Day 77 - Doubt and Faith

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 141

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

I wonder how many millions of choices are made day in and day out around the world…and most never give it one thought just really what “choice” is really about.  Make sense?  Well, read Michael’s writing for this day and see if you have ever given these things a moment’s thought!

DAY 77

Doubt and Faith

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. --Deuteronomy 30:19

Choice is an interesting thing, for nearly all of creation is under compulsion. The caterpillar must become the butterfly; the acorn must become the oak tree. Only man can choose what he will be. Choice must have options; it is nonexistent unless there is more than one alternative. “Would you like a cup of coffee, a cup of coffee, or a cup of coffee?” “Well, thanks, I will have the coffee!” One cannot choose heaven if there is no hell, a blessing if no curse, a single life if not a married one, or a walk in the spirit if there is no flesh. 

This brings me to my point. How can we choose faith if there is no doubt? Many are distraught when they see doubt creeping into their lives. However, doubt must appear if there is to be an opportunity for a faith choice. Doubt is the signal that faith is the other option. We need not be undone over doubt; we can push it aside without hesitation and move past it on the way to a faith choice.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Boy howdy…this is a humdinger of a writing!  Several facts about “choices” that many never have heard of, much less given them any thought.  Some critical “turning points” in life where our “choices” turn us toward LIFE or DEATH.  WOW!  And this is not about physical death (although some choices affect that)…this is about LIFE in life.  Let’s summarize and analyze these…

God tells us He has set before us “life and death, the blessing and the curse.”  Amazingly, God does impact our lives in these kind of ways.

God tells us: “choose life.”  That’s pretty simple, isn’t it?  Wait a minute…it all depends on whether we know God’s “life” in life’s situations.  “Study to show yourself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”  God’s knowledge and wisdom can lead us to choose “life.”  Without that, we can make foolish, deadly choices.

God tells us that our choices can affect our descendants, as well as us!  Oooops!

Michael points out that “man” is the only one that can make choices affecting what we will be.  And every choice must have options, or there is no choice possible.

But Michael’s main point brings to our attention that faith and doubt are two peas in one pod.  There cannot be one without the other.

And that brings us to HOW we see doubt.  Does it make us distraught?  Does it really do us in?  Do we collapse and crater at the onset of doubt?  NOT ANY MORE!  Doubt is nothing but a signal for us to look for the FAITH CHOICE!

And therefore, as Michael points out…”We need not be undone over doubt; we can push it aside without hesitation and move past it on the way to a faith choice.”  Well, amen!

Thank you, Michael, for showing us some insights to our “choices” that we may never have seen or thought of before.  And thank You, Lord, that You have promised to be with us as we choose.  May we search the Scriptures for all Your many ways in which You will guide us to choose LIFE.

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 72 - Removal of Self-Centeredness Leads To Life

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 140

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

If there is one word to describe what most people want: it would often be “life.”  Just a life.  Yet, too many miss that REAL life is Jesus’ LIFE.  Michael points out to us the simple fact of what is the “greatest hindrance to being delivered from the events that present themselves today”…

DAY 72

Removal Of Self-Centeredness Leads To Life

But {women} shall be preserved through the bearing of children. --I Timothy 2:15

Preserved literally means saved, and saved, as used in the New Testament, refers to being delivered from the self and its manifestations. The greatest hindrance to being delivered from the events that present themselves today is self and its propensity toward obsessing on what will never help it . . . which is its self. A mother has a unique experience in that she might be the most self-centered person in the world, but then in an instant when the doctor lays a baby in her arms, her self-centeredness gives way to focus on another through caring for the baby. Life and death for the baby is determined by the degree to which the mother moves away from being self-centered. I have asked many in ministry, and all seem to agree that women respond first to the Gospel. Why? If they are mothers, then self, the only hindrance to Christ, has been dealt a severe blow in childbirth. With self-life knocked from the paramount position, the women can more easily draw near to Jesus, finding Life and deliverance.

"But {women} shall be preserved through the bearing of children." The understanding to be derived is not that women who cannot or have not had children cannot be saved from self-centeredness. I personally have never given birth to a child, and yet I have every intention of being saved! The analogy is twofold. The birth of a child removes self-centeredness, and this birth happened in pain. The believer has a new birth, a new life that has dealt a fatal deathblow to self; because of this death he can have Life. This birth came through pain. Is the woman's pain in childbirth bad? Yes, but I cannot believe it is not worth it after observing the countenance of my wife as she held each of our newborns. Is the pain of events, disappointments, and relationships really bad when they lead to Life? No, nothing with such a result is ultimately bad. Children of God are faith people and the only people on the face of the planet that can say that. 

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Amazing that it is so simple to identify our problem: “self, the only hindrance to Christ.”

Amazing how difficult it seems for Christians to remove self from the paramount position, so that Life can be found, especially when every Christian possesses that Life.

Choose Life…lose self.  Not complicated at all.  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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 71 - Self Is A Hindrance To God?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 139

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

How many of us in “fighting” this SELF thing in us…have ever stopped to consider whether “Self is a hindrance to God?”…

Interesting.  Michael addresses that in this day’s writing.

DAY 71

Self Is A Hindrance To God?

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. –Romans 12:3

Stop for a minute and take a good look at the self of man. Man hates himself as just man! Self in Adam and Eve was attracted to the tree offering Godlikeness with its lists of what to do and not do. It was not life, but bondage. True Life was a few feet away in a completely different tree; no serpent was tempting Adam and Eve to eat of that tree. Man left the Garden still hoping to fulfill the dream of being God; however, he has failed miserably. I have yet to see a monkey or a dog dressed in human clothing that looks anything short of inane. Similarly, man is man, and every attempt to cover himself with something more Godlike just leaves man looking stupid. Man may try to appear more tolerable by covering himself with knowledge, possessions, or power, and he might even surround himself with worshippers. Man can even use his own self-hatred by comforting himself with the feelings of humility, hopelessness, humanity, and victimization. From running inconsistent campaigns for the highest offices to committing suicide, man's actions prove that he has utterly failed at playing God.

We have become a society of selfish Christians--and I am not excluding myself--wrapping our lives around ourselves and bedeviled by how every action of others or ours affects our self-lives. We cannot tell the truth because someone may not like us, but we do not like ourselves when we lie. We desire others to meet our needs, yet when similar requirements are placed on us, we run, for to meet others' needs might necessitate neglecting our own. We change the teaching of Christ to fit ourselves and only end up changing ourselves into something that is not a good fit.

Now the good news: Nothing is naturally against the believer. There is not a single thing that goes wrong in our lives. There is nothing pitted against us. Life is not a meaningless, senseless string of disturbing occurrences. Life is not an endless exam administered by a demanding principal. Life is not an endurance test. Life is not accumulating as much knowledge as possible. Life is not staring at our spouses with heart-shaped eyeballs. Life is not being perfect parents, employees, or pastors. Life is meaningless and boring when it wraps itself around ourselves, draws our attention to ourselves, and leaves us wondering at our condition. Why? True life is Jesus and Life obsessed not on us but on the Father in Heaven.

All things are tools in God's hand, employed by Him in His ministry to us and in revealing His glory. John 12:28, “’Father, glorify Thy name.’ There came therefore a voice out of heaven: 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'" Events and happenings are not the elements of life; rather, they are the elements that drive us to Life (Jesus). Nothing is bad if it drives us to Life. This awareness does not come through understanding, but by revelation. Anything and everything that moves us near Life is good. 

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

Who could be a better instructor on SELF than the Apostle Paul.  He had quite an impressive personal resume…particularly, as the world considers things, coming into Christianity.  And God brought him to a point he could simply tell us: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought…”  Wow!  And then he added, “…in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”  Oh, my goodness…where did we “get” that faith???

SELF can be a destructive person, but Michael points out that actually “all things are tools in God’s hand, employed by Him in His ministry to us and in revealing His glory.  All is an element that is intended to drive us to Life (Jesus) and away from Self.  May God reveal all this to 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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 70 - Does Self Add To The Meaning of Life?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 138

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

The “self-life” is a tragedy and malady that plays out far too often in folks who are constantly dealing with hurt, pain, disappointment, failure, and depression.  And as Michael points out so succinctly it is very frustrating to see Christians particularly who somehow miss God’s wonderful words of Life that bring joy no matter what the circumstances of our life might be. 

DAY 70

Does Self Add To The Meaning of Life?

Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. –I Corinthians 10:24

There appears to be one common denominator in the multitude of approaches to understanding life, and that is self-life. "What is the benefit in life for me? Can suffering be justified for me? Can my marriage breakup, the loss of my job, my unwed pregnant daughter, my illness, or the rejection of others somehow be advantageous to me? Will knowledge help me? How will all my efforts profit me? If not now, will there be a good return for me in heaven? Will I find out then that I was really being blessed by all of those mishaps?"   

Recently I was listening to a pastor in Africa relate how the marriage ministry had depleted the thrust of the church. Those participating had decided they were not to minister to others until every minute detail of their marriages was worked out. It seems the husbands could not justify evangelizing, ministering to the poor, or helping the sick as long as there was a dissatisfied wife at home. The pastor's conclusion was that the whole bunch had become too selfish; they wanted perfect comfort before they ministered to the world's discomfort. I agreed. 

One fellow took care of his ailing parent only to ensure the security of his inheritance. A lady called nearly everyone in a small town to describe her husband's onset of cancer, and then proceeded to explain to each one how much she would be suffering! A man divorced his wife for a younger woman and then wanted to know how he was supposed to maintain his preferred lifestyle with the financial burden of a divorce settlement. It is often hard to discern if parents want the child to walk with God for the child's benefit or their own identity. Self is no stranger to desiring a throne, crown, and scepter and using others as its footstool. 

Each day the first person we touch, clothe, see in the mirror, feel comfort or physical pain from, feed, and emotionally sense is our self. Is it any wonder that the enemy would choose to make self a stumbling block? Each day starts with us; why not continue from that point and make self the obsession? More often than not, the point stressed in teaching heard on radio or television is self, whether it is being blessed or cursed. The frustrating thing is that there is no happiness derived from self-absorption. 

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

As a pastor for many years, I have heard members say exactly what Michael mentions that the pastor in Africa related.  Several variations of his story could be the key to the failure of many ministries in churches today.

How?  How could any Christian think they were not to minister to others until every minute detail of their life was “worked out”?  What is “worked out”?  What about Philippians 1:6?  “…He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  God is still “working out” things in each of us.

So often I find myself asking “why?”.  Why do Christians have God’s instruction manual, ignore His instructions, then continue to live as if travelling down the road of life in the opposite direction from God…and somehow expect things to turn out “OK”?

It doesn’t take a PhD from seminary to grasp God’s heart in those words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 10:24.  If we have any knowledge whatsoever of the life of Christ, we know He came not for Himself but for others.  And then Paul, in his writing to the church at Philippi, gave a more detailed picture: (Philippians 2:1-4) “If there be  therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” 

How simple to understand and follow can “Others: God’s Roadmap to Joy” be?  Yet, SELF somehow continues to pervade the lives of way too many Christians.

Spend a few minutes before the Lord, re-reading Michael’s writing, and seeking God’s heart for your life in relation to any issue where SELF is intervening.

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 76 - Do We Not Have To Choose?

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 137

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

“The good Christian life”…or, simply, “the Christian life”…neither is in the Bible.  And Michael shows us how we eat from the wrong tree so often while trying to live in a way God never speaks of…  This is a great “day’s” writing!

DAY 76

Do We Not Have To Choose?

By myself I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me. --John 5:30

We make the statements, "All Jesus ever did, He never did. The Man who did everything did nothing. We are to let Jesus work through us as God worked through Jesus.” These statements prompt the question, "Do we not have to choose?" So often we hear about choosing correctly, about those Christians who refuse to do so, and about the issues of choosing and free will. However, the point is not choosing but what we choose. Of course we must choose; we choose to get up, go to work, eat, and so on. Again, the issue is what we are choosing. Once we establish the real point, we will come to a "Y" in the road. Go right and we will make the choices God wants us to make. Go left and we will be on the wrong road, where the emphasis is on choosing those things considered to be good: choose to pray, read the Bible, witness, stop the deeds of the flesh, and love an enemy. However, this is not the choice God wants us making. If we think the decision that we need to make is to lay down our sin, we are on the wrong track and can be sidetracked for years. It is easy to spot someone on the wrong road; he will say something like, "I should pray more, give more, do more witnessing, love more, be a better mate." This reveals a person that has made a wrong choice. So what is it God does want us to choose? First, choose to lose our kingdom, our glory, our pride, our righteousness, and our strength. This is the opposite of choosing to do better; it is admitting that we cannot do better. Second, we will be ready to choose to accept His righteousness, kingdom, glory, and strength. The third choice is to allow His life to flow through us, and we will then be living in dependence on the Son as He was with the Father. These three choices will produce and accomplish everything that was desired on the left road, but without the self-effort that leads to self-righteousness and the false sense that we are living “the good Christian life.” 

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

It cannot be said enough…Life as a Christian is coming to the realization and recognition that “Christ is our life” as a Christian, and all our efforts are not what God wants.  Life as a Christian is when He lives His life through us.  The Christian life (man has determined that…in fact, the two words never appear together in the Bible) is when we are trying to keep a list of doing the “good” and not doing the “bad.”   And we simply have to choose which “life” we will live.

May we find more and more Christians on the road that leads to making the choices God wants us to make.

Michael has given us three very simple choices we must make…how many will make them?

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 232 - Red-faced Monkey

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 136

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

Can you give any experience in your life that testifies to the truth of today’s lesson?  All of us can!  In fact, in many parts of life “focus” is a vital part of any “success," or "failure.”  Focus, concentration, not losing either…we are all familiar with this.  Then why do we not “see” what our focus on sin does to us???

Great lesson today.  Thank God for the truth of it.

DAY 232

Red-faced Monkey

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. --Romans 12:2

When it comes to the topic of battling sin, one rule must never be broken, and that is that we are never to battle sin! It is a misplaced focus. No, we are never to fight sin if we desire to overcome it. Let me illustrate. There is a story of a fellow in India who was traveling from village to village selling a magic potion. The man would ask for a clean bucket, into which he would pour clear water and some of the magic potion. As he stirred the mixture, through sleight of hand he would drop in three or four nuggets of gold. When the water was drained off, there was the gold. In one community a moneychanger watching the demonstration asked if he could purchase the formula for 50,000 rupees. The fellow was more than happy to sell, and after receiving the payment, he turned to the moneychanger and said, "There is one thing you must never do while making the gold, or else the potion will not work. While stirring the water and adding the formula, you must never, never think of the red-faced monkey!" As you can well imagine, the moneychanger was never able to make gold! Wherever he went, from the Himalayas to the south of India, no matter how hard he worked to block it, the red-faced monkey would pop into his mind. So it is with sin; as long as it is made the focus, it will never be overcome. I have often commented that God has delivered me from many things, but not once was I freed from anything on which I was centered. 

           

Many have focused on their sin ten, twenty, thirty, and even forty years; their sin has become so much a part of their life that they are not even sure what they would do were they to be miraculously delivered. If 25% of thought life were concentrated on something consuming and immediate deliverance occurred, exactly what would replace that portion of mental energy? What would fill the vacuum? The solution to warring against sin is to set our minds on something other than the sin. This cannot not be done by consciously avoiding the sin, but rather by making the Lord the focus of daily thought life. If our focus is not kept on the things above but is allowed to traffic in the things of the world, we as believers will be led to Christian fatalism, the belief that this life in these bodies will constantly be given over to defeat and misery. Thus we will accept continual suffering as the norm and wait for the day we will be caught up into heaven. The truth is that all suffering has a purpose and, in the end, produces abundant living today.

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

It didn’t take me long to think of something from my life (albeit it was from way in the past) that applied explicitly to the principal Michael teaches us today…  Years ago I played golf.  IF I stepped up to a tee and there was “out of bounds” to the right, and IF I let that become my “focus”…guess where I hit the ball?  In fact, I used to say that I couldn’t figure out why the golf courses that were built with homes snug up against the fairways didn’t make it “out of bounds” if someone hit their ball into the backyard of someone’s home…just have them get the ball and place it two club-lengths from the boundary and play on.  IF it wasn’t a hazard or penalty for hitting the ball there, a huge percentage of shots that went into those backyards (or, into someone’s windows!) would never happen.  WHY?  Because the golfer wouldn’t “focus” on the penalty and the place…they would never enter their mind.  They could focus on hitting the ball down the fairway.

Duh!  Am I going to set my mind (focus) on warring against sin in my life (in hopes of getting rid of it), OR “if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”  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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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

Day 209 - No Anchors

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 135

         

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 the weekly thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. 

It is amazing how often a “3-letter word” can make such a huge difference in our life!  While the world continues to keep its focus on the “what” of an action, God wants us to focus on the “why.”  This is a beautiful picture of God’s Way to a full life of freedom and joy.

DAY 209

No Anchors

I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. --John 14:30, 31

As a ship will never leave port if the anchor is not hoisted, often our flesh has an anchor somewhere in the world holding our spirits, and we never seem to be able to sail on. As long as we have a fleshly anchor, the enemy will have something in us and we will not be cut free from his oppression. If we shrink back in inferiority when we have to talk to people, why is that? There is a fleshly anchor that is holding us in bondage. Is it pride, so we do not want to make mistakes and appear foolish? Is it unbelief, so that we do not believe our value to God and instead walk in insignificance? See how an anchor keeps us from sailing? When we can be controlled by another's look or negative word, why is that? How can someone calling us rotten names wreck our day? It cannot unless there is an anchor. When outer events, words, and behaviors can shut a believer down, it is because there is something in him to which these events are anchored. We must not be consumed with what we are doing but why, for in the why we will find our freedom. There is something He would show us that must go. When it goes, we will be free, and when the god of this age comes through others' words and behaviors, he will find that there is nothing in us . . . nothing except Christ!

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

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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

How many of us want a full life of freedom and joy?  Isn’t that really experiencing God…Christ’s Life in abundance (John 10:10)?  Amen!

So, when will we learn to deal with the “why” of our actions, instead of the “what”?  A “why” like unbelief or pride is the real culprit, and Christ is the solution to eradicating both from our life.

Jesus never operated from the “what” to do, but from the “why” to do it…even from His early childhood of 12 years of age (Luke 2:41-49).  And He didn’t ever have a “why” that was contrary to God’s heart.

What is God’s heart in everything for you and I?

This is such a simple lesson to learn, but as long as we let our focus remain as the world focuses on life, we will allow the enemy to maintain that fleshly anchor, and we will see inferiority and another’s control rule our lives.

God, come and show us the “why” that must go!  We want to be free!  We want nothing to be found in us except Christ!  God, come and take away the “why” that is keeping us anchored to the enemy’s oppression.  God, find us faithful to choose Your “why” in every matter where our choice makes the difference.

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

(twitter) @bleemc67    (email) leemccm@gmail.com

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