How attached are you to the things of this world?

Yesterday we read a long excerpt from a book I've been reading, me and my sisters have been studying from the book - The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee. We are taking our Bibles and making sure that the things we read are from God. Do I believe in everything Watchman Nee believes, no, not everything.  However, I'm not willing to ignore all the amazing truths he expounds on because we don't see eye to eye on everything. God gives us all light and we have to walk in that light, by HIS grace. He may not have giving Watchman Nee the light He has given to me or others. We are accountable to God for our own walk.  

Today I want to start to study more indepth the passage we read yesterday.  May the Holy Spirit guide us as we seek to learn more of our SAVIOR, of HIS LOVE, of HIS WILL.

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'Soul life is worldly; hence it is attached to the things of the world. Only after one is actually willing to offer his soul life to death will he be fit to follow the “Sermon on the Mount” without flinching. Though in that “sermon” we do not find the Lord Jesus mentioning the work of the cross, we nonetheless know for certain that unless one experiences identification with Christ in death—not merely having died to sin but having died to the self life as well—he attempts in vain to keep our Lord’s teachings enunciated on the Mount. He may appear to be following these instructions, but his heart is not one with his appearance.

Only a Christian who has yielded his soul life can spontaneously and unpretentiously give away his cloak when he has been sued for his coat.'

******My thoughts-

Spontaneously, unpretentiously giving away your cloak with SUED for your coat.  In Jesus' day articles of clothing were sometimes one of few possessions a person would own.  They didn't live a materialistic world to the degree most of us do in the United States- I didn't say all, but most. Sue a homeless man for his coat, that would be a huge deal, but again very unrealistic in our day and age.  To put this on another level we could say that ANY time, any one sues us for something can we imagine not only giving them what they sued us for but also more? It's unthinkable isn't it? People generally are sued when they won't give up what the other person wants. They sue in order to get something. Sure, I imagine sometimes people don't even try to get something from someone before suing them, they just assume there will be a fight for what they are after and so the suing begins, the court summons goes out.  Appearing in court the arguments begin, or rather the charges are read, the reasoning is made known and then would you simply, in answer to the charge, say- 'No problem they can have that and more.' ?  I can't help but wonder if that has ever happened and if so, how often. 

Now, let's add to that this part-   'SPONTANEOUSLY- UNPRETENTIOUSLY' -  Without any thought, your automatic response is to offer more than the person wants of you. Clearly the person didn't think you'd give them anything let alone more than what they want.  What does this say about the one offering more than expected and doing so spontaneously and unpretentiously? The SERIOUSLY and SINCERELY do not have any ties to their possessions, or rather their ties to their 'neighbor' are greater than their ties to anything they own. 

Look around your room, your house, your storage spaces and ask yourself if you'd be willing to lose it all? How tied to our things are we? And being tied to things we are also tied to the SOUL-SELF automatically.

Are you attached to things of this world?

May God help us to take note of our attachments to this world- people, places, and things.  Let's examine them a bit and if we find we have an attachment that preempts our ability to give it up for whatever reason there may be let us pray for our drawing closer to Christ, to the Spirit and farther away from ourselves!

Please, Lord, in Your most holy name! Jesus Christ our Savior, our Redeemer now and forever!

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'Gaining spiritual life is conditional on suffering loss.'

'Soul life is worldly; hence it is attached to the things of the world. Only after one is actually willing to offer his soul life to death will he be fit to follow the “Sermon on the Mount” without flinching. Though in that “sermon” we do not find the Lord Jesus mentioning the work of the cross, we nonetheless know for certain that unless one experiences identification with Christ in death—not merely having died to sin but having died to the self life as well—he attempts in vain to keep our Lord’s teachings enunciated on the Mount. He may appear to be following these instructions, but his heart is not one with his appearance.

Only a Christian who has yielded his soul life can spontaneously and unpretentiously give away his cloak when he has been sued for his coat.

He whose self life has been sacrificed to death is cut loose from the things of the world. Gaining spiritual life is conditional on suffering loss.

We cannot measure our lives in terms of “gain”; they must be measured in terms of “loss.”

Our real capacity lies not in how much we retain but in how much has been poured out.

Those who can afford to lose the most are those who have the most to give.

The power of love is attested by love’s sacrifice.

If our hearts are not separated from love of the world, our soul life has yet to go through the cross. “And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property” (Heb. 10.34).

(Heb 10:34  For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. )

The believers referred to in this passage did not simply endure but even joyfully accepted the plundering of their goods. This is the work of the cross.

The attitude of saints towards their possessions most assuredly signifies whether they continue to preserve their self life or whether they have consigned it to death.

If we desire to tread a pure spiritual path we must allow God to so operate in us that our hearts can be severed from everything pertaining to the world and be totally released from the intent of Lot’s wife. This is the prerequisite for experiencing perfect life in Christ. We can despise all the things in the world only after the Holy Spirit has shown the reality of heaven and its perfect life. '

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

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Read the above a few times and by the GRACE of our God we will discuss it more fully tomorrow.

All in HIS amazing LOVE! Please, Lord, open our hearts to only YOUR TRUTH and NO OTHER'S. Work in us, live in us, love us, save us from ourselves!

In the name of Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR now and forever! AMEN!

Revelation of Selfishness

'If in the disposition which Christ displayed in relation to His cross we are willing to take up ours, then we shall find that the power of His cross abides in us and enables us to lose our natural life. Each time the cross is taken up, each time does the soul life suffer loss. Each time the cross is circumvented, each time is the soul life fed and preserved.

The Lord Jesus does not imply that dealing with our natural inclinations is a once for all matter. We find in Luke the word “daily” is added to our Lord’s call to take up the cross. Cross-bearing is continuous.

The cross which condemned sin to death is an accomplished fact: all which remains for us to do is to acknowledge and receive it. But the cross through which we forfeit our soul life is different.

Self-denial is not a matter already and completely accomplished; this we must experience daily.

Now this does not mean that the soul life will never be lost or only be lost slowly. It simply bespeaks the fact that the cross which deals with the soul life operates differently from that which deals with sin. And the reason?

Because death towards sin is accomplished for us by Christ: when He died, we died with Him. But the denial of the soul life is not an accomplished matter.

We are required to take up our own cross daily by the power of the cross of Christ and determine daily to deny self—until it is lost.

Renunciation of our natural life is not something which is done once and forever.

As for sin, we only need take the ground of the cross (Rom. 6.6)

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

and immediately we are freed from its power and our servitude to it. In a moment this can be experienced with a full and perfect victory. But the self life must be overcome step by step.

The deeper the Word of God penetrates (Heb. 4.12),

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

the deeper works the cross and the further the Holy Spirit completes the union of the life of our spirit with the Lord Jesus. How can believers deny the self when it is yet unknown to them? They can deny only that part of the soul life which they already recognize. God’s Word must lay bare more and more of our natural life so that the work of the cross can probe deeper and deeper. That is why the cross must be borne daily. To know more of God’s will and to know more of the self- furnishes the cross increased ground to operate.' The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee

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Jesus revealed to Peter (we read about it in yesterday's study) that his desire for Jesus to be spared suffering and the cross was of Satan. Why? Because Peter would have HIS own will done, not the WILL of God. In Peter's desire he did not want this man he was coming to know as His Savior to disappear, he didn't want Him to suffer anything, he loved Him.  Peter was shown that this WANT of his was of Satan, it wasn't a good thing at all.  Peter was shown the soul-self in Himself that had to be denied. Peter had to LOOK at himself, he had to examine himself and comprehend why Jesus would call Him Satan and tell him what he said wasn't of God. You can just imagine how taken aback Peter had to have been.  Called to take stock of himself, of his motive, of his reasoning, Peter needed to comprehend the truth and that truth did not include any selfish motive, not a single one.

God's will, not ours.

We must not presume to know better than God knows.

We have to commit our lives and all its aspects to God and know that whatever is taking place that He is in control.

Truly, the cross we bear consists of daily revelations of selfishness, of self-focus.  When we are shown our particular soul-self ways we are shown in order for us to comprehend their nature and in comprehension determine to DENY self.  We aren't show the horrors of our soul-self just for the fun of it. We are shown for a purpose.  Satan would use it to lead us to despair while Christ uses it to teach us, to reveal to us just how desperately we need Him working in our lives. 

Will Jesus call you Satan too?

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 

'Peter speaks because he cherishes the Lord, yet he is being manipulated by Satan.

Peter prays the Lord to be kind to Himself, not knowing this prayer is inspired by the enemy.

Satan can urge people to love the Lord or even teach people to pray.

He is not apprehensive if people pray or love the Lord; what strikes fear in him is that they might not love the Lord or pray to Him with their natural energy.

While soul life continues, his business prospers.

May God show us how dangerous this life is, because believers may too quickly conclude that they are spiritual merely because they love the Lord or admire heavenly things.

God’s purpose cannot be accomplished as long as Satan continues to find opportunity to work through that soul life which remains uncommitted to the death of the cross.

Self-pity, self-love, fear of suffering, withdrawal from the cross: these are some of the manifestations of soul life, for its prime motivation is self-preservation.

It is exceedingly reluctant to endure any loss.

This is precisely why the Lord summons us to deny self and take up our cross so as to crush our natural life.

Every cross which passes before us beckons us to forsake our selves.

We should not harbor any self-love but lay down our lives by the power of God.'  The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

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Savoring NOT the things that be of God.  One of Jesus' apostles was NOT savoring the things that be of God. What exactly was Peter savoring? He didn't want Jesus to follow God's will all the way to the cross.

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 

Peter didn't want Jesus to 'suffer many things', Peter didn't want Jesus to 'be killed'.

These all seem like good things, don't they? Seriously. We don't want to suffer and we surely don't want those we love to suffer. We don't want to be killed, or our loved ones to be killed. These are logical, loving things to desire, right? Peter out of his love for Jesus didn't want Him to suffer and be killed- logical and loving. Jesus didn't see it that way though. Jesus comprehended fully the suffering and death coming His way, He wasn't pulling blinders over His eyes. He wanted His disciples to be prepared, to understand His prophetic words of the near future.  Instead of accepting what Jesus was telling them, Peter REBUKED the Lord!

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

Peter REBUKED the LORD telling Him - FAR BE IT FROM THEE- THIS SHALL NOT BE.

Peter wanted to save the LORD from His future.

Jesus was TELLING them the TRUTH.

Jesus was TELLING them FACTS.

Jesus wasn't telling the things that MIGHT happen. Jesus wasn't throwing the ideas out there looking for solutions. Plainly He was making a revelation, a prophecy of His own future.  Why would Peter even think for a moment that He could in any way alter what Jesus was telling them? Simply because He hated the idea of Jesus suffering and dying, He made the very rash statement, He rebuked the Lord.

Just imagine Peter hearing Jesus' response to what He thought were words of undeniable love and concern.

Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Peter was called SATAN!

Peter was told he was and OFFENCE to Jesus- the very One he believed he was showing adamant, unfailing, unwavering, undeniable love for.

Peter was told that he SAVOREST NOT the THINGS that BE OF GOD- but the things that be of MEN.

He was called SATAN not because he savored things of Satan, but things of MEN. Think about that for a moment, a long moment.

Peter did NOT truly desire in that moment for God's will to be done, but rather His own will. He believed- like we believe that, any sort of suffering is to be shunned. The suffering of loved ones, our own suffering, all of it is to be abhorred and to say otherwise makes us monsters in our own eyes.

How can we look upon the suffering of another and not despise it?  When we do despise it are we doing so through God's will or our own. Surely, God hates suffering, we know it will all end one day, that He wants it to end.  Yet until that day we are called to suffer the sacrifice of self and all involved in self.  We are to seek God's will and God's will only.  Peter was not seeking God's will, but His own. He couldn't stand the idea of an innocent suffering. He couldn't stand the thought of the Savior being killed.  He loved HIM and didn't want Him in any sort of pain, and He didn't want Him to die. HE DID NOT WANT THIS TO TAKE PLACE.  HE DID NOT WANT.  And because He did not want- Jesus called Him - Satan.

Truly we are to place ALL our desires, ALL our wants in God's will and NOT presume to know better than God knows.  We may see suffering and heartache beyond our imagining and still we will NOT know better than the will of God. And so many believe that a God who loves cannot allow suffering and heartache.  The same God who allowed His own innocent Son to suffer and die.  God with God agreeing to the suffering and death in order to assure the eventual end to all suffering.

More tomorrow on all of this, by the GRACE of our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, now and forever!

Suffering for God's Will

 'Peter told the Lord: “You must pity Yourself!” The Lord came back with: “You must deny yourself.” There is a price to pay in following God’s will. The flesh trembles at such a prospect. While soul life reigns supreme within us we are unfit to accept God’s orders because it wishes to follow its will and not God’s. When He calls us to deny ourselves through the cross and renounce all for His sake, our natural life instinctively responds with self-pity. This renders us unwilling to pay any cost for God. Hence whenever we choose the narrow way of the cross and endure for Christ’s sake, our soul life shall suffer loss. This is how we lose that life. Only in this way can the spiritual life of Christ be enthroned pure and supreme, undertaking within us whatever is well-pleasing to God and beneficial to men. '  The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 

Jesus said-   DENY ourselves!  Jesus said- TAKE up our cross!  Jesus said- FOLLOW Him!

If we seek to SAVE our own lives- we will LOSE them.

If we are willing to LOSE our lives for Jesus' sake we will find them.

There truly is a PRICE to pay in following God's will.

We cannot say we are Christ followers and then NOT deny ourselves.  We are denying our soul-self- we are denying self being first, we are putting spirit before flesh, before self. We make choices every single day of our lives we make choices.  A day doesn't go by in which we do not make choices.  The choices we choose will indicate to us what path we are following- self or God.

Some may ask if it is truly so bad to follow self and I say, YES!  Why is it so bad? Because self-seekers, soulical people are NOT spiritually minded and if we aren't spiritually minded we will not have Christ in us, and if Christ is not in us then we are lost eternally.

So yes, it is important to choose God over self every single time.

Becoming aware of just how self-orientated we are is necessary for us and God will reveal it to us if we allow Him to.  So many would rather hide away from their true selves because to come face to face with them would mean comprehending how awful we really are in the light of HIS righteousness.

Please, Lord, we would see Your truth. Help us to learn how to denying ourselves and pick up our cross. Teach us. We need to know You and all Your truth! Help us, please… save us.

Help us comprehend how we are to suffer and not suffer senselessly, but only in Your will as our Savior suffered in Your will- for love.

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord! Always.

We Need Spirit-led Emotions.

'They must not only rid themselves of whatever they know to be harmful but also yield to the cross whatever is humanly legitimate—such as affection—in order that they may be entirely under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Our Lord’s demand is most meaningful, for is it not true that human affection is tremendously uncontrollable? Without consigning it to the cross and losing it, affection can become a formidable obstacle to spiritual life.

Human feelings change as the world changes. Their easy excitement can occasion a saint to lose his spiritual balance. Their constant disturbance can affect a believer’s peace in his spirit. Do not sorrows, moanings, sighs and tears usually result from hurt feelings? If the Lord is not pre-eminent in our affections He can hardly be Lord in other respects.

This is a test of spirituality and a measure of its degree. We must accordingly hate our soul life and refuse its affections to have free rein. The Lord’s demand differs completely from our natural desire.

What was previously loved shall now be hated; and even the organ which generates love, our soul life, must be abhorred as well. Such is the spiritual way. If we verily bear the cross we shall be neither controlled nor influenced by soulical affection but shall be fit to love in the power of the Holy Spirit. Even so did the Lord Jesus love His family while on earth. '

The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee

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Why do we assume our affections are good things, simply because we have them? We enjoy happiness- so when we aren't happy we are longing to be happy. When we are filled with sorrow it makes us feel awful and it's something we despise.  There are so many different emotions we have and we truly believe they are all legitimate because they exist.

There is a popular show 'Star Trek' and on that show there is an alien whose race tries to control all their emotions so they don't rule them. They never claim not to have emotions, but rather they've learned to set them aside in favor of pure logic. Clearly God does NOT want us to set aside all our emotions- there is much talk of happiness in the Bible, there is talk of sadness, of anger and so.  When Watchman Nee talks about our feelings he's not talking about doing away with them either, but rather NOT letting them control our lives. The LORD needs to be preeminent in our affections.  We are not to be like the Star Trek alien race of Vulcans who go so far in their control of their emotions to never even show them- they shun smiling, crying, and so on.  We should however give the control of our emotions to the Holy Spirit at every opportunity. 

When we feel happy, sad, angry, depressed, when we feel any emotions so much so that we recognize we are caught up in it, we need to surrender it to the Holy Spirit and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance.  When we are caught up in happiness- we are laughing and perhaps even giddy, we need to make sure it is acceptable to God.  It's just as important that we do that with happiness as it is to do it with anger, sadness, etc. We need God to rule our lives, all our lives not just the part we set aside to seek Him, and study His word, but all day, every day, every minute of our lives are to be God's.   We don't have to become pastors, or missionaries, not unless we are specifically called to do so. Paul was a tentmaker even as He was an Apostle.  Jesus didn't ask us to give up our occupations, or even our families- as long as they both are in their places, not above God.  We are asked to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh, not in the soul-self.

Truly recognizing all aspects of our lives- affections, feelings, emotions all of it and comprehending that if allowed they will be filled with the selfishness we are to hate, is a good thing.  May God let us recognize all that would keep us from Him, from walking in the Spirit. And then, please God, please lead us in Your way everlasting!

By Your mercy, Your love, Your grace!

All in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!

Amen!

God wills that we be attached to him.

'People of the world cannot understand why; only the believer who is losing himself gradually into the life of God can comprehend its meaning. Who can appreciate God’s asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac whom God Himself had first given? Those who apprehend God’s heart make no attempt to cling to God-imparted gifts; rather do they desire to rest in God, the Giver of all gifts.

God wills for us to be attached to nothing aside from Him, whether it be man or a thing or even something conferred on us by Himself. Many Christians are quite disposed to leave Ur of the Chaldees, but few there be who can see the need to sacrifice on Mount Moriah what God has given.

This is one of the penetrating lessons of faith and relates to our being united with God. He requires His children to forsake everything that they may be wholly His.'  Excerpt from - The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee

This is BIBLICALLY based.

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 

Mat 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 

Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 

Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 

Go sell what thou hast.

The young man had A LOT to sell and he deemed all that wealth, all those possessions worth more than Jesus. 

We comprehend this and even with our lesser possessions we are loathed to give them up.  And our personal possessions that could be classified as people we hold dear can we give them up? Does our Savior want us to give up everything? That sounds cultish to us doesn't it? Giving up everything and then what? Following Jesus.  Not everyone is called to step out of their lives and into that sort of life. But how do we know? Is giving up everything a HEART/SPIRIT choice but not a literal choice?

More on ALL this tomorrow by the GRACE of our LORD.