Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will
never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of
the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness
and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else,
but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and
set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on
our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are
persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically
disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is
Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing
revelation ever.
Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand
it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I
may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very
spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of
only one thing— a perfect oneness with the Father. And He tells us,
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a
self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may
use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to
it for His sake, I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.
No comments:
Post a Comment