"Life Line" Newsletter Archives
October 9, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
Each quarter Abiding Life Ministries International Publishes a beautiful newsletter for our friends. This newsletter is now available online. We will also publish some of the articles on the website so that they can be translated by web translators more easily…
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Living to Man!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
Proverbs 29:25-26, The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the LORD.
Living to and for men is one of the worst kinds of bondage, for anyone living to man cannot live to God, the Giver of freedom. We have a saying, “I love you, but I do not live to you. I live to God.” I will again preach of my own weakness: I determined some time ago that I would no longer meet with politicians. Why? I always compromise! I have met wicked men in places of authority and found myself compromising. The men should have been rebuked. If Jesus did not go to the “leaders” in His day, then what business do I have going? There is just something about being in the presence of image that shakes me. It is my weakness; I am sure some can withstand it, but I cannot. I end up living for man.
There are several ways to live for man: giving glory, taking glory, giving judgment, receiving judgment, showing partiality because of worldly resources, groveling at the image or position of “greatness,” discussing man’s “secret” failings, refusing to ask a question, avoiding a confrontation, or reacting to criticism. I have done it all, and I tell you it is a miserable way to live. What makes it so miserable is the awareness that there is another way to live, free from man-pleasing; however, this freedom comes through faith. We must believe completely and unreservedly that we have a God who provides for us in every way, financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We must believe that He opens doors, provides the way, and gives us wisdom. We must believe that He gives us everything needed, and that in Him we will find everything that we have looked for elsewhere in vain.
For it is only in seeing that God meets all our needs that we are free from the root of living for men, that root being the belief that man can provide something that we need. If assurance, significance, value, and worth come from God, what does man have to offer? If man has nothing to provide that we need–no praise, position, nor possession–then we are free not to live to man. Again, living for the approval of man has at its root the belief that man can give us something that God will not. Therefore, we compromise our own eternal goal to get something perishable, even though what man offers always seems to come at a high price. When we live to men, we must ask ourselves what their favor will give us: our name on a piece of paper, a conversational piece of name-dropping that will elevate us when in a social setting, a job interview, or their approval over our work? Once we move in faith toward the Provider of all, we will be free, free indeed. It is great to trust God and not trust man, it is beautiful to acknowledge that God provides, and it is wonderful to let the heart become a graveyard for criticism because of the understanding that people’s praise would not fill the void that only Christ can fill. Now, some will say, “Then we can be hermits; we do not need men!” Not at all! We need them to love.
Making a Career Move
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
Hebrews 11:8, “By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
What are we to expect when we make a career change or when we move from one place to another? What is the way of things when we accept a different call? There are things that we must know. First, before we can determine to leave a place, we must understand that most of us will slowly become unsettled with the place in which we presently work or reside. God often makes us dissatisfied with a place before He shows us the way, for if He showed the way before we were dissatisfied, why would we not hesitate to take it? Dissatisfaction with surroundings will make the move of faith much easier. Second, like homing pigeons released, we must circle, feeling lost, until something clicks in our innermost being and we know the direction in which we are to go. Third, we are being grafted into a new place on the vine, and the dung must be packed around the insertion to keep us in place and free from disease and bugs. Fourth, there must be reversals before a fulfillment of that to which we believe we have been called. Fifth, we are like the caterpillar in that by our own choosing we have built ourselves a tomb wherein we cannot move and are in the dark. Yet, in this dark place faith is being wrought, and we will emerge from the cocoon looking much different than when we entered into it. In all of this, we must see that the goal of shifting locations had faith as its goal. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen (Heb. 12:1). Just as ships leaving the harbor must keep fixed on two points ahead to exit into the open sea, so we must stay fixed on this goal of faith in Jesus. When we have little needs, we will have the perception of a little God; big needs develop a little better sense of how big a God we serve. Shifting location will force us to recognize a big God. Beautiful.
Are You a Machine and Sin the Driver?
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
Romans 6:6-7, Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
Many view slavery to sin as analogous to a machine and a driver. A machine has no will of its own, being completely dominated and controlled by the driver, who turns it on, moves the handles, expects response from the machine, and turns it back off. This is the “life” of a machine; its state of being without a will, without the ability to choose, shows a true example of passivity. Many unbelievers and believers alike have embraced the philosophy toward the slavery of sin wherein sin is the driver and the unbeliever or believer is nothing more than a machine. Sin has complete control over the unbeliever or the believer, who in turn must yield to its dictates. This view of life is soul killing in that it strips man of all hope. If one cannot choose, why even get out of bed? Why keep moving forward to a pre-determined judgment? When those in the world say that their sexual orientation is pre-determined, they have just confessed to being a hopeless machine slave. To convince a believer that he has an addiction is to persuade him that he has no choice. What, then, is there to do but allow sin to turn his switch to on, move him in its direction, and turn him off at its bidding? Oddly, the heterosexual is told that he or she can say no to sex, but the homosexual cannot.
We are not machines, and sin is not the driver. Unlike the piece of machinery, we have free will. However, our Creator, the Master, has set the parameters of our choices. Though thus limited in our choices, we still have choice. As a slave a person can work or not work, live or be killed, eat or not eat, sin or not sin, love or not love. There is a lot that a slave can do and a lot that a slave cannot do. Certainly he cannot leave. Spiritually, sin might be the master, but still the person can choose to do good (follow the Law) or choose to sin (disobey the Law). Now, sin does not sit on a believer or unbeliever controlling; instead, sin manipulates by appealing to pride and the desires of the flesh. Sin cannot control; it is not allowed to do so. Sin gets its adrenaline rush from manipulating someone to choose against God, choose sin, or choose the keeping of the Law. Anyone can simply say “no” to sin. I have seen and met unbelievers that one day said “no” to this or that sin; they meant it and it stuck. How much more empowered is the believer? Sin is a big annoyance, it has the power to deceive, and it is relentless. When someone is the slave of sin, all choices are calculated by sin to serve sin. However, the capability is still there to choose, or how could an unbeliever choose Christ? Once Christ is chosen, a person is taken out of the dominion of sin and placed in the Kingdom of God. He is still a slave (serving a wonderful Master!). However, the parameters are much grander and the choices far more varied. A slave still must choose. We read in John 5:19, “the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” Jesus did do something; He chose to do nothing on His own. That is not passivity.
I once finished a meeting and was verbally attacked by another. I did something: I prayed, I listened, I rested, and I heard nothing from Jesus, so I said nothing. It appeared to others that I did nothing, but I was actually doing a lot of choosing. As a slave of righteousness, I can do a lot of choosing. At other times I have actively done nothing by waiting and listening, and He spoke. In those instances I spoke what I heard, and it was redemptive, as Jesus always is. Again, it is soul killing if as a believer I think I am a machine without free will. I am a slave to Christ, but I do not just sit around waiting for Jesus to get in the driver’s seat. I work within the parameters He has set for me, his slave, and I have so many choices and freedoms that He actually calls me His friend, His beloved, His brother, and His bride. This slave must put one foot in front of the other and walk by faith. This slave must deny his lying emotions. There are many things that my Master will not do for me, because it is His will that I do them for myself, and I am to obey my beautiful Master. What a wonderful kingdom is His; what a great day it is to be a slave. Now, the old slave died, so sin can no longer lay any claim whatsoever on me as a believer. If sin wants to grab back the old slave, it will just end up with a handful of spiritual dust.
Male Validation
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
I Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”
Peter’s statement that “a woman will be saved in childbirth” is confusing until the word saved is properly defined. The term saved, as used in the Bible, refers a majority of the time to deliverance in the present. Nothing hinders daily victory and joy as much as selfishness. Experiencing childbirth, a woman’s self-life is given a severe blow as she devotes her own wellbeing to the good of another, her newborn child. This very loss of self-centeredness allows her to be more susceptible to daily victory in Christ.
Peter’s statement is not meant to be a dig to women who have not borne children any more so than to men, who also have never borne children. He is pointing to a greater truth, and that truth is that selfishness needs a deathblow in order for mankind to find life. Childbirth seems to validate a woman’s existence (not all women, but many) in the sense that once a woman is a mother, the course of her life is believed to be set, and she therefore has validation and purpose. Men do not have such an experience, and I find that many are looking for purpose and validation. However, we seek for the things that can only be found in Him.
I have collected several suicide notes from men over the years (more men successfully commit suicide than women). The notes are predictable and often carry the same theme: “I am sorry that I did not amount to more”; “I should have done more with my life”; “I am a disappointment.” In short, they never found validation–or, rather, a fulfilled purpose–in living. Within the context of discipleship I often play a suicide game. I pretend that I am the person sitting before me wanting to commit suicide, and the person must take the name of Suicide. I say, “Suicide, why do you want to kill me?” The answer comes in various forms, but always with the same general thrust: “Because you are worthless, you have not accomplished anything with your life, and you have not lived up to your potential.” I then respond, “Exactly what is my potential? How will I know if I have accomplished enough or lived well enough to fulfill my potential? Will it be when I have made a medical discovery, become popular, obtained my own television show, gained the praise of my family, or memorized the whole Bible? The problem is that I know of men who fall into the previous categories of accomplishment that have all committed suicide, therefore proving that your definition of validation is faulty.”
Something very depressing to many is that they have “made it” in the world’s sense and wake up in the morning being their same old selves. Validation from yourself, the world, or others is like taking a dry dishrag and wringing it for a full, thirst-satisfying, glass of water. When man cannot find validation, he will live to the world, others, and self in an attempt to justify his existence on the earth. I have not mentioned the things that we do that actually, in our minds, do the opposite of validating us. There are the outbursts, the deeds of the flesh, the old habits that return, the failed marriages, and more. Men more than women need to stop looking for validation in any place other than the Lord. Naked you entered the world and naked you will leave. Frank Sinatra died and Las Vegas dimmed its lights for a short time. Wow! What a tribute. They then turned them back on full blaze and went on gambling.
If the Lord validates you, you no longer must live to the world, yourself, or others. You will be free, free indeed. He validates every man with a simple statement, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is enough. With that statement echoing in my heart, I am as happy sitting on a tractor turning up the grubs and watching the seagulls eat them as I am preaching before five thousand. I am as expectant in defeat as in victory. I am not watching myself obsessively, nor does the affirmation or rejection of the world or others change my day.
The Shepherd and The Natural
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
In my own life it is during walks that God most often speaks to me. “You are selfish! How? By spending so much time thinking about yourself! But how? You are to set your mind on the things above. But you set your mind on the things below. The things below are not just sin. The things below include questioning past behaviors, decisions, wondering if you were a good father, a good husband, how much of the work was Mike-inspired and how much was God-inspired. These things come from below. And what are they to Me? If you did good in the morning, give God the glory. If you did bad, confess, but don’t bring it into the now. When your eyes are set above, you will be filled, and next your eyes will be on others. It is selfish to spend that much time on self.” Next a message came. Jesus is not a general with troops walking in lock step, fearful of making the wrong move. Jesus is the Shepherd, and He leads. He leads, and the sheep do what is natural. I had to ask myself the question, what do I do naturally? I disciple, lecture, and write. I could see that the sheep also eat the grass that looks good to them while the Shepherd leads. I am free to pick the grass while I am doing what I do naturally. What freedom! I can pick the grass I like; not all sheep pick the same grass. I can pick to go to Ukraine, Latvia, or anywhere if it looks good to me. For at the end of the day and the end of the year, I will have been led through what I do naturally to the exact spot I should be. Every believer is led to the exact spot. Now to receive freedom, we must have faith. Unbelief will always emphasize man’s role in getting to the right place in life by listening, plotting, seeking, trying to understand, and deciphering the signs. Is it good? Is it my wants or His wants? What will happen if I make a wrong move? It is bondage, but we think about it. Is it not truly simple because God is so big? As I finished my walk there was one more lesson. It glorifies God that we walk with Him because we want to. In that last day we will all stand before Him, and God can proclaim, “You chose to be here.” God does everything permissible to help us make the right choice. He will close all doors but one; however, ultimately walking through that one is our choice. He does everything He can to push us to the right place. I could see that all of creation had been stayed by the hand of God. Every tree and rock, if given the freedom to do so, would burst out with His praise. Jesus said the rocks were ready to shout, and David said the trees clap their hands. But God will only allow nature to whisper of its Creator, for any more would infringe on choice. But every created thing is proclaiming Jesus.
Satan and His Children
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
A lie can produce physical symptoms in a person.
“The father of lies”
I was being told of many people in Africa, believers and unbelievers alike, who suffered afflictions put on them by demons. I can understand a demon’s dwelling in an unbeliever; however, nowhere does any writer of the New Testament–despite dealing with a variety of sins, behaviors, and problems—refer to the casting out of demons as a way of deliverance for a believer. Paul had to deal with immorality, idol worship, and all the deeds of the flesh. His solution was to point people back to Jesus. Here there are visible signs of demonic attack among many of the believers: wounds, sores, and a variety of ailments that have beset them because of the demonic. However, I don’t think Satan is the primary cause of such oppression. Satan is the father of lies. When a father and mother divorce, the father is given a piece of paper that gives him the legal right to visit his children. A lie is Satan’s child; if you invite in a lie, Satan has the legal right to come and visit it. A lie can produce physical symptoms in a person. This is most obvious in the Aboriginal culture of Australia, wherein a witch doctor can “point the bone” at a man and the bone will start to grow in the man until it kills him. Doctors, though, have found a solution; they will give the man a local anesthesia, make a large cut, put on butterfly stitches, and give the man some unrelated random piece of bone as if it had been removed. At that the man gets well. The man had received a lie that manifested itself in physical symptoms that would lead to death. The same is taking place in Africa. Remove the lie and both Satan and the physical symptoms will leave. The lie that needs to be removed is that Satan has more power than God. The people have been taught this through parents, culture, and experience, and they have received it. Because of this false concept of God, the lie is received that Satan can harm the elect, a lie that is used by the enemy to steal joy, confidence, and victory. I would recommend that the focus on Satan might be removed and all such lies invited out, so the Christ within can flow freely to fill the void, and the father of lies can have no legal right to visit. Some believers focus on Satan and deliverance for the removal of the symptoms, and it is better to get deliverance from the source of all freedom, which is Christ. It is important that we all guard against any part of the lie that Christ is weak. Again, the revelation of the truth of Christ will fill the void left when the lie leaves, and the symptoms will go.
He Who Knew No Sin Became Sin!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
II Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That sin was great that it drove the very life out of him.
How? Take two magnets and try to hold them together. It will be opposites that attract not the positives. As you try to hold the positives together the magnets wiggle and move about trying to escape each other. As they flip they fit together nicely and tightly. Jesus is the invisible nuclear glue that is holding all things together. He is the positive. Man, attempting to be like God believes that man is the positive. Therefore, man invites sin into his being. The glue and the sin are repelled by each other. The glue withdraws and man becomes less and less in the image of God. If sin is continued to be invited in the man will, in time, no longer resemble the image of God. Therefore, God allowed a fix. The sin could be taken out of a man and placed on an animal. Man is in the image of God and the sin makes him sick. However, that sin placed on an animal, not in the image of God, will so distort the animal that it must be killed. The animal represented what man had lost in his sin. For example a dove, for a dove represents freedom, song, and peace. A sacrifice of man was never required. Not required until the fullness of time when the sins of the whole world (past, present, and future) had reached their culmination. On the cross God broke the divine umbilical cord that ran from Himself to the Son and placed on the Son the sins of the whole world. That sin was great that it drove the very life out of him. When the life was out of him, sin, Satan, the World, Death, Captivity, and Hell encased Him. He sank to the depths of Hell and there to the surprise of all there broke out! He conquered all that had encased His life, ripped open the gates of hell, preached, and even took Captivity captive so that it no longer could take captives. He then waited until God raised Him back into the body where the sin’s of the whole world lay. This time He entered back into the body with the power of an indestructible life, meet the sin, and conquered Sin in the body! His Life was so powerful that it even transformed his earthly body. Now, I believe that He has done all that in His body but the next step is believing that He can do it in my body!. He can, He will, and He has.
Ecology
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
How often do we flee when God tells us to give ourselves to those who have hurt us?
Romans 8:19-22 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, _in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Jonah 4:9-11, Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” In Scripture we see that creation has suffered by the hand of man and that redeemed man treats creation differently. However, the lesser will always give way to the greater, and man is the greater. It is amazing to watch as people show more compassion to plants and animals than to people, to live in a society where it is more important to protect a bird egg than the heart, mind, and innocence of a child or the life of a human fetus. Often the reason why people are that way is that they have been hurt by others, which makes loving a pet or a tree safer than giving themselves to others. I can only imagine the rejection and suffering that Jonah had experienced at the hands of others, so much so that when he was commanded to go to people, he fled. How often do we flee when God tells us to give ourselves to those who have hurt us? The amazing thing about Jesus is that where we fail, He succeeded. Though everyone rejected Him in the end, we see Him going forward to a cross to give Himself for all those who had hurt Him. We must admit where we are. After so much hurt, many of us have decided never to give ourselves to others again. However, if we invite Christ to be our love, we will find that what is impossible for us is easily possible for Him.
Generosity is Getting What You Need!
October 8, 2009 by Mike Wells
Filed under Articles by Mike Wells
As you wait in faith, He will meet your need.
“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?” In Matthew 20 Jesus tells a story now known by one and all. A man hires workers at different hours of the day; some work a long day and others a short one. In the end, every man gets paid the same. However, those that worked from the beginning were expecting more than the late men got, and they were rebuked, for the Master was free to pay what he wanted, and what was it to them if he wanted to be generous? Every man, from the one that arrived early to the one that arrived late, got exactly what he needed! The Master was much fairer, compassionate, and generous than anyone imagined; he knew the need was the same for every man, so he met the need accordingly. Since the first men were in need of a job, wouldn’t they have worked for less than their need? Couldn’t the Master have squeezed them and given them less than was needed? I believe so. The Master was generous with his initial offering to the men who worked the longer day. All the men were looking for a job; some found it in the morning and some in the afternoon. Which would you rather be? I would want to be the one that found it in the morning and knew my need would be met. Think of the stomach turning that the men hired last had gone through wondering if the day would end and their need would go unmet. Think of their having to go home to hungry children. These men of the afternoon were rewarded because they had a greater faith. They’d had to learn to trust in God and lean on Him all morning, while the others worked in the fleshly confidence that they would feed their families through their own labors. God rewarded the faith of the men who worked only a few hours by meeting their need, also. The story centers around men who had to wait with faith in God. “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.” As you wait in faith, He will meet your need.
