered in fear, for the believer who has been able to stand against the anti-Christ movement in television, media, schools, music, politics, and morals need not perceive the standing against persecution “as though some strange thing were happening to” him (I Peter 4:12). I have often wondered which would be worse, to be ushered off to a prison camp or to have one’s child tell him that he has listened to the teachers at school and decided that he is homosexual. Will it not be easier to suffer for the name of Christ than to watch a beloved child suffer in sin? Not only will God give grace needed at the time, but the believer will grow during the time of physical persecution, learning that when he is weak, then He is strong, and experiencing the freedom of self-denial while following Jesus down a road he had always thought too difficult. Do not be filled with fear, for God always gives the provision where needed. 

In our earthly minds we would never want persecution, nor “wish” it upon anyone else.  Yet Got tells us through the Apostle Paul that this is one of the greatest of life’s experiences leading us to dependence on Him.  Wow!

Have you read 1 Peter 4:12-14 closely and soaked on those words?  “Rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.”  Oh, my.  How beautiful is that!

Michael makes a very profound statement: “not only will God give grace needed at the time.”  If we Believers would only believe that, and know that God will “perform” at the time of our need.  Fear, of the nature mentioned, is not of Christ.  Why?  There is nothing the nearness of Christ cannot overcome.  Vintage MW.

But look at Michael’s next words…”the believer will grow.”  Amen!  As Michael used to point out, the church needs a “ministry of weakness.”  Many are not “growing” because of pride and self and avoidance of suffering and weakness.  A beloved teacher, Dr. T. W. Hunt, once pointed out that “identification with Christ is the highest life principle in the Bible.”  Identification is experiencing Christ.  When we are “partakers of Christ’s sufferings…reproached for the name of Christ,” we are identifying ourselves with Him.  It is the key to God’s glory…the key to God being glorified through His Saints.

Have no fear, dear Christian.  God WILL give every provision when needed.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

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

Day 100 - Flesh Is the Opposite of Faith

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 29

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

I wonder how many Christians think of “flesh” being the opposite of “faith”?  I wonder still…how many Christians have a decent idea of what “flesh” is in the Bible?  To take it a little further…how many Christians have a biblical idea of what “faith” is when God speaks of it?  Let’s see if Michael has something to say about any of that…

DAY 100

Flesh Is The Opposite Of Faith

Now faith is the assurance of {things} hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

        Hebrews 11:1

Flesh and faith are opposites. In the flesh, we will have no hope; we will despair of our situation and believe that all things justify that. Faith has hope in all things. The man of faith has hope for the marriage; the woman of faith is filled with expectation for what God can do. Flesh will only believe what is seen; faith believes what has been given but cannot be seen in the individual’s life.

The fruit of the Spirit is also the opposite of flesh, which may attempt to imitate fruit of the Spirit in the power of self. It is hard to grasp, but a fleshly person is one who attempts to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in the power of self. The fruit of the Spirit must come naturally and must be genuine. See how plastic the Hare Krishna folks, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, Humanists, and all other cults look when trying to manifest the fruit of the Spirit? Flesh is attempting to look good, but it is flesh nonetheless, and it has Christians working for what has already been given. This work, the opposite of faith, keeps us from experiencing what is only given by faith. To have failed, and then to punish ourselves in order to have God see us, and to plead with Him for restoration, is working in unbelief for what we have already freely been given. The work is keeping us so busy that we do not have time to stop and recognize that we were never cut off. It can sound so good to work for the things of God, to attempt to take hold of them in our power, but remember, the best of the flesh is the worst of it. Flesh is the opposite of faith.

      (underlining is my emphasis)

On a couple of other “days” Michael has defined “flesh” as:  “The flesh is the body, mind, will, and emotions of man under the control of something other than Jesus.”  Very simple.  Very exact. 

Let’s itemize some important truths Michael lists above:

1.  Flesh and faith are opposites.
2.  There is no hope in flesh.
3.  Faith has hope in all things.
4.  Faith is Hebrews 11:1.
5.  Faith believes what has been given.
     (whoa!  That’s a mouth full.  “what has been given.”  Think about that.  Faith is in something God has given us, even though we may not have “received” it yet…in other words, haven’t “seen” it yet.  FAITH IS NOT “just hoping” for something, or “claiming” it.)
6.  Faith is given.

        (wait a minute!  I don’t have to “work up” faith?!?  Nope.  It is a “given.”  BIG truth!  God gives faith to His kids WHEN we believe Him.  We believe, He gives faith to secure/lock-in our believing…it has become a conviction!  Check it out throughout Scripture…God gives faith.  Man does not, and cannot, “work up”/”create”/”do enough” to get faith.  It is always a gift from God.)

     Illus: when I believed in my spirit the record God has given of His Son, Jesus, and believed Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Him,” (my “believing” is rock solid because it is founded on The Solid Rock), THEN God gave me His Faith to secure my belief…no moving from believing that Truth…remember, it had become a conviction.  AND, God goes one step further, He gave me, the new Believer, the gift of The Holy Spirit to seal my new faith and my salvation (eternal life).  Wow!  (there are more “gifts” that come with the Holy Spirit, but they are “after” the moment of salvation).  DO BELIEVERS HAVE FAITH that we will go to Heaven one day?  Absolutely.  Why?  Because God has promised it.  We believed His promise.  He has secured it in our hearts with His Faith…no shaking that or moving us from it!

7.  We Believers should give up trying to “work for” (in unbelief) something that God has already given us!  AND THAT INCLUDES EVERYTHING AFTER SALVATION…

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

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

Day 324 - What Do You Really Want From Me? Obedience?

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 28

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

This is a very profound “day.”  There is so much to “highlight” because one statement after another gives us so much insight into the wrong perceptions way too many Christians have about “what” God wants from us.  As you read the following, ask God to really open your hearts to His truth for you…

Day 324

What Do You Really Want From Me? Obedience?

He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?  --Micah 6:8

We always seem to make obedience the object of the Christian life, but obedience, as we think of it, is not the goal. Actually, God is certainly able to make us obedient if that is what He wants! He made Jonah obey, He made Paul obedient, and He made Pharaoh comply. He knows how to make us bow the knee, but that cannot be His preferred manner of receiving obedience. Paul says to imitate him because he imitated Jesus. Just what did he imitate? It was the fruit and root of Christ’s life that Paul was imitating. The fruit came naturally when the root was tended to, that root being dependence on Christ, just as Christ was dependent on the Father. So first we must define what we are to imitate, for attempting to keep the commandments of Christ without dependence on Him will lead to legalism, frustration, condemnation, and death. In the order of things God has told us what He wants from us: “To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!” I would like to focus on one thing, how to love kindness. It is an absolute that we are to love kindness. That means we must love the kindness that He has shown us, for if we cannot see that, how will we love it and show it to others? Basking in the mercy He has shown us will enable us to become intimately acquainted with it. Do you love or hate mercy and kindness? Many self-righteous believers actually hate it; in their flesh they want to be stronger so as never to be in need of mercy and kindness, and since they have avoided it, they cannot give it to others.  (also, because they think that if they are kind to a bunch of folks in sin, they are appearing to “agree” with the sin – condoning it)   Only in failure does the Lord reveal it to us. I can rightly say to the Christian whose failure has led to depression, “You do not love mercy and kindness, and you have never met them.”


We are to glorify the Lord. The word glorify means “to show forth what is true about,” and we are to show what is true about the Lord. What is true about Him? He is love, mercy, grace, kindness, and more. We show that this is true by believing and receiving it. In our failures people will see that one thing true about God is that we only rely on His righteousness and His extension of mercy to us. I know a pastor who begged for mercy from his congregation, they showed him none, and subsequently every man in that group encountered an untimely demise or unwieldy suffering. We take too lightly not our failures but our showing forth what is true about God. An old preacher started a meeting by telling something of his moral failures and then saying, “We are taking a break. You now know what kind of man I am in the flesh. If you want to leave, no one would blame you.” I wanted to stay! I could see that he had received something that I wanted, the mercy to be forgiven and the grace to carry on! Well, amen, who is like our God?

(underlining my emphasis)

I was sort of astounded when I first read Michael’s words (the ones I have underlined) speaking of Christians who have never “met” mercy and kindness.  Then I started thinking…every legalistic Christian I have known who has been so absorbed with the flesh has showed very little mercy or kindness to others whose flesh has controlled or gotten the best of them.  Amazing…to see that wanting the flesh to be so strong can lead someone to not want or need mercy and kindness.  Wow.  How many Believers are on the “obedience” treadmill?

Simply put…most Christians worry about the “fruit” more than the “root.”  It is why so many never understand (and enjoy) the “Vine & branches” truths in John 15.  And so much of it hinges on a misunderstanding of that one word: “obedience.”  As Michael points out, “Obedience, as we think of it, is not the goal.”

What do most think of when they hear or think of obedience ?  “I’ve got to do…perform, etc.  It’s everything in God’s eyes.”  What does God really want from us?  BELIEVE.  That’s what Jesus told the ones seeking Him in Capernaum (John 6:24-29).  That’s what Paul told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:26-33.  All throughout Scripture, it is “believe and receive.”  So, to obey is to believe and receive, then watch the “root” bring forth “fruit.”  In fact, “believing and receiving” leads to God imparting faith.   It is His preferred manner of receiving obedience.   Christ works upon our obedient believing.  The goal is always JESUS!  The focus must be on Him.  Don’t I remember Michael saying something about the “hands” and focusing???

Think about it: under the Mosaic Law, was the power in the sacrifice, the water, the ashes, the sprinkling, etc., etc.?  No.  The power was in God who granted the cleansing through the person’s obedient believing, which trusted God.  This is what Michael told folks for years and years.  We “do” FROM, not in order to GET TO.  We believe God, and He does the work through us.

Think about it: the power was always in God Who “worked” when people exhibited obedient believing, because they trusted God…trusted His Word…trusted His promises.  It is the same way today.  There is a much stronger connection between believing and obedience than most give credit to.

Listen, if it is not of Him, it is of flesh.

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

 Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

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

Day 123 - Grace

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 27

     

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

Definitions of “grace.”  Since we rise and fall with our word definitions, it is a tragedy that so many Christians are living with an inadequate definition of “grace” that has been around for so long. 

For who knows how many years, Christians have been living with the following definition of “grace”: “God’s unmerited favor.”  That is a great thought.  But everything we have from God is “God’s unmerited favor.”  Not just “grace,” but everything.  In fact, it is what "grace" is that comprises the "everything" that makes "grace" come alive for us, and not just a definition!

Michael’s words here take us to a different perspective than millions have been aware of, and the Truth that changes Christian’s lives as much as anything!

Day 123

Grace

Though He scoffs at the scoffers, yet He gives grace to the afflicted. --Proverbs 3:34

There is much written about grace today. Not that my two cents amounts to much, but I wanted to give my definition of grace. It need not be preached, but it has been proven through the experience of many believers. 

Grace: At my point of need, God is everything to me that I thought He was not! 

Moses had spent forty years being trained to be everything that accompanied being a young man of the royal family; he was equipped to be a god, a Pharaoh. He spent another forty years in the wilderness discovering what he was not. Finally, he was prepared to lead, having realized that he was a "not." God told him what to go do, and Moses accurately responded, "I am not able." God’s response was, “What is that to Me? I AM!”

God is to me all that I am not. First I must acknowledge that I am a “not.” Next, He tells me what He is, which includes everything to me of which I might have need that I am not! I am not a good father, a good husband, a good Christian, or a good witness! This is my point of need. Grace comes and meets me at my point of need! I did not think He could be those things to me. However, as I recognize abiding, He is to me all that I thought that He was not. There is a life in me, His life, that is a good father, husband, and witness, and He is everything to me that I am not.

Look at what you are not. Do not determine to work harder, but call on the grace of God. At your point of need, He is everything to you that you thought He was not.

     (underlining is my emphasis)

There is nothing God is more willing to do than to give “grace” to those who seek Him.  Why?  Because “grace” is Him.  He gives Himself to whomever that wants Him.  Beautiful!

The walk of “grace” is the most comfortable, stress-free, beautiful life for any Christian.  Meditate on Michael’s words: “God is to me all that I am not.”  Wow!  What more could we want?!?  I don’t have to be…I get to receive.  “Grace comes and meets me at my point of need!”  Yes!  Me, a branch, abiding in The Vine, He flows through me to be all I need.  As Michael taught for so many years, just speak to the Lord and say, “Jesus, come and be my _______.”  (being a good Christian, father, husband, dad, brother, sister, friend, neighbor, employer, employee, …the list is endless!)  Those two words: “recognize abiding.”  That focus takes us to The Vine and allows His Life to flow through us.  Learn how to focus and “recognize abiding” like never before!!!

And the beauty of being a Christian is that we get to receive His being (not our having to be) any and all these things in and through us.  In East Texas right now we would shout out a big “hoooooo-boy!”  That’s our way of expressing great pleasure.  (the greater the pleasure, the more "o's" in "hoo...")

I remember hearing Michael saying these things, then being aware that “I thought ‘I’ had to be all those things…when ‘I’ couldn’t.”  I wanted Christ’s Life to become my life from then on.

What about you…can you admit you are a “not”?  Which “40 years” are you living in?  Trying to be equipped to be a person in The Royal Family, or discovering what you are not?

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point              Green – Incredible Truth             

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

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