Some
Topics Covered in the Book
* How to respond to God in the midst of difficulties
* How to go deeper in your intimacy with Christ
* How to find renewal in your private place with God
*
How to cooperate with God in your preparation for your destiny
* How to discern good from evil
* How to better walk in the Spirit
Since
the events of September 11th Christians have attempted to understand
and find meaning in the midst of the mayhem. Some people have doubted
the goodness of God, while others have been overcome by their fear
and pain and rejected faith in God completely. 9/11 was an event
in the western world which has spurred people to greater faith or
has caused them to deny it.
When
we read the scriptures about the promises of God concerning prosperity,
success, authority and victory, we see in our mind's eye visions
of material abundance, recognition, positions of respect and honour,
and the satisfaction of every desire. We create for ourselves a
picture of what the goodness of God is. Then we run into a "September
11th" in our lives and our faith is crushed. There are not
many people who can say they understand God's purposes in allowing
this or other tragic events. We are left only with our faith that
God is good, even though we don't understand how or when He will
turn the present evil into something good. We are confronted with,
"our ways are not His ways". God looks at the big picture,
we only see the moment. He works toward purposes we don't fully
understand and in ways we cannot imagine. His ways are not our ways.
He turns to good that which has been meant for evil. He brings new
life out of death. He allows suffering to bring good.
This
is in part, His way. It is certainly not our way of doing things;
our idea of good is carnal. God, however intended for us to not
only know His purposes, but to also understand His ways. Moses walked
with God and learned to discern His ways. The operative words here
are "He walked with God". In walking with someone, you
soon learn how they do things. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
10:11 that the story of the Children of Israel and Moses' journey
in the wilderness was given to us (the New Testament Church) for
our understanding and warning. Revealed in this journey (walk) was
not only God's purposes for the church then and today, but also
God's way of achieving those objectives. Why did the Apostle Paul
attach such importance to the testing and tribulations of God's
people in the wilderness? What was it that he wanted us (the Body
of Christ) to learn from this story? There are five principal tenets
in the wilderness story.
They
are:
1. There is no other way to enter into the promises of God except
through the wilderness. The New Testament equivalent to this premise
is, "you must give up your life in order to find it" (Matt.
16:25). It is out of death God brings new life. It is in this new
life the purposes and provision of God are manifest.
2. All those who are willing to follow the Holy Spirit and not walk
by the flesh will be driven into the wilderness to be tested and
purged. All the great men of God spent time in the wilderness. Not
even Jesus escaped this testing period.
3.
The wilderness is a dangerous place. It is easy to become disqualified
from receiving the "prize", which is to live in the promises
of God and to bear fruit and become prosperous in the Kingdom. We
are warned not to become sidelined or distracted from the original
destination (objective) by unbelief, idolatry and impure motives.
4.
The only way out of the wilderness is to abide in Jesus, walk obedient
to the Holy Spirit, and to overcome our enemies by using the weapons
of the Kingdom, which are:
(a) repentance
(b) the denouncing of our weaknesses
(c) abiding in the life of Christ, and
(d) fervent prayer in faith
5.
Our enemy in the wilderness is not primarily
the devil, but the flesh. Our goal as Christians is to walk in the
Spirit. It is the flesh which is at enmity with the Spirit. They
are in battle with each other every day for lordship of our life.
Until the flesh is defeated in every area of our life, we are not
free to walk in all of the promises of God. Like the Children of
Israel who were called to depose the seven nations who were more
powerful than themselves, the flesh is an enemy we can not defeat
with our own efforts. Only the redeeming work of the Holy Spirit
can defeat this enemy. Even after the flesh is defeated by the Holy
Spirit, we must die each day and choose to walk in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is not only the author of our salvation, He is also
the finisher of it as well.
We
can trust Him to bring us through the wilderness. He wants us however
to understand His objective of putting the flesh under His authority
in our life and to understand His ways in doing this. The tests
in the wilderness can be extreme but perfectly designed to bring
us to victory over the flesh. It is in this victory that we are
crucified with Christ and become seated with Him in heavenly places.
If we understand His objectives and ways, we will by experiential
faith choose to believe in God's goodness even when we don't understand
the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Paul's warning to
us is not to let unbelief or the other manifestations of the flesh
come between us and the Father. If we do, we will become stranded
in the desert and never achieve our purpose in God or live in all
His promises.
From
the fall in the Garden of Eden, God has planned to rescue man from
the tyranny of the Flesh. His plan is that we would enter into relationship
with the Father through Jesus and by obedience to the Holy Spirit
overcome the world, the devil and the flesh. Since the early 1900's
more people have been baptized in the Holy Spirit than at any other
time in the history of man. Millions of people are being called
into a journey which will either leave them derelict in the wilderness
or victorious in the promises and purposes of God. I pray that the
Body of Christ will heed the Apostle Paul's warning and learn and
understand God's ways and purposes in the wilderness. God is preparing
His people and a great victorious army who will overcome the world
and defeat the devil, and the flesh. Then the stage will be set
for Christ's triumphant return. Make straight the way of the Lord.
Maranatha! Paul K. Weigel