Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 146
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.
A
lot of Christians misunderstand the teaching of Scripture about God’s thoughts
& God’s ways in comparison to man’s thoughts & man’s ways. Yes, His are “higher” and “not man’s,” but a
Christian is not “just” a man, and not “just” with the mind of man. A Christian is not “just” a human. A Christian is a child of God with the Mind
of Christ as well as the human mind he was born with. A Christian CAN come to know the thoughts and
ways of God. Michael points out once
more (this time from something Paul wrote Timothy) the tragedy of being a
Christian and thinking and acting “just” like a man…
DAY 110
Get Off Of The Throne!
Do not lay hands upon anyone {too} hastily and
thus share {responsibility for} the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin. –I Timothy 5:22
Society has worked overtime to relieve
humanity from personal responsibility. However, when we are not personally
responsible, we hold others accountable for our behavior. Conversely, there are always blame-takers, those
who are willing to take responsibility for others’ actions. I often find
parents who take complete responsibility for their adult children’s behavior,
husbands and wives who confess to wrongdoing after being let down by their
mates, neighbors who believe they could have prevented a divorce or suicide,
and believers who think that with effort they could have prevented the failure
of another.
Paul makes it clear that it is error to
take responsibility hastily, for we can unconsciously share in another’s sin by
jumping in to help someone. People-pleasers want to
help by rushing in to prop someone up, to make him feel better, to give him
position that God is not giving, and, consequently, to participate in the sin
of another. When the
believer so identifies with others that he takes responsibility for their
actions, he presumptuously seats himself on the throne of God without the power
of God. To play God
without His outlook and resources is a frustrating role, for a man judges what
he thinks he needs to do and has nothing with which to do it. No believer can
play the Holy Spirit, for
it is His job to convict of sin and, with the conviction, bring power to
overcome.
Anxiety will naturally increase for the
believer caught up in responsibility. The only solution is to rest in God
and step off of His throne. The believer can easily relinquish responsibility for others if he
remembers that if he cannot change one hair of his own head from black to
white, and so he has no chance of changing others, except through prayer.
Prayer of this type is
soothing, for it releases the believer from responsibility and gives all of the
burdens to God. Prayer
makes God not a partner, not a participant, but the One now solely responsible,
and a Christian can
return to living the life of a sparrow.
We must not let the carnal fill our
backpacks with bricks of obligations to which we must attend as they encourage
us to act, when we can do the hardest work a Christian can do, which is to
trust God for the changes needed in everyone, even in ourselves.
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
Don’t you like the simple, straight-forward truths of God, and the
applications Michael gives us in relating to “personal responsibility” and even
“anxiety.” I get so excited and have
such great peace every time I open Michael’s book and search the pages I have
read time and again…and God leads me to select one we haven’t looked at…and I
see how it is so “time-appropriate” in either my life or someone I am fortunate
to be ministering with. My hope is that
it is the same with one of you who has been led of God to see and read these
weekly writings, no matter where you are in the world.
This week it seems there were so many wonderful truths that I wanted to
come up with a different color than I have noted at the bottom of Michael’s
writing, and “just” color the WHOLE day’s writing!!!
Society’s misleading, not taking personal responsibility, blame-takers,
sharing another’s sin, anxiety, and ultimately recognizing we are getting on
His throne is a constant in too many Christian’s lives today. Well, amen.
Michael gives us the simple way off God’s throne! I’m copying this day’s writing and carrying
it around with me!
p.s. IF you don’t have one of
Michael’s My Weakness For His Strength
books, let me encourage you to contact ALMI and get one TODAY!
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
No comments:
Post a Comment