Written by Major W. Ian Thomas
The Lord teaches His most profound lessons in the midst of the storms. It was when everything was contrary to His disciples that Jesus appeared and said, “I Am; stop being afraid.” And when He was in the boat with them, the wind ceased. “Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’ ” (Matt. 14:33)
If you learn nothing else from this book, remember to Trust in Christ and stay close to Him! He will take you into His Rest in due time. You will then be enabled to continually experience a Peace that transcends all understanding and a Joy that is inexpressible and full of Glory. (Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 1:8)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up {into the Kingdom-Life} in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (1 Pet. 5:6-7 Emphasis added)
You must learn to live in complete dependency on the Lord in all your activities. Christ desires to be in your life in a way that lifts you spiritually above all the storms of this world. He is the great “I Am.” Nothing is impossible for Him. Only when you realize this fact, and have begun to manifest this childlike dependence in the way you walk, will you truly be worshiping God.
Your “unbelief” can actually prevent God from working with His power in your life. Jesus said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” (Matt. 9:29) And the Hebrew writer said, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (Heb. 11:6) In other words, we please God and receive His enabling power in our lives as we rely on Him in the same way a dependent little child relies on his parent. If we are unwilling to enter into this childlike dependency on God for everything, we cannot please Him and we cannot expect to be lifted by His power into His Kingdom-Life in due time.
I tell you the Truth, unless you change and become like {dependent} little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven {the Kingdom-Life of God}. (Matt. 18:3)
We are told that Christ could not work mighty miracles in the lives of people in His own village because they lacked faith. “Now He could do no mighty work there… And He marveled because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:5-6) It was their lack of dependent faith that prevented God from working in their lives.
Do you still lack faith in Christ’s ability to turn you into a vessel of His Life and Works? When you “have faith in God,” you will be enabled to move mountain-like obstacles from your appointed path. (Mark 11:22-23) Let us therefore, for the sake of God’s Glory, learn to live by faith in Him.
We do not necessarily use God’s power to avoid difficult situations. We do, however, depend on His power to manifest the Life of Jesus through our mortal bodies regardless of the difficulties. (2 Cor. 4:11) Our ability to reflect the Glorious Life of the Son is actually enhanced during periods of hardship.
Paul has described how he received a deeper revelation of this important spiritual principle during a very difficult time in one of his missionary journeys. He said, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardship we suffered in the province of Asia… Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened {this loss of all hope in the flesh} that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8-9)
Any trial that increases our dependent faith in God is actually working for both our good and God’s Glory. But if we are to learn from these difficulties and tribulations, we will need to stop depending on our own strength and learn to live wholly by faith in God’s power of Grace. Only in this way is Christ able to manifest His Kingdom-Life through us.
Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The Glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard…The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought… You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. (Isa. 58:8, 11)
Next we'll look at The Nature of The Mystery
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