Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength (Vol. 1) - #
270
Michael’s book is
available through:
ABIDING LIFE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Littleton, Colorado
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Some of us like “sweet and sour pork” when we
visit our favorite Chinese restaurant.
There is a wonderful flavor in the mixture of those two distinct
ingredients. But, when expecting
something sweet, and getting something sour…whew! What a shock!
Whether it is the world, other Believers, or
ourself, there is “shock” when what comes out of us as a Believer should be
“sweet,” but turns out to be “sour.”
Michael gives us an interesting look at this life perspective…
DAY 216
Oranges
And so, as
those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each
other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so
also should you. And beyond
all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. --Colossians 3:12-14
Once a fellow took an
orange and asked his audience, "What is in this orange?" Everyone
answered, "Orange juice." However, once he squeezed the orange, black
goo gushed out instead of the expected sweet juice. We can think of our own
life as the orange. Throughout
our Christian life we find ourselves being squeezed, and that squeezing reveals
what is within us, whether something sweet or the black goo of
self-centeredness. When our
flesh life is revealed through the squeezing of others, do we prefer to
focus on the person or circumstances that squeezed us, the injustice involved,
and the error of their way? Or do we concentrate on our own carnal response? It
is far too easy to accumulate arguments condemning the behavior of others and
justifying our own. However, a
believer never has an excuse for self-centered behavior, for we live by a
spiritual absolute that no matter what, we never have an excuse for not loving.
When the believer finds
himself squeezed and the black goo oozes out, he must admit his condition and
not focus on the others who squeezed him.
In India a story is
told of a Mogul king who, upon wanting to pick a successor and retire,
assembled by invitation some five hundred young men from the kingdom. He
presented a seed to each of the young men and asked that they plant it and tend
it for one year, at which time the king would examine each of the young men's
seeds and determine who would be king through what he saw. One of the young men
took his seed home, planted it, fertilized, watered, and tended it day and
night, and yet nothing grew. At the end of a year the young man told his father
he was too embarrassed to present his empty pot to the king. His father
persuaded him that since he had done his very best, he should not be
embarrassed and must go present himself to the king truthfully, no better or
worse; he had worked hard and must present himself honestly. Therefore, the
young man went to the city on the day he was to present himself to the king.
With his empty pot he took his place with the other young men, all of whom had
pots that held banana plants already bearing fruit, mango trees, or a variety
of beautiful flowers. The king began his inspection, examining all five hundred
young men with their plants. As he walked past the only boy with an empty pot,
the king hesitated briefly and then continued examining the others. Eventually,
though, the king returned to the boy with the empty pot and announced,
"You will be the next king!” “Why,” asked the young man, “should I be king
when I have nothing?” The king responded, "I boiled all the seeds before I
handed them out so none could grow! You alone have presented yourself in
honesty, and you will be the next king." Remember, there was a man who
asked his son to be healed by Jesus, who responded, "If you believe."
The man then presented Himself in truth by saying, "I do believe! Help me
in my unbelief." The boy was healed. The King rewards honesty and exalts
the humble. Many times the
need of the believer is the simple one of presenting himself before God in
honesty, no better and no worse than he is and without justification!
As couples we often
initially attracted our mates through being loving, kind, self-sacrificing,
complimentary, and forgiving. With the passing of time, once the discovery was
made that the spouse could not meet our deepest needs, the behavior
deteriorated to complaining, judging, self-serving, anger, bitterness, blaming,
and carnality. At this
point we can either present ourselves to God and confess our carnal behavior or
with great zeal begin to look for excuses for our negative behavior, which are
most easily found by holding a magnifying glass up to the mate to reveal all
his or her glaring faults; these we can proclaim as having caused our carnal
lifestyle. This is all done in the hope that we will be excused and our
mate condemned. This reminds me of the Kansas tornado, the circumference of
which is where all the damage takes place, for there is nothing within its
center. It is a great whirl around emptiness. There are those of us who continue to destroy everything
outside ourselves, and yet we remain empty, totally unfulfilled by such
behavior. Stop
destroying, stop excusing, admit our true condition, and we will find that "out of
our innermost being will flow rivers of living water."
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green – IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
God gives us a vivid description of “out of our innermost being will
flow rivers of living water”: the chosen of God (that
means a whole lot of things to a whole lot of different Believers!), “holy
and beloved,” having “put on a heart
of compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other,
whoever has a complaint against anyone.”
And adds: “just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
Michael’s message always is: “Stop destroying, stop excusing, admit our
true condition,” along with his constant admonition to “focus and abide in
Christ.” This is an uncomplicated,
practical guidance to Christ’s Life of abundance for every Believer.
WHEN will we acknowledge, accept, and appropriate His Life for ours?
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“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
(blog)
www.leemccmviews.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 633244 Nacogdoches,
TX 75963 936-559-5696
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