Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in Sidetracked In The Wilderness - # 46
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 many can receive the weekly thoughts
I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner.
Michael
moves us forward in our walk with Christ by giving us a beginning look at the
importance of “living moment by moment” and how that can bring us into that
very personal relationship with Christ that we want to have.
LIVING
MOMENT BY MOMENT – Part 1
excerpt
from pages 132-135 of SIW (5th printing,
March 1998)
excerpt
from pages 130-134 of SIW (14th printing,
March 2012)
(used with permission from
ALMI):
This
is the beginning of ch. 8
In
the previous chapter we learned that even though your old self was crucified
with Christ and is dead and buried, you still have a mind cluttered with his
baggage; and whenever the door just above your heart is closed to Christ’s
life, the enemy tempts you to dabble again in the garbage resident in your
mind, causing you to live a replica of the life you did before becoming a
Christian. We thought, does this sound
like abundant life? What could be God’s
purpose in all of this be? His purpose
is actually quite ingenious. It is to
make your life moment by moment full of joy, excitement, and authenticity! How?
…Relationships
ever flow; what makes them wonderful is not so much what happened in the past,
but what is happening in the present moment…
…God
has the aspiration to be in fellowship with us moment by moment; He has a plan
to bring about His wishes. First of all,
He must destroy the old self that dwells within and replace it with the life of
His Son. If this is not done, then no
fellowship with Him is even possible.
The next thing that He does is to leave all the baggage and residue from
the old man in the mind. When through
unbelief a person closes the door to His life within and consequently cuts off
fellowship, of necessity all the baggage, garbage, residue, lying emotions,
false feeling, old idols, inaccurate identity, and every manifestation of the
flesh arise. In fact, this one is now
more miserable than dwelling in the world.
God will strive to build the believer’s awareness of a desire to be free
from those miseries 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, 60
seconds a minute, yes, moment by moment.
It is then that God can do business!
You see, God structures our lives in such a way as to keep us ever near
His side.
…It
must be firmly planted in our minds that victory is for one moment at a time,
and that in any given moment we are participating in eternal victory or eternal
defeat.
We
need to keep in mind that one of the biggest problems in helping Christians
“get out of the wilderness” is far too many preachers, teachers, writers,
professors, etc. IGNORE the biblical truth that the “old, Adam life” has been
crucified and is dead & buried.
Gone. No more. To keep that “Adam life” around is to excuse
behaviors in Christians that Jesus has given us His Life to overcome. So, it is exciting to enjoy Michael addressing
life as a Christian from this important biblical truth.
Now
that we can focus on the “old mind” (and will & emotions…the rest of the
soul we were born with) that is cluttered with the baggage of the “old self,”
we can begin to move toward victory! It
is disheartening to hear Christians say, “the devil made me do it,” “the devil
has been working me over today,” etc.
That’s not truth!
Michael
gives us a step-by-step picture of God’s “ingenious” plan of the life Jesus
spoke of in John 10:10…”life (His Life) more abundantly.”
1.
God destroys the old self that dwells within an unbeliever and replaces it with
the life of His Son when one becomes a Believer.
2.
God leaves all the baggage and residue of the old man in the old mind.
3.
God now works in the Believer to build an awareness of a desire to be free from
the miseries that arise when the “old baggage” of the flesh arise.
4.
It is then God can bring us to the realization that victory is for one moment
at a time.
(the
rest of the book moves us forward into that victory…)
Now,
how much easier for a Christian can it be?
God is in charge. God is
orchestrating all to “keep us ever near His side.” Trust, rest, release control. We just need to trust Him to give us truth
that will set us free completely. He
has. We need the revelation.
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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