Thursday, November 29, 2012

Day 22 - Bearing Fruit


Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV


Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 13

         

Michael’s book is available through:


Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com



Bearing fruit…what IS the fruit that Christians ARE to bear?  Michael, in Day 22, gives us a beautiful picture of why so many Christians are confused about this important teaching.  Looking at this wrong leads many to make inaccurate decisions about themselves, and about other folks.  Sad.

Day 22

Bearing Fruit



Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither {can} you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing . . . By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and {so} prove to be My disciples. --John 15:4-5, 8


The believer can choose between two pairs of eyeglasses through which to read the Bible. The first pair will transpose and distort everything into a list of what the believer must do to be acceptable to God. The second pair, clear and accurate, reveals to the believer all that God has done. During my devotional time in the early years of my Christian walk, I wore the first pair of glasses exclusively. Passages on the topic of fruit-bearing always discouraged me. After all, I needed to bear fruit, for if I did not, I would be cut off. I needed to bear fruit to prove that I was a Christian, and this fruit had to involve effort, frustration, and rejection.


What changed? I switched glasses and began to see things as they really are in proper order. All the numbers we use--phone, social security, bank account--have to be used in the order in which they were given. Mix up any group of numbers and render them no longer useful for calling home, collecting a check, or making a deposit. There is an order to be respected. When we look at the list of things a believer is to do, we must make special effort to keep them in God’s order, for in that way we will find fruit-making a very pleasurable experience. 


The beginning in God’s order is abiding! How do we abide? He has put us in Him, He holds us in Him, and it is His life flowing though us. The emphasis is not on us but on Him, for He has done it all. Only believe it, confess it, and acknowledge it. Once our focus is on Him, His life flows, we bear fruit--the end result of the proper order--and the Father is glorified. It is His doing. If we will agree with Jesus that we are abiding, fruit will come and He will be glorified. He gets the glory and is the glory because He does the work.



Two of the most frustrating things pastors deal with all the time is someone saying: (1) “I thought they got saved, but they still are…” (referring to some sin, but of course it is a sin that the one speaking is not doing), and (2) “They must not be a Christian…there’s just no fruit in their life to prove that they are.” (referring to “some kind of fruit,” never specifically identifying “what” fruit it is, or if they do specify, it is something the “judger” is “bearing,” even though there is a bunch of “fruit” the judger doesn’t “bear” in their life).  Either way, the end result of both of these erroneous assumptions is a misjudgment of the one judged.


As Michael so simply shows, the “pair of glasses” we wear determines whether we are looking through “man’s eyes,” or “God’s eyes.”  Sticking with the foundational truths keep us looking through “God’s eyes” instead of the “old eyes” we were first born with.  And only those Born Again have that second pair of eyes.  Important.


An intensive study of this magnificent privilege of being a “branch” abiding in the “Vine,” with all the “work” to produce “fruit” being done by the “Vine” (Christ) with the Father being glorified takes all the responsibility off of the “branches.”  Well, amen!


Furthermore, a word search & study of “fruit” in Scripture doesn’t result in finding any of the items the “judgers” list.  How interesting!  Get a concordance and go look at God’s list of “fruit” in Scripture!


Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point               Red – GP, Greatest Promises

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


Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

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

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Day 338 - What Love Is Not

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM
Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 12
         
Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International
Littleton, Colorado
(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com



Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, 2012.  So much to be thankful for.  Perhaps the thing I am most thankful for is that God loves me.  Even me.

Michael makes a couple of statements in Day 338 that I think are truly earth-shattering.  See if you can spot them as you read his writing…I will mention the ones I think are so when I comment afterwards.


Day 338

What Love Is Not

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. –I John 2:15

Who of you thinks that you are greater than God? Do you think your actions can change the very nature of God? Being stupid and falling into sin and failure is a different topic; the topic here is love and whether you think those things can change the very DNA, so to speak, of God.  He is and forever will be patient, kind, never arrogant, never abusive, working for your good, not provoked, not keeping a list, hating the bad that happens to you, rejoicing with the truth, bearing with you, believing in you, hoping for you, enduring to the end, and never failing. It blows your mind! You perform your whole life to be loved because love is conditional, and then along comes Jesus, loving without condition. In a sense, He just cannot help Himself! He is love. As I said, this revelation will change everything!

In our quest for love we have exhausted ourselves performing, competing, and blaming. The standouts in the race to be loved are (not all, but many of) the entertainers, politicians, the title holders, and the “successful.” In the end they die after having relived their few moments of glory and experienced loneliness, bitterness, and reclusion. In brief, if we do not know that God loves us, we will continue to work for man’s love. Some feel so rejected and worthless that they are working for the whole world’s love to overcome the feelings. This is why many live to man and not to God. Avoiding man is another form of living to man. Once we have the revelation of God’s love, nothing else will matter. Some think I live in the clouds, but I am quite serious about God’s love. When a carnal husband tells his wife that she does not meet his needs and he is leaving for another woman, it hurts not only because of the rejection but the fact that the relationship was never deeper than flesh. Her response, “God loves me!” is not mere words but fact that must come by revelation. The realization that God Himself loves a person is an acceptance that dusts earthly rejection.

Perhaps in your opinion (because the world brainwashed you) your life, your job, and your ministry have never really gone anywhere (the same could have been said of Jesus working at the carpenter bench in a small village with narrow-minded people). But through revelation to say, “God loves me,” makes none of that matter. Does He love the pastor with a big church more and the one serving a small congregation less? Does He love the believer more that has straight A’s on his spiritual report card and less when he earns D’s and F’s? Does He love the one with a doctor’s degree more than the eighth-grade dropout? Tell me, what do you think? God’s love is not and cannot be worked for; God’s love can only be enjoyed. No matter what you have been up to today and what you will be doing tomorrow, you can say, “God loves me!” We allow men in the pulpit to tell us covertly that they are more loved because of what they have done. I tell you, they are boasting in their unbelief! To know that He loves you softens every blow that life can hand out. You were left out? He loves you! You had to quit university? He loves you! You were going to seminary but decided on business school instead? He loves you! If you had gone home a day earlier you could have seen your grandmother before she passed away? He loves you! One bumper sticker made to be cheeky says, “Jesus loves you, but everyone else thinks you are a jerk.” It does not offend me; I like the truth that is in it. If everybody thinks I am a jerk, but He loves me, that truly does make all the difference. To hear that He loves us means very little to most, for their ears and head hear the words but their emotions say, “He loves me if . . .!” This causes them to discount His love and go on working for what they already have.

God has been trying to teach you what His pure love is for years. He has never forsaken you, when you were faithless He remained faithful, and He is not making you pay consequences. Still you might lack the revelation of His love. Simply pray and ask that you might see it. It will set you free! God loves you! The revelation must come through Him, and Love will make life make sense. Love reveals that your relationship is not man-generated but God-generated, not man-maintained but God-maintained. Often we hear, “Do not give up! Keep trying! Hang in there! You can make it! You are further along than when you began! If you will just lead one person to Christ it will be worth it! Keep studying, then you will understand.”  What is the source of all such piffle? Its source is ignorance that gets spewed from the foundation of a man-based relationship incognizant of the Love that makes the relationship completely God-planted, God-germinated, and God-harvested. Through Jesus God continued to shout that the relationship was Love-based, and yet every question directed toward Jesus proved that man understood the relationship to be completely performance-centered. I like hiking and pointing out the wildlife, for just as a painting reveals the painter, so does creation reveal the Creator. I find it very frustrating when someone cannot see the deer in the middle of the field; worse yet is the person that cannot hear me telling him where the deer is. Eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear are vexing. We hear that our relationship is God-based, we see that it is, and yet we go on working for what we already have. Christianity without the Love of God as the foundation produces religion, and the Christian religion is the ugliest of all, because every other religion was created as such--with man instigating and executing what is believed to establish a relationship with “deity”--but in Christ God initiated the relationship with man and finished the work to allow it. If Christianity is approached with a religious spirit it gets, as some would say, real goofy! A religious man may imitate Buddha, Mohammed, or a New-Age teacher; it is just man imitating man. But can a religious man imitate God? Impossible! Jesus was not imitating God; Jesus was God. Christ’s life is God’s life.

Again, Christianity is God-generated. Let me ask you a question. Imagine you have known your husband, wife, or friend for many years and know of his many foibles. Over the past month you have been acutely frustrated with the person’s lack of spirituality, when he comes to you and tells you that Jesus appeared and spoke to him. How would you take it? Would you doubt that it happened? Why? You do not see the person as being holy enough? Or if you did believe it, would you be jealous, because in you heart you believe you are just a better person? These attitudes reveal that you do not adequately know the Love of God.

(Underlining is my emphasis.)



There’s an old song in the hymn books of old that is titled: “Jesus Loves Even Me.”
The first verse goes like this:
     I am so glad that our Father in heav’n   Tells of His love in the Book He has giv’n,
      Wonderful things in the Bible I see;        This is the dearest that Jesus loves me.
The chorus:
     I am so glad that Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me;
      I am so glad that Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves even me.
Second verse:
     Tho’ I forget Him and wander away,       Still He doth love me wherever I stray;
      Back to His dear loving arms would I flee,  When I remember that Jesus loves me.
Repeat chorus…
     I am so glad that Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me;
      I am so glad that Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves even me.
Third and last verse:
     Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing,   When in His beauty I see the Great King,
      This my song in eternity be:                     “Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!”
Repeat chorus once more…
     I am so glad that Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves me;
      I am so glad that Jesus loves me,  Jesus loves even me.

(I wonder how many of you knew the tune to that old song and sang the words as you read them!?!)




Jesus loves even me!  That’s the message Michael was emphasizing in this day’s
writing.  And once you and I “have the revelation of God’s love, nothing else will
matter.”  WOW!

Now those “earth-shattering” statements… 
(1) “God’s love is not and cannot be worked for, God’s love can only be enjoyed.” 
(2) “The realization that God Himself loves a person is an acceptance that dusts
       earthly rejection.”

There is so much truth in Michael’s writing this “day.”  It shows in the amount of
writing that I have highlighted for one reason or the other.  Can we not believe
just how much our Heavenly Father wants us to realize THAT He loves us, and
HOW He loves us?  That revelation would make life make sense!

Oh, one other thing:  God’s love is not conditional. 

Read, re-read, and re-read this day’s writing over and over until you own it!


Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point               Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory


Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                     936-559-5696

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Day 315 - We Must All Die; How We Die Is Not The Issue

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM
Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 11
         
Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International
Littleton, Colorado
(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

Addressing one of the most incredible, and most “misunderstood,” truths in life and Christianity, Michael gives some insights that will change the minds of many who read this…

Day 315

 

We Must All Die; How We Die Is Not the Issue


Thou dost hide Thy face, they are dismayed; Thou dost take away their spirit, they expire, and return to their dust. --Psalm 104:29

In today’s interaction among Christians, so much is said about faith, health, and God’s provision, and so little is said about death. If what we hear were true, which is that we possess assurance of health when faith is present, then man would not die. Man must die, just as every creature must die (Ecclesiastes 3:20), and all go to the same place, for they came from the dust and return to the dust. Earth, though, is not the final destination. As it fits the purposes of God in bringing the revelation of Christ in us, He does heal, provide, give materially, and even bring on emotional experiences. However, since at some point we must die, those are not one-sided absolutes, for if we are dying, does it not make sense that the scriptures relied upon by those proclaiming “health and wealth” would no longer be applicable in an absolute way? In Job 1:21 we read, “And he said, ‘Naked, I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.’” At the point of death, what good is a great wardrobe? All of us will exit the earth with nothing, so why have heaps of goods the day of death? If we must die, and God knows the exact number of our days, is it really an issue how death comes? For example, look at the thousands who die in persecution; God did not cause the deaths, wicked men did, and wicked men will be judged. However, He works things together for the good. Could it be that the day set for the death of a saint was absolute, yet God permitted the wicked man to be the instrument for the saint to exit, and the wicked man’s judgment to be full? This is merely food for thought, but I believe we make too much of the means of death. We must all exit. Amen! Some live their whole lives in bitterness because a drunk driver killed a loved one, and they perceive this as a life cut short. Was it? Or was God ready to receive the saint, His work in that one’s life complete, and the drunk was the permitted instrument? Our view of death does make a difference. Again, was it a life cut short or can we see that God, in Sovereignty, was using the evil of man as the tool for the death that must come to all men? I believe that there is provision in the years allotted to a man, and that God knows the day of his death. One man said this: “You are invincible until God is finished with you.”

(underlining is mine for emphasis)

In 30 years of ministry, this subject has more divided thoughts among the brethren than virtually every other “doctrine.”    It is not uncommon to hear someone say to a person who “escaped” death: “God is not through with you yet.”  Or, “You sure were lucky to miss that plane” (like when traffic or something else hindered someone from catching a flight that later crashed with all aboard dead).  Very interesting point: “luck” is not found in any verse in the Bible.  It is not in God’s vocabulary. Now listen…on the other hand, many are heard to say, “If I had just… I could have …” (any number of scenarios have been heard to describe someone commenting that “IF” would have changed whether someone died or not).  What do you believe?

Now think about two scenarios all of us in America have faced: (1) the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the embassy in Libya.  (2) the recent storm, Sandy, that rocked our country’s northeastern seaboard.  WHAT ABOUT those who lost their lives in these and the many other events like them?  Could their deaths have been prevented?  EVERYONE has to decide, one way or the other. 

Incredibly, emotions run extremely high when thinking about the “IF” that many say could have prevented death.  Look again at Michael describing those who live lives of bitterness over a life being taken a certain way, “a life cut short.”  Yet, God has spoken of our days being numbered, measured, and fashioned.  God knows the exact day and moment when we will step into eternity.  Omniscient means all-knowing.  All-knowing.  Knows all.  Knows when, and how.  Amazing. 

I believe exactly like Michael states in this day’s writings.  I have great peace that God is in control.  After all, I have been declared “dead”(physically), but I am still alive…more on that some other time.

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point               Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                  936-559-5696

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Day 329 - What Is A Government?

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM
Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 10
         
Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International
Littleton, Colorado
(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

It is the day after this year’s Election Day.  And many Christians are asking “how did he get re-elected?”  The answer is simple.  In America today (and it has been this way for 20-25 years at least), those who think 180 degrees from those with the Mind of Christ are equal in number, if not more so in the majority.  Couple that with the Christians who are thinking “carnal,” and you have the results we have seen.

DAY 329
What Is A Government?

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. --Romans 13:1-3
 
A just government has the moral authority from God to punish an unjust government. However, the passage can be confusing. As I write this I am in Nepal, where it is illegal to become a Christian, illegal to baptize, and illegal to preach. The Scriptural passage above was used by the Communists for years to manipulate Christians to come under their absolute authority via subjection. Rebellion against communism was said to be rebellion against God. As I have mentioned before, we Christians stand or fall by our definitions. What exactly is a “governing authority” that gets its authority from God? I have been in numerous countries where the “government” is nothing more than an organized crime mob imposing its wicked will upon the people. In some distorted way these crooks seek to decriminalize their behavior by seizing power and naming themselves “elected” officials. “Laws” that are passed are merely excuses to steal from the poor. “Taxes” are imposed to take even more; every angle is worked to take and take and take. The role of government in the Bible is to protect the people through laws that are of benefit to all, not to support a band of immoral thieves. Solomon is the greatest example of a governing authority that was established by God; he sought wisdom to help and guide the people. Punishment was meted out in the light of this wisdom. I do not think a criminal can demand subjection on the basis of having biblical authority to do so, when he does not fit the definition of a governing authority. Well, amen, I know many have had to suffer under such criminals. Though they are not true government and we are not bound as Christians to be in subjection to them, we are bound to love, pray for, and bless our enemies, as well as bless the criminal, give to them that ask, and go the second mile. However, the action taken is not out of compulsion from the belief that they are a government, but rather out of something much higher, the life of Christ within. 
(underlining is my emphasis)

Michael’s statement about the Communists is a perfect example that the Scriptures can be used to say anything for anybody when taken out of context, or out of their original truthful meanings.  And, unless Christians always stick to the foundational truths, there can easily be confusion.  Truth is: “Solomon is the greatest example of a governing authority that was established by God.”  He sought and received God’s wisdom, and acted wisely.  Is there ONE government in the world doing that today? 
A big question is: How does a country get from a “Solomon society” to a “godless society”?  (unless you believe that there is no such thing as a “godless society”…as in reality, either the country is “under God,” or “under man/humanism.”)  In today’s local paper there is an article written by a very astute man.  In it he says: “(America) Our Deviant Society.  …It’s the American people who are to blame (for our “lawlessness” and “unconstitutional actions”), for it is we who have lost our morality and our love, knowledge, and respect for our Constitution…”  There we have it.  It’s not God, but the people who are to blame.  Amen. Truth.  And especially God’s people.  Oh…I remember God saying something about that in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
So how do God’s people respond to a “not true government”?  (1.)  Evangelism.  To lead a person to Christ is to end with that person having the Mind of Christ.  Ask any Christian who was born again after 25 years of age:  Has your “wanter” changed?  Americans with “changed wanters” will act and vote differently than before.  (2.)  2 Chronicles 7:14.  While doing that, “love, pray for, and bless our enemies, as well as bless the criminal, give to them that ask, and go the second mile.”  Well, amen!

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point               Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory


Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                    936-559-5696