Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 113
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.
Michael
has been the best at drawing our attention to the error of our ways at always
giving credence to that crazy “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” How much will it take for God to get our
attention and our acknowledgement that we do not need to go there?!?
Isn’t
it remarkable that the command NOT to eat from that tree has NEVER been
resented?!? Why is that? And, then WHY do we go and start eating from
it?!?
Well,
Michael gives us some outstanding thoughts on how to deal with this…
DAY 262
The
Command Never Resented
But from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. --Genesis
2:17
The command not to eat from the tree of good and evil has
never been resented. We are not to eat from the tree. If we do, we will split in
two and be bound to circumstances. If it is good to win a million
dollars, it must also be true that it is bad not to win the million. Once I make a judgment about what is
good or bad, I hang myself with consequences. Jesus said, “There is none
good but God.” If we
refuse to recognize what is good and evil and only see God, we will not be
bound to circumstances. Do we really know what is good or evil? We say,
"Have a good morning!” Do we know what a good morning would be? We assume
that we do, and after all, we do not like saying, “Have an evil morning.” But
if this is the morning that someone gets so depressed that he cannot stand it
any longer, cries out to God, and gives his life to Jesus, is that a bad
morning? We must just see God.
In India the story is
told of a man whose only son broke his leg and could not help in the fields.
Everyone said, “That is bad.” The father responded, “It may be good or it may
be bad; only God knows.” The next day the army took all of the young men in the
village to fight a battle in which they were all killed, but the man’s son was
left behind because of the broken leg. The people responded, “That was good
that your son broke his leg.” The man again responded, “It may be good or it
may be bad; only God knows.” The story continues on for some time through
various twists and turns, but it makes the clear point that we know nothing of the purpose
of a natural occurrence at its beginning. The end of the natural is often the supernatural action of
God.
The “good” or the “bad” happens not in order to signal
God’s pleasure or displeasure; rather, all that takes place in the natural is
God’s working the supernatural into believers. We must be silent until we see the
end. We do not immediately jump to conclusions when we see failure in a
family, a relationship, health, or finances. It may be God’s working in the
natural. This is not a contradiction to what is taught in Psalms and
Deuteronomy, for we do know that obedience brings a blessing and disobedience a
curse. When we are
abiding, we often have that sense of how the forces in the world are actually
nudging us along, and, as I have stated in the past, I feel certain that,
generally speaking, believers have fewer flat tires. However, the Book
of Job clears up any misconception that horrific occurrences in the life of a
good man indicate that the man is evil. Nor do the failures of others close to
us point toward life’s judging them. It can mean that God is working through
the evil for all of our good. Job’s friends made a wrong assumption. The
greater includes the lesser: If
one submits to God, he will automatically resist the devil. God created
the being that eventually became Satan and therefore is the greater, and He
will use the lesser for all of His purposes. In faith we can stop making judgments and just see Him.
The wonder of our God is that He
“causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to His purposes” (Romans 8:28), and that means
"good" according to His definition
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
Don’t you just love God’s promises…something that tells us of His
character and one more thing we can trust Him for! He causes ALL things… Not most, not just the ones we can “accept,”
not just the “good” things…
And how unfathomable is it that “all that takes place in the natural is
God’s working the supernatural into believers”?
Unfathomable. Deep. Heavy.
Awesome!
A couple of things really grabbed my attention…first, if we eat from that crazy tree, “we will split in two and be bound to
circumstances.” How many people do we
know suffer from despondency and depression just from being “bound to
circumstances,” those disgusting (repulsive, sickening, stomach-churning)
circumstances? Second, Michael tells me that “I hang myself with
circumstances.” What kind of deal is
that!?! How CRAZY can I be?!? Third,
I can “refuse to recognize what is good and evil and only see God,” and “not be
bound to circumstances…I must just see God.”
Fourth, “the end of the
natural is often the supernatural action of God.” Fifth,
it is as easy as being “silent until we see the end.” Sixth,
“in faith I can stop making judgments and just see Him (God).”
Do you and I THINK we can do as Michael tells us? The Bible tells us we can…Philippians 4:13. Let’s try it!
Wait a minute...why is this command NEVER resented? Flesh is energized by any command "not to"!
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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
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