Day 198 - Marriage Spiral

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength (Vol. 1) - # 267

         

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.

Leave it to Michael to address one of the least addressed truths of Scripture.  And he points us to God to see how this truth is manifested…

DAY 198

Marriage Spiral

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. --Genesis 2:24

One of the sure signs of oneness in marriage is our ability to make our mates miserable. When we think about other couples, their misery is not ours. That is, their mates do not make us unhappy. How could they? We are not one with them! Oneness is an interesting term in the Bible used to explain the body of Christ, our relationship with Jesus, His relationship with the Father, and, of course, marriage. The best illustration for oneness is found in a mixing bowl. When we place flour and sugar in the bowl and turn on the mixer, the flour and sugar become one. At that point it is impossible to separate the two. If we try to add food coloring only to the flour, we will find it quite impossible, for it has also united with the sugar. When we marry, God turns on the divine mixer and blends the couple together. Marriage is not an attempt by two individuals to live together; on the contrary, it is the death of individuality. As the beaters turn, either one throwing dirt at the other will find himself dirty as well. Even Satan recognizes this oneness, for he appeared before God requesting to destroy Job. God allowed Satan to proceed with the one condition that he could not take him. Satan subsequently took Job's flocks, children, servants, crops, wealth, and even his health. There was one thing that Satan did not take: his wife! Why not? Because even Satan knows that a man's wife is his very life, and he had been commanded not to take the life of Job. The wife was safe.

           

Many believers have marriages that suffer from what I call marriage spirals that occur when the conduct of one creates in the mate an abhorred behavior. For example, a husband is made to feel that he is a failure at home. This causes him to spend longer hours at work where he is appreciated, which causes him to be a greater failure at home, which in turn drives him feverishly into his work. To come out of the spiral, both must begin to relate to their mate differently, not on the basis of unconstructive behavior but on the basis of heart’s desire.

Do you know your mate's deepest heart desire? Ask him or her. You will be surprised. The believer's desire will be to be a blessing as a mate, to be a godly mate and parent, and even to make you happy.

The purpose of marriage is not to have someone to do for you; rather, it is so you have someone to do for. Happiness will only come as you love and do for others. Leave it to God to do for you. When asked to list the characteristics of a perfect spouse, most often people will list things only God can provide: love, listening, help, and patience. Notice that the feet needed to fill those shoes belong to Jesus. If you want a happy mate, then you must point your mate to Christ, who alone can meet those needs.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Perhaps “oneness in marriage” is one of the least addressed, studied, and understood key truths of God’s plan for husbands & wives.  Goodness, this is huge!

From a chronological standpoint, God’s declaration of “they will become one flesh” is only 55 VERSES into the Bible!  And God gives His “indissoluble union” idea of marriage…that is “oneness” to the “n”th degree.

Woman is absolutely essential to God’s plan.

Woman was made from man.

Man is responsible for the marriage and its oneness.

These are some of the most essential premises of God’s law for marriage that we glean from Genesis ch’s 1 & 2.  This “oneness” yields the needs of the husband and wife being met…when Christ is the source to meet the needs. 

Michael speaks to a huge truth pertinent to this “oneness”: “only God can provide…Christ, who alone can meet those needs.”  (in case you ‘need’ a reminder: God and Christ are One).  Husbands and wives make a grave mistake trying create “oneness” and meet the needs of their spouses that only God/Christ can meet. 

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

(blog) www.leemccmviews.blogspot.com  

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

Day 196 - Man Is Like a Piece of Paper

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength (Vol. 1) - # 266

         

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.

Many of us have tried to physically fold an 11½ X 8½ piece of paper into as many folds as we possibly could, to get that paper to a fold so tiny that one dark dot could not be put on it…incredible!  How could that happen?  Aha, life brings some crazy results our way, doesn’t it?  Check out how Michael illustrates the cause of “our folding.”  Then shows how only Christ can “unfold us” and HEAL that which sin has done to us.  Excellent read today!

And by the way, this is Thanksgiving week…this “day” gives us much to be thankful for!

DAY 196

Man Is Like a Piece of Paper

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

–Colossians 1:22, 23

I often think in terms of man’s being like a piece of paper, born a blank sheet. Because of the pride of his forefathers, any blank sheet is cut off from God. Man begins to look to others to meet his needs, though only God, the Father, can provide what he seeks. Therefore, black dots begin to appear on the paper. An easy remedy is to fold the paper so that the dark spots are not seen. Next come other spots, another disappointment, another rejection, and the solution is the same. Fold the paper! On and on it goes until the paper is a teeny square, so small that no dot can fall on it. But how tightly folded it is! Did you know that houses are being made of cardboard? The secret was to find a way to compress the paper to the point that it could not take on moisture. So is man, compressed to the point that life-giving water cannot penetrate it. How many are walking around as little folded bundles, having forgotten the first spots? Only Jesus can unfold us. Some have been folded for so long that the paper nearly cracks as it is unfolded. But unfold He does; He will reveal and heal the very last spot. Our life is one in which we are constantly being unfolded. Nothing will remain hidden from His sight. “Come and do Your work, Spirit of Jesus.” 

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Isn’t it incredible that we Believers have been reconciled (changed from one state to another…unregenerated to regenerated) to God by Christ’s death on His Cross?  Our believing the record that God gave of His Son, and trusting in Christ’s shed blood for our salvation and remission of our sin, has led to our being made holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God’s sight.  WOW!

And Michael gives us a pictorial depiction of the “folding” (“black dot upon black dot”), until we find ourselves folded to the “nth” degree (actually seeing ourselves as “a sinner”), and the Gospel Light shines through.  Or, even after salvation, the “folding” can continue.  But, as a child of God, Christ begins to “unfold” us to freedom in Him.  Hallelujah!

Until our cry of “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” is manifested in His appearing in the clouds, we can enjoy the manifestation of Michael’s request: “Come and do Your work, Spirit of Jesus!”  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

(email) leemccm@gmail.com

(blog) www.leemccmviews.blogspot.com    

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

Day 194 - Loving the World?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength (Vol. 1) - # 265

         

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.

So-called “love/hate” experiences seem to be the norm for way too many folks.  God gives us exactly WHY this is the case.  Look at Michael’s great description of some instances where he disciple folks, and their wrong focus.

DAY 194

Loving the World?

If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. --John 15:19

I have asked men and women alike who have fallen in lust with a perfect face and body, “How much are you willing to pay for sex?” Often they act surprised, but I know they are just in lust with a person, not in love. They overlook all the lacking qualities of character in favor of hoped for fulfillment of fleshly desire, which is too bad, since a fleshly person will beat the love right out of a mate. Of the men and women that I disciple, those who married just because of fleshly attraction have less sex than anyone else. It seems that after marriage the “beautiful” mate must prove that he has something more to offer than sex and withdraws. When the honeymoon is over, the true lack of character of the person is revealed, and in time, the love “felt” is beaten out of the mate. Why say all of this? Because I want to make an analogy about the world! It looks good, but marry it, and it will beat the love held for it right out of a person. I was once asked, “If drugs were legal and free, could I take all I wanted to and be happy?” The answer was, “No, you could not. The world does not work that way. Once it gets you, it will abuse you and will, in time, beat the desire you had for it right out of you.” That is why drug users eventually become suicidal. One fellow asked, “If it were legal, I would have several wives, or at least several affairs to fulfill my sex desire.” Well, many have done just that and come to pieces. They did not come to pieces because the behavior was illegal, but because man is made in the image of God, and to act in a manner not supported by God is unnatural. The world is a vicious lover, but once it has you, it will not let go easily, and all the while it will continue to hammer the love you have for it out of you. In this way, God does not fight the world but uses it.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

The Apostle John, the disciple “whom Jesus loved,” gives us the foundation for the writing of this day: the world has its own, and Jesus has His own.  The world loves its own, and hates those that belong to Jesus.  Those who belong to Jesus are to love one another, and to not love the world.  Pretty uncomplicated, isn’t it?  Yet, we Believers are prone to forget, or forsake, God’s instructions for us!

Isn’t it interesting how Michael was able to give specific insight to so many regarding lust and love.  (I wish he had told us how many “received” his identification of their issue!)  I love Michael’s direct correlation of “true lack of character” and “the lacking qualities of character” with love missing from an individual.  That gives us something to check out in our own life!

The God-part of Believers is created in the image of God, and “to act in a manner not supported by God is unnatural.”  I believe I hear Michael whispering, “It doesn’t suit us!”

Now here is the missing part in so many Christians’ day to day experiences: Believers have two minds: the natural mind we were physically born with, and the Mind of Christ we were given at our spiritual birth.  IF we choose to fluctuate between those two minds, we can have a “love/hate” experience with ourselves…or with another Believer.  Choosing the natural mind doesn’t “suit” us!  It leads to acting in a manner that is not supported by God and is unnatural for a Believer!

Perhaps the best news is what Michael ends this writing with: “God does not fight the world but uses it.”  That reminds me of something I love…”And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  It is the “unnatural actings” that lead us back to our need for Christ!  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

(email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 192 - Lost Kingdoms

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 264

         

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.

ANNOUNCING: Volume 2 of My Weakness for His Strength is now in print!  Available at ALMI.  May I encourage you to get one soon!

I am reminded of one of Michael’s famous statements: “Jesus is The Way, and all other ways are not The Way.”  Amen.

This is what all the other “kingdoms” are trying to get us away from.  They are Anti-Jehovah.  Anti-Christ.  Anti-The Way.  Pro “all the other ways.” 

As Joshua said, “…as for me and my house, we will serve (worship) the LORD!”

DAY 192

Lost Kingdoms

 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" --Matthew 4:8-10   

I went to the British Museum, possibly the best natural-history museum in the world. However, I think it should be called the British Museum of God’s Judgment on Godless Kingdoms, for that is what it really reveals. From the Incas, the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Africans, and many more, one readily sees the result of kingdoms that are anti-Jehovah. Evolutionists and anthropologists have perpetrated the notion that ancient societies were idyllic before the advent of Christianity, which spreads guilt and condemnation; that is preposterous. We forget one of the lessons of the Old Testament, and that is that God raises up kingdoms to punish the godless, non-God-fearing kingdoms. Where are these idyllic kingdoms, anyway? The Incas were performing so many ritual killings and bloodlettings that I believe God permitted the Spanish to be the instrument of judgment. All kingdoms passed away because of their wickedness. The respected Indian prophet, Sundar Singh, visited Europe in the 1920’s. He prophesied about the coming punishment that would be WWII, and he did not see the looming war as a “natural disaster,” but as God’s judgment. Of course, his message was not received. Many in Europe say that they lost their faith because of the Great War. That is not true. The Great War revealed that they had already lost their faith. God’s judgments are always true. I make many mistakes, but I fear making a false judgment, and therefore I am not a fan of condemnation teaching. However, this is not condemnation teaching, for I am merely pointing out what appears to be an absolute, that God raises up kingdoms to destroy corrupt kingdoms.

By the way, in the museum, the letters “A.D.” or “B.C.” following dates are more commonly being replaced with the letters “c.e.” (Common Era) or “b.c.e.” (Before Common Era) as a means of being more sensitive to non-Christian religious traditions. The world would like us to forget that it is the “year of our Lord.” But Jesus Christ is real, He will judge, and His return is near. In the course of the ministry travels I have been taken to so many museums, parks, attractions, and more. In the end I have this assessment, “All is vanity; we must abide in Jesus.”

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Joshua 24:15 was one of the first verses I came to know after being Born Again.  What a beautiful verse it is, in its completeness:

          “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will

            serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side

            of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me

            and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

WOW!  Direct.  Time to make a choice.  That’s where we are today, for sure!

Michael gives us five things to give a lot of study and deciding to do:

1. God raises up kingdoms to punish the godless, non-God-fearing kingdoms...to

    destroy corrupt kingdoms.

2. (All of life’s events) The Great War revealed that they had already lost their

    faith.

3. God’s judgments are always true.

4. Jesus Christ is real, He will judge, and His return is near.

5. “All is vanity, we must abide in Jesus.”

Let us join in with Jesus as Matthew quoted Him: “Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"  That is OUR Lord, Savior, and Shepherd telling Satan for us!

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 191 - Lonely

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 263

         

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.

ANNOUNCING: Volume 2 of My Weakness for His Strength is now in print!  Available at ALMI.  May I encourage you to get one soon!

“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do,” the song goes made popular way back in 1969 by the group Three Dog Night.  Alone, loneliness, all alone, one…  But, Michael gives us a beautiful perspective from God’s Word in Romans ch.14.  This is a great set of truths each of us can share with someone who is experiencing the feelings of loneliness…

DAY 191

Lonely

For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. –Romans 14: 7, 8

I suppose that there are times in everyone’s life when they feel all alone. Actually, this is an awareness of something that has always existed. A person may have always been alone but only recognize it at a time when there is not activity around him. One woman, when widowed for a short time, aptly said, “I know God is with me, but this morning I fell and there was no one there to pick me up.” In the outer life loneliness is more readily recognized; however, in the spirit and soul we were all born lonely. There has never been (in spite of the insipid teaching of having a “soul mate”) anyone who can touch our mind, heart, soul, emotions, will, and spirit. No one, that is, save One, and that One is Jesus. Psalm 25:16, “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.” Psalm 68:6, “God makes a home for the lonely.” If you have invited the life of Jesus to live within, you have learned that He is the only One who fills loneliness and assures you that you never were alone. I like feeling lonely and turning to Him to discover His nearness. I like the fact that He alone can fill the emptiness that is deepest within me. I cannot imagine that He wants to be that near, but He does.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

The natural mind, both in Unbelievers and Believers, is known to draw either to the idea of a “soul mate.”  Michael calls it an “insipid teaching.”  Amen.  It is most sad that a Believer would operate in the natural mind instead of the Mind of Christ that Paul tells us we have and can only “receive the things of God” with.

Let Michael’s words, “If you have invited the life of Jesus to live within, you have learned that He is the only One who fills loneliness and assures you that you never were alone,” take you to the Throne of Grace and enjoy the two “likes” that Michael followed those words with.

And, finally, we can all “imagine” what Michael was imagining…but, as He always says, “the nearness of Christ” is ours.  Let us embrace His presence, and find we are never lonely.

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