Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in Sidetracked In The Wilderness - # 17
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life
Ministries International
Littleton, Colorado
Notice: this email is part of a BLOG, called Getting Out of the
Wilderness. Why a blog? So that multitudes can receive the weekly
thoughts I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner. In the event you sign up to receive the weekly
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On
page 42 of my older book (1998 printing), Michael quickly draws all the former
pages to a head: boom! 2 paragraphs that
grip us in such a way (as has been testified by almost everyone I know who has
read the book) that we CANNOT put the book down until we are finished reading
it entirely! Read on to get these two
paragraphs, and my comments below…
THE IDOLATRY OF UNBELIEF
excerpt
from pages 42-43 of SIW (5th printing,
March 1998)
excerpt
from pages 37-38 of SIW (14th printing,
March 2012)
(used with permission from ALMI):
If there was one thing you could
receive from the reading of this book, what would you want it to be? What is it that you need? I imagine that your answer would have some of the following integrated
into it: love and the desire to have that deep loneliness you often feel
satisfied with the joy of being loved and accepted, and you would also like
some measure of security and assurance.
All of our deepest
needs are spiritual needs which God, and God alone, can meet. If, however, you
are an unbelieving believer, then you have not been able to look to God to meet your deepest needs.
Where have you looked to have
these needs met? How are you coping with
the world around you? What do you do in
the midst of the severest defeat? To
whom or what are you turning when under extreme pressure? Where do you find comfort? How do you exist in a world where God is
relevant only for the future (to keep you out of hell)? How do you live among a humanity that seems
to be pitted against your every move?
Let us now examine the
development of some coping mechanisms.
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
Probing
thoughts, and probing questions…all of which poke at us like a piercing
spiritual scapel (“a
small straight knife with a thin sharp blade used in surgery and dissection”) and open us up to deep
personal introspection. And Michael has
set the stage for the coming discovery and unfolding of our failed efforts to
“cope” in a prelude to God’s magnificent answers to any question or problem we
have in life. The next 100+ pages of
this book are so full of LIFE that it is impossible to lay it aside.
But
before we read on…has Michael gotten your attention with the questions? Did he strike a nerve with any one in
particular? And if you might be found to
be an “unbelieving believer,” can you honestly admit that you do realize to
some extent that your “deepest needs are spiritual needs which God, and God
alone, can meet”?
AND…can
you honestly admit that “if…you are an unbelieving believer, then you have not
been able to look to God to meet your deepest needs”? This is a staggering truth for far too many
Christians.
Now,
think about it for just a moment…”not been able to look to God to meet your
deepest needs.” Whoa! What does this say about what someone has
done since becoming a Believer (or, and unbelieving believer)? What does it say about Christian teaching,
discipleship, and counseling? What does
it say about the state of Christians and churches in America, or the world? Is this speaking of just 1 or 2 Christians…1
or 2 churches, or 1,000’s?
Back
to you and I…the big question is this:
What are we going to do about it?
Will we read on and finish the book?
Will we seek the Lord to get free from the bondage we are in? TIME WILL TELL.
Note:
if you don’t have one of Michael’s Sidetracked In The Wilderness books,
please contact ALMI (www.abidinglife.com) and get one today!
To access ALL past weekly
blogs, go to Getting
Out of the Wilderness by logging onto www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com
Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
leemccm@gmail.com
1737 CR
2051 Nacogdoches, Tx 75965 936-559-5696
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