Living in the Spirit means that I trust the Holy Spirit to do in me what I cannot do myself. This is completely different from the life I would naturally live of myself. Each time I am faced with a new demand from the Lord, I look to Him to do in me what He requires of me. It is not a case of trying but of trusting; not of struggling but of resting in Him.
~ Watchman Nee
Take a deep breath beloved… Pray. Ask Him to speak to you. Then, dive in and devour a rich piece of the meat of the Best News ever!
From Hebrews 6
Oh beloved it is true. When we first come to Him, it is because we have come to the end of ourselves. We become wretchedly poor in spirit. And it is in this very moment that we become utterly and infinitely rich. As we abandon the concept that there is anything good in ourselves, and surrender to the infinite goodness of a good G_d – He proceeds to fill us with a portion of Himself which leaves no room for doubt. We no longer believe in G_d. We know Him.
And as He works in our lives, the great work He has set before us begins to unfold. We do indeed work for G_d. But it is no longer in the sinful manner of selfish religion. We are no longer actually doing anything FOR G_d. Rather, it is Him working out His Life within us and THROUGH us.
We have been justified and guaranteed of heaven by believing in His great work on the cross and through His resurrection. However, we then find that He goes even further. He saves us.
He saves us from our sins.
He saves us from ourselves.
He sets us free to simply Love Him and Love others.
And there is, in this beautiful salvation a grave danger: We can lose it.
Yeah, this fool of a writer just said it. We (you and i) can lose our salvation (this victory over sin and self). We are forever justified and have escaped the ravages of hell and damnation – and this is very good news. However, there is a Kingdom – now invisible – and one Day pervasive, that will be inhabited and ruled by those who have partaken in and surrendered to the great salvation He has wrought within us.
And the danger is so very insidious. Upon finding ourselves both justified and saved, we can easily begin to go back to our old ways. Upon being made clean, we are tempted to try to live our own lives over again, and now try to do things better for Him. We seek to make sure that we follow every single precept we can discover. We work and work and work to prove to G_d and ourselves and others that we really are saved. And all of this seems to be a normal response to the Grace He has poured out onto us.
And it is not.
Bluntly beloved. G_d does not need our help. He wants to be our Friend, and He wants us to be His. However, He is the only One who can enable this to happen. There is no “scale” between the Infinite and the finite. There is no way we can make this work and the flow only works One Way. Infinite is the only side of the equation that can reconcile finite into Itself.
Can we see it? The sin mentioned above is the sin of us trying to work for Him. These works are dead, putrid, useless and an affront to the Work done for us by the One who is our great High Priest. Yes, our lives will manifest great work. But an even more strong yes here is that the work is His workmanship at work within us. And the only way we can accomplish these works is to fully rest in Him in a state of continual repentance from the dead religiosity we tried to foist on Him in the past.
So, in repenting from any of our own efforts to do good things for G_d in thankfulness for our salvation… We get back to the main point of the great exchange He made on our behalf.
Love.
Love is the profound concern for the well-being of another, without regard to whether they love us back.
Love is me doing good for another, with affection, at my expense, for God’s glory.
And so, instead of rules and dead works, this Love is the Law He has written on our hearts. This kind of Law far more than covers the beautiful Law seen in the Old Testament. It goes exceedingly farther than even the Sadducees and Pharisees with their rules upon rules, for it sacrifices self for the benefit of others.
And so further, we find that rules and regulations actually limit the power of G_d in our Lives. The righteousness He has for us to Live is exceedingly more powerful than simply following every jot and tittle. This is why Jesus said the law will never pass away. He upped the ante when He made us His dwelling place and became our High Priest.
This is why we must abandon simple following of rules (they were but a sign-post to His perfection to come). Rather, we must repent of our old thinking and embrace the gospel of the Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Oh beloved. Just rest. Let Him work. Let Him fill. He will set you right. There is no need to struggle. He will see you through.
When turning to your blog this morning, I had just finished recording in my journal the ongoing problem of Trust & Rest.
Watchman Nee has been one of the most helpful and deep authors to me over the past several years. For him to have the problem of Trust & Rest also is somehow comforting. This problem of self is insidious.
– The Lord’s word to me is “Trust & Rest” – it seems that every activity moves me to be in my own strength. Whether its physical or mental, I am compelled to do in my strength; without the Spirit. This is big. It is also disapointing to the self to admit it. Its not about slowing down, taking my time and a deep breath as I used to do. But, the Lord needs to take over all activities – body, soul and mind. Without the Trust and Rest the Lord cannot accomplish what He is after inwardly. The end product of operating in my strength is panic, impatience, stress, frustration, anchorless, emptyness – in short, the flesh & self.
The fact that this is in the forefront is of course good news. The Lord is Working and Active, meaning He is Intent to make a Transfer – Amen.
Yeah, religion, it seems, is one of the greatest lies of the evil one. This idea that us tiny finite and sinful beings can somehow stand before a holy and unapproachable Light. And then when we add in our egos, it seems impossible to overcome.
But God! Then, once we allow Him to turn the flow back around… all the things we once tried and failed to do, simply flow forth in fruitful abundance.