Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 104
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 the weekly thoughts
I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner
Faith
versus works…the age-old battle in Christianity. The spiritual versus the physical. Michael Wells gives a clear, uncomplicated,
direct discourse on how man can choose to position himself against God in the
everyday issues of life.
DAY 89
Faith Versus Works in Discipleship
However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith
on the earth? --Luke 18:8
Two ways problems can be approached are from a position
of works—as in, “What must I do to improve the
situation?”--or from a
place of faith: “What must I believe and what must the Lord do to
resolve the predicament?” A
works position is based on unbelief, and the cause of misery is believed to be
a wrong choice, lack of natural love, another person, finances, or a myriad of
other natural events. The search for a solution lends itself to thoughts
of, “What should I do?” or “What should I do if others are making me
miserable?” The person
attacking problems from a position of works has not yet come to believe that
the nearness of Jesus will cure all of his ills, so he labors with the notion
that Jesus will not help his particular circumstance. Since Jesus is not
perceived to be the answer, he has moved into unbelief, and it is unbelief that will always ask
him to do something.
Often I hear, “I
just do not love my wife.” Of course, this statement really means, “I find my
mate unlovable, and she must change before she can be lovable to me.” However,
it is my experience that once there exists an attitude of, “I do not love you,”
no amount of change on the part of the mate or hours of personal discipleship
will affect that attitude. “Trouble lies not in the trouble but in the heart’s
attitude toward the trouble.” The works person would always rather examine the problem over and over
again and skirt the issue of any wrong attitude of his own toward the trouble.
Analyzing the problem allows
the focus to be on someone or something else; examining the attitude puts the
focus squarely on him.
I am
not saying that the problem is not significant, but on a scale of one to ten,
the problem may be a one to God and a ten in our attitude toward it. The problem and the attitude are
two separate issues; the
works person wants to make them one to keep attitude and personal
responsibility from ever being addressed, while in truth, attitude is the
greater issue. During
a person’s first discipleship session, I will explore his mindset in detail
before addressing the problems. Once his way of thinking has been exposed, the
problems become a lesser issue. In subsequent weeks if the person
continues to rehash the problems, I know that our first discussion never really
sank in. It is only as a
person places his confidence in another, in Jesus, that he will move into the
problem, through the problem, and out on the other side.
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
One could easily ask why it is that man (and we are talking particularly
Christians here) seems to “always” choose to deal with the physical instead of
the spiritual when facing life’s problems.
The answer seems to be very simple:
1.
The person has
not yet come to believe that the nearness of Jesus will cure all his ills.
2.
The person
chooses to act from unbelief instead of belief
3.
The person does
not want to focus on their attitude or their own personal responsibility and
allow them to become the greater issue.
Hey…who doesn’t want to put the focus on someone else…or something
else?!? Oh… the person wanting to place
his confidence in Jesus.
Actually, it is truth that too many in Christianity have been taught to
face the physical, and not the spiritual.
The teaching that “faith” is “what do I believe about God” is a foreign
concept is most Christian circles. The
focus is usually “I’ve got to get more faith,” and then immediately one turns
to “works.”
To access ALL past weekly
blogs, go to Living
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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
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