Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in Sidetracked In The Wilderness - # 25
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.
Do
you find it difficult to have your faith tested? Do you fail these tests very often? To close out chapter 5, Michael addresses the
“course on faith” that all Christians must take. See how you are faring…
THE HARD
PART
excerpt
from pages 68-74 of SIW (5th printing,
March 1998)
excerpt
from pages 64-70 of SIW (14th printing,
March 2012)
(used with permission from
ALMI):
Sometimes
just as the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, He will drive
us into a wilderness to have our faith tested…
…When
you have tried almost everything to regain emotional awareness, the enemy slips
in and says things like, ‘If only…’…
In
the midst of this you might even doubt whether you are truly born again…You
want to perform to gain God’s acceptance.
Many
who boast of breathtaking faith, telling magnificent stories of all that they
have accomplished because of their awesome belief, are crushed and dismantled
in this room. And why not? How long can a man who trusts in himself walk
in darkness and not stumble and be overcome, broken, and humbled?...
…prolonged
state of darkness will test us and reveal any unbelief that might reside
within. The longer the period of
darkness and absence of emotion, the more will be revealed. We will again try a series of procedures to
regain our emotional standing, all of which will be telling of what we really
trust in our daily lives to bring contentment, and which God, of course, will
not allow to succeed. It may be revealed
we trust idols…perhaps we trust in particular brothers or sisters…we may look
again to the teaching that promised us eternal bliss…we might appeal to our
achievements and the many other things done in the past…
When
everything fails, we begin to complain, making the error that so many do: in
the midst of misfortune we do not simply remain silent and wait, but instead
begin to blame God for the whole situation…
We
become sick of the whole situation…
…nothing comes into our lives without
first passing through the loving hands of our Father in heaven…
What
do you see at the end of the chain that binds you?...would you be willing to
see Jesus Christ as the Author of it, which will allow you to rest, knowing
that the outcome will be for your ultimate benefit?...
Who
is like our God, His lessons so wonderful, so perfectly fitted to our condition
and His purpose? We must all take this course of faith, for without it
we cannot please God…
…the
greatness of faith is not to be judged by how many of God’s promises you have
experienced today, or how much material gain you possess, or even how much good
health you have received. The greatness
of your faith is shown in proportion to how long you can wait for the
fulfillment of a promise…
…the
greatness of faith is proven in the ability of the believer to rest until
harvest, knowing all the while that the work that must be done is a
supernatural one that God alone can accomplish.
We
must come to see that it is rarely in the big events that true faith is shown
or proven…
Once we have completed our lesson on
faith, we will be much more ready to accept without question all that God tells
us. We will be better equipped to no
longer trust in our idols, in what we feel, or even in what we see; we will
understand we are to trust only in Him.
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
The
testing of our faith…what a constant test!
Then is it no wonder God tells us in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith,
it is impossible to please Him…”
Let
me go back to the very first question I posed at the start: “Do you find it
difficult to have your faith tested?” If
so, why? Michael has already told us the
solution to passing these tests…BELIEVE GOD.
Do not be an Unbelieving Believer.
When we make that choice…to BELIEVE GOD, then we become overcomers. Our faith becomes as the testimony of all
those God tells us about in the rest of Hebrews 11. That’s what they did. That’s how they were “super” Saints. We can be such also!
And
yet, Michael takes us to another problem for so many Christians…next week we
begin Ch. 6…”The Loss of Self-life.”
p.s. let me recommend you find one of Bruce
Wilkinson’s DVD series entitled, “The Testing of Your Faith.” It would be a great asset to go along with
this Ch. 5 study, and the whole Sidetracked book.
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
