Just one of the reasons why I love the teachings of Watchman Nee. From his book "The Release of the Spirit". Chapter V, The Church & God's Work. (Italics mine.)
"If we really understand the nature of God's work, we shall readily admit that the outward man (soul - mind, will & emotions) is truly a formidable hindrance. It is true to say that God is much restricted by man. The people of God should know the ultimate purpose of the Church and also the inter-relationship of the Church (all born again, spirit filled believers), of God's power, and of God's work.
God's Manifestation & God's Restriction
There came a time when God committed Himself to human form - in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. Before the Word became flesh, God's fullness knew no bounds. However, once the incarnation became a reality, His work and his power were limited to this flesh. Will this Man, Christ Jesus, restrict or manifest God? We are shown by the Bible that, far from limiting God, He has instead wonderfully manifested God's fullness. The fullness of God is the fullness of this flesh.
In our day God commits Himself to the Church. His power and His work are in the Church. Just as in the Gospel we find all God's work given to the Son, so today God has entrusted all His works to the Church and will not act apart from it. From the Day of Pentecost up to the present, God's work has been carried out through the Church. Think of the Church's tremendous responsibility. God's committal to the Church is like His committal previously to one Man, Christ - without reservation or restriction. Thus the Church may restrict God's work or limit His manifestation.
Jesus of Nazareth is God Himself. His whole being from within to without is to reveal God. His emotions reflect God's emotions; His thoughts reveal God's thoughts. While on this earth He could say: 'Not that I should do My will, but the will of Him that has sent Me ... The Son can do nothing of Himself save whatever He sees the Father doing ... For I have not spoken from Myself, but the Father who sent me has Himself given Me commandment what I should say and what I should speak' (John 6:38; 5:19; 12:49). Here we see a Man to whom God is committed. He is the Word that became flesh. He is God becoming man. He is perfect. When the day came that God desired to distribute His life to men, that Man could declare: '... The grain of wheat falling into the ground ... if it die ... bears much fruit" (John 12:24). Thus God has chosen the Church to be His vessel today - the vessel of His speaking, for the manifestation of His power and His working.
The basic teaching of the Gospel is the presence of God in one Man, while that of the epistles is God in the Church. May our eyes be opened to the glorious fact: God formerly dwelt in the Man Jesus Christ, but now God is only in the Church, not in any other organization (political, religious or otherwise). When this light dawns on us, we will spontaneously lift up our eyes to heaven saying, 'Oh, God! How much we have hindered Thee!' In Christ, the Almighty God was still almighty without suffering any restriction or straitening. What God expects today is that this same power may remain intact as He resides in the Church. He would be as free in manifesting Himself in the Church as He was in Christ. Any restriction or disability in the Church will invariably limit God. This is a most serious thing; we do not mention it lightly. The hindrance in each of us constitutes a hindrance to God.
Why is the discipline of the Holy Spirit so important? Why is the dividing of spirit and soul so urgent? It is because God must have a way through us. Let no one think that we are only interested in individual spiritual experiences. Our concern is God's way and His work. Is God free in our lives? Unless we are dealt with and broken through discipline, we shall restrict God. Without the breaking of the outward man, the Church cannot be a way for God."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Know No One
A friend told me the other day, “The reason people say ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ is because people judge books by their covers.” The statement is made of books, but more commonly of how people judge other people. I don’t know how you know people, but let me tell you, looks are deceiving. I don’t want to know you on the outside. I want to know you on the inside.
Paul gives this instruction, “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh …” (II Corinthians 5:16). Created in the image of God, we are tri-part beings. As God is a trinity of Father, Son and Spirit, so we are spirits that have souls and live in bodies. Of those three components, the body of flesh is temporal, but the soul and spirit live forever. I see and acknowledge you in the flesh, but I don’t know you until I know your soul and spirit. This is one of the ways that the gift of discerning spirits operates. Not merely to distinguish between good and evil spirits, but to understand what is in the spirit of a man.
Our society puts a lot of stock into the outward appearance. It is not un-important to take care of your physical body and care for your appearance, but that is not the eternal you. The world obsesses over body image. Cosmetic plastic surgery, diet & exercise equipment sales number in the billions of dollars, while we are raising a Biblically illiterate generation. It’s time to make a serious investment in the spirit man, born again by the Spirit of God. This is the hour for an extreme makeover, soul edition!
“For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (I Timothy 4:8)
Read, study, memorize, meditate and apply the Word of God to your life! Pray to, praise, worship and serve the Living God! Train yourself to be godly! That is true self improvement.
From this time on, I want to know the real you – the eternal you. When you die your body will go to the grave – earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. On that great resurrection morning you will dawn a new body, “not made with hands, eternal in the heavenly.” When I see you there, I may not recognize your “new suite,” but I will know your eternal soul & spirit. So take some time get to know yourself and others in a brand new way!
Paul gives this instruction, “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh …” (II Corinthians 5:16). Created in the image of God, we are tri-part beings. As God is a trinity of Father, Son and Spirit, so we are spirits that have souls and live in bodies. Of those three components, the body of flesh is temporal, but the soul and spirit live forever. I see and acknowledge you in the flesh, but I don’t know you until I know your soul and spirit. This is one of the ways that the gift of discerning spirits operates. Not merely to distinguish between good and evil spirits, but to understand what is in the spirit of a man.
Our society puts a lot of stock into the outward appearance. It is not un-important to take care of your physical body and care for your appearance, but that is not the eternal you. The world obsesses over body image. Cosmetic plastic surgery, diet & exercise equipment sales number in the billions of dollars, while we are raising a Biblically illiterate generation. It’s time to make a serious investment in the spirit man, born again by the Spirit of God. This is the hour for an extreme makeover, soul edition!
“For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (I Timothy 4:8)
Read, study, memorize, meditate and apply the Word of God to your life! Pray to, praise, worship and serve the Living God! Train yourself to be godly! That is true self improvement.
From this time on, I want to know the real you – the eternal you. When you die your body will go to the grave – earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. On that great resurrection morning you will dawn a new body, “not made with hands, eternal in the heavenly.” When I see you there, I may not recognize your “new suite,” but I will know your eternal soul & spirit. So take some time get to know yourself and others in a brand new way!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Prepare to Lose
Do you ever find yourself fighting for something? Be careful. In your struggle you may be fighting with God. If you ever find yourself wrestling with God, prepare to lose! For in absolute surrender you will win!
Jacob was a fighter. Jacob was a loser. His name means to usurp by treachery or force. He tried to live up to the reputation of his name, but never seemed to get ahead. Just about everything he touched turned to dust in his hand. He was a wrestler, a scrapper, a grappler. But he always seemed to be wrestling with the wrong opponent. Remember “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” At birth he grappled with his twin brother to be first born, and he lost. He wrestled and wrangled to secure the birth right and the blessing of his father by deceptive means. He thought he had won, but in truth he had lost precious relationships with his family as he fled from the wrath of his brother. Jacob met his match when he approached his uncle for the love of his life. This time he tried to do the right thing, but in his best effort was deceived, manipulated and controlled. And yet the greatest failure of his life was soon to come!
It was at the point where in order to return to his homeland he would have to make peace with his brother. Peace would come at the price of sacrificing everything. At the ford of Jabbok he left his wife and children on the other side, and proceeded alone. Jabbok means to be emptied by utter failure or loss. At this stage in his life he would have to risk everything to achieve restoration. Jacob was devastated. It seemed as if he was always striving for something, but could never quite pin it down – until that night, when he was all alone, he wrestled a Man.
Scripture is not clear whether Jacob was asleep or awake; in consciousness or in the spirit. The word “wrestle” implies to grapple and get dusty. This was the fight of his life. Bigger than the Thrilla’ in Manila - this was the all or nothing round! But this was a fight he could not win! At the point that he felt the victory slipping away, Jacob grabbed hold of the Man for dear life! The Man dislocated his hip, but Jacob would not let go without a blessing.
“What is your name?” the Man asked (Genesis 32:27). “Usurper’” Jacob said. “(Not anymore. From now on you will be called Israel) for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Israel means GOD PREVAILS! A name change like this always implies a changed life. Jacob lost. God won! God would continue to win in Jacob’s life as he submitted himself to God's lordship.
Jacob called that place Peniel which means face to face with God. No longer was Jacob striving against God, but rather was redirected toward God. Although his hip was forever disjointed, his life was reset in right alignment with the will of God.
Stop fighting with everyone and everything in life. You are not wresting with stuff. You are wrestling with God. When you finally realize that you are grappling with God, GIVE UP! – and let Him realign your dislocated life.
Jacob was a fighter. Jacob was a loser. His name means to usurp by treachery or force. He tried to live up to the reputation of his name, but never seemed to get ahead. Just about everything he touched turned to dust in his hand. He was a wrestler, a scrapper, a grappler. But he always seemed to be wrestling with the wrong opponent. Remember “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” At birth he grappled with his twin brother to be first born, and he lost. He wrestled and wrangled to secure the birth right and the blessing of his father by deceptive means. He thought he had won, but in truth he had lost precious relationships with his family as he fled from the wrath of his brother. Jacob met his match when he approached his uncle for the love of his life. This time he tried to do the right thing, but in his best effort was deceived, manipulated and controlled. And yet the greatest failure of his life was soon to come!
It was at the point where in order to return to his homeland he would have to make peace with his brother. Peace would come at the price of sacrificing everything. At the ford of Jabbok he left his wife and children on the other side, and proceeded alone. Jabbok means to be emptied by utter failure or loss. At this stage in his life he would have to risk everything to achieve restoration. Jacob was devastated. It seemed as if he was always striving for something, but could never quite pin it down – until that night, when he was all alone, he wrestled a Man.
Scripture is not clear whether Jacob was asleep or awake; in consciousness or in the spirit. The word “wrestle” implies to grapple and get dusty. This was the fight of his life. Bigger than the Thrilla’ in Manila - this was the all or nothing round! But this was a fight he could not win! At the point that he felt the victory slipping away, Jacob grabbed hold of the Man for dear life! The Man dislocated his hip, but Jacob would not let go without a blessing.
“What is your name?” the Man asked (Genesis 32:27). “Usurper’” Jacob said. “(Not anymore. From now on you will be called Israel) for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Israel means GOD PREVAILS! A name change like this always implies a changed life. Jacob lost. God won! God would continue to win in Jacob’s life as he submitted himself to God's lordship.
Jacob called that place Peniel which means face to face with God. No longer was Jacob striving against God, but rather was redirected toward God. Although his hip was forever disjointed, his life was reset in right alignment with the will of God.
Stop fighting with everyone and everything in life. You are not wresting with stuff. You are wrestling with God. When you finally realize that you are grappling with God, GIVE UP! – and let Him realign your dislocated life.
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