Jan.
07, 2003
By: Kevin
K. O’Connor
Main thought: To express the incredible contrast
and beauty of the Christian Walk compared to the walk of our own selfish ways.
Walking by Faith,
Not by Sight.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 6Therefore we are always
confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from
the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are
confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with
the Lord.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them
this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father
promised, which you have heard me speak about. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
I’m
so very grateful for Acts 1:4 where Christ tells those with whom He has walked
with, cast out demons with, raised the dead with, walked
on water with, to wait for God’s gift. It’s amazing how when God reveals great
revelations to us how we like to run off with them like the lepers that
received their healing. Luke 17;16-17
16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a
Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are
the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God
except this foreigner?"
Here
is our Lord, risen from the dead and tells His disciples to wait!? Oh, that we
would learn how to yield the reins of our hearts and wills to His. Satan
desires us to follow him but uses deceit and force to try and conform us to
following after him while Christ says “Behold I stand at the door and knock” Rev 3:20. Christ desires to change us after His
likeness from the inside out while satan tries to change us into his image but
from the outside in, --
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's
will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Note: transformation is from the inside out while conformation is from
the outside in.
It’s
so hard to learn how to bring our will/hearts under submission to Christ when
our minds have some amount of revelation. The disciples had much “knowledge” of
Christ and His resurrection and yet that wasn’t enough. There was another
yielding that was to take place so that they could be empowered to be His
witnesses. It seems like the longer we walk with Christ the more tendency we
have to walk with our understanding of where we walked yesterday instead of
listening to His voice anew each day.
I die every day–I mean that, brothers–just as surely as I glory over you in
Christ Jesus our Lord. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
And again, other good verses depicting how we should be; Philippians 3:13-15 13 Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any
thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Oh
how our tendency is to walk by the light of yesterday’s revelations and
mountain top experiences instead of learning how to seek Him anew each and
every day. We have such a tendency to want to store up our victories so that we
can somehow put our hearts into cruise control but God knows our tendency to be
lazy so had even told His children of Israel
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you.
The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I
will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. (Whole
Chapter: In
context: ).
Paul
had such an overcoming heart that realized that he needed to press in each and
every day with his whole heart. That kind of life is one of faith and not of
sight. And when I say sight, I also mean sight of where He had us yesterday. We
truly do need to learn how to walk by His Spirit as Romans
8:13-15 says 13For if you live
according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to
death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who
are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not
receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the
Spirit of sonship.[1] And by him we cry, "Abba,[2] Father."
Have
you ever experienced the joy of revelation? Math does not come naturally for me
so for me to finally learn the principal of how to solve a problem, there is
great joy in that. So too, when we learn a spiritual truth, there’s a joy that
accompanies it. Unfortunately, our nature is to try and heap unto ourselves
more and more understanding with our minds and don’t realize the importance our
Lord sets on living what He is revealing to us. Kind of like the bread from
Heaven the Lord supplied Israel. It was for them to go out each day and gather
what they needed except the Sabbath. But just like then, the nature of man
hasn’t changed. They tried to store up more than they needed and the Lord had
it infested with maggots the next morning. So too, knowledge of God’s Word is
like Honey to our souls but look what the Lord has to say about that; Proverbs 24:13-14 13 Eat honey, my son, for it
is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. 14 Know also
that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for
you, and your hope will not be cut off. But then, look what happens when
we hoard even honey which is sweet;
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient
for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
And then again in
it states; It is not good to eat much honey:
so for men to search their own glory is not glory. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
We
as God’s people have a tendency to even to try and hoard God’s Word but look at
how His Word is to be to us;
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Note how specific and directional God’s Word is supposed to be to us.
We’d love for it to be like a flood light that lit up everything around us, but
I believe there was a very good reason for the Lord to close off 90 percent of
our brain’s capacity to us. It seems that we have such a tendency to put our
trust in what our minds can comprehend and not in Him. Who knows? Maybe this fact is what led to satan’s self-pride and downfall. So, I’m grateful that He
has chosen to withhold the other 90% until after we see Him. And, I’m glad that
He has reserved the privilege to live with Him forever to those who have
learned to live for Him by Faith, and not by sight.
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If you have comments or suggestions email me at rubornagain2@outlook.com