James 1:2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Though we would not wish for troubles, trials and complications in life, they assuredly will come and how we respond to them determines and governs the extent of our salvation, that is the perfecting of our hearts and souls. There are manifold reasons why and how this is actually a means of help and I will try to show just a few. First of all, when ever we are touched by disturbing , challenging difficult things we are pressed or pushed hard to the depths of our being which causes a response from those depths. Light things do not reveal or expose to us what lies in the depths. Instead it requires something substantial to pull out the hidden dross. Anyone who is met with only very light things can easily mask and hide their fleshly inclinations because we learn over time not to react in anger or to say bad words and etc. So we condition ourselves to affect a restrained response. Say someone does something inappropriate in traffic. This immediately evokes a response, so that if you have conditioned yourself well enough and especially if there is another person present to hold you accountable, you may restrain your fleshly inclinations and give a masked or muted response. If no one else is present, in all honesty, you may give a lesser restrained response with a few ungodly choice words. But this is a small thing which does not press down with much power or pressure evoking a true response from your depths! We can picture this like a clear jar of water with dirt which is settled down to the bottom. The water appears to be quite clear but that is only because the dirt is at the bottom. It is not mixed with the water making it cloudy because there has not been an outside agent to stir it up in awhile. As long as there is no trials, sufferings, complications and etc there is nothing to stir the water.These things however, are like an object that has been placed into the jar to stir up the contents. The worse the affliction (according to each persons constitution and disposition in heart), the deeper the stirring agent goes and the more that dirt or flesh is brought to the surface. The dirt was always there but as long as it is not touched it can remain somewhat dormant and unseen by others and even ourselves. How many times in our lives have we honestly met with some experience where we let out a word or perhaps even many words or had a reaction in which we surprised ourselves saying, Where did that come from? You see, the corruption of the flesh goes very, very deep into the core of our being in the heart and soul so that it requires these things to apply the necessary pressure to bring them out and expose them. It is even all the more difficult, requiring even more pressure to bring this corruption out when we have learned to condition ourselves to hide, suppress and mask our responses. This is merely the way of the world in dealing with the corrupted flesh but it is not the way of salvation in Christ Jesus. Instead, we should be conditioned to walk in the light of truth rather than trying to mask or mute things, wearing a sort of facade of sorts. I would not suggest that we should let it all hang out, so to speak, but that we should be open and honest in our own hearts so as not to settle for self cloaking devices but to honestly allow these outward circumstances stir up our depths so that we may see what is there and turn to the Lord for the washing and cleansing of the living and powerful word which abides in us. In my own walk with the Lord I have learned to accept this as a sort of exercise in the refining work of the Spirit in which something will occur and I feel the corruption of the selfish flesh man, arising within. In the beginning this is most difficult to deal with and especially if we are in the error of thinking quite highly of ourselves because when we think we are quite wonderful and beautiful, we will naturally refuse to believe or accept that there is any corruption within. If we refuse to believe this we certainly are NOT in a position to deal with it in a proper way. Instead of allowing for the washing and cleansing of the Lord, we may even double down and insist, This was not me at all. I do not know where that bad response came from but I will resolve myself not to let this happen again. The result will be all the more damaging because not only does the corruption remain, but the heart deceives itself preferring to walk in darkness rather than in the full view of the light of truth! The person who makes this mistake will find himself expending great energies trying to mask what is truly inside rather than being set free. To walk in the light of truth then, requires that we be open and honest in the state and condition of our own person and to that inherent corruption therein. Then we can begin to see the vast distinction between the old man and the new; the man of flesh and corruption verses the spirit which is holy unto the Lord. There is great freedom when we reach this point of full light and awareness to all truth in His blessed light. In fact, this realization brings us into the blessed state of rest in the Lord for the walk in spirit since we now have the awareness of the distinction between what was me and what is now the Lord; what was the flesh verses what is the spirit. This revelation of truth in the light has made me all the more keenly aware so that when something does happen which pulls up that corruption from within, I see it at once and praise the Lord in all humility, even thanking Him and saying, Thank You Father, for I see this corruption which was caused to rise up out of my depths. I thank You Father in that, that which is exposed and brought to the light may be cleansed from my heart and soul for the perfecting in Christ by faith and not by self works and self efforts of constraining and suppression. That is merely the old man of flesh acting and responding according to the fallen nature of the man in Adam, but I confess and do profess that I reject and repudiate that old man and manner of life in nature, and turn instead to the new man and the new manner and nature of life eternal in Christ Jesus, the new and perfect man! Thank You Father, for revealing this inner corruption and thank You for the dividing of spirit and soul, which enables me to now see these things and to offer these things up to You for my perfecting in Christ Jesus. Though we do not necessarily feel the affects of the washing at once and though we may need a few more opportunities for stirring up the dirt of corruption unto exposing these in ourselves, we maintain our position of weakness and humility before the Lord in all faith so that in due time, He Himself washes and makes clean so that more and more we are purified from the core of our being unto the perfection in Christ rather than in the efforts of the old man as in suppressing and constraining and masking and then to take pride in the appearances of things rather than in heart! The Lord bless this word of exhortation to full affect for His body in the individual members of the church! Glory to God!
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 14:56:43 +0000
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