NEWS Refusing to be Broken
I have been asking the Lord to illuminate the reasons why many Christians have difficulty seeing Him. Not long ago, I came across a book by Watchman Nee titled, "The Release of the Spirit."
Nee's book is full of light on the topic of brokenness and the Holy Spirit. Here is what he has to say about the reasons why the Lord has difficulty breaking through to people (bold added for emphasis):
"Why is it that after many years under the Lord's dealing, some remain the same? Some individuals have a forceful will. Many have powerful emotions. And others have a strong mind. Why aren't these people broken? We believe there are two main reasons.
First, they live in darkness. Hence, they do not see the hand of God. While God is working, while God is attempting to break their natural, soulish strengths, they do not recognize it as being from Him. They are devoid of light, seeing only men opposing them. They imagine their environment is just too difficult, and their circumstances are to blame. So they linger in their darkness and despair.
May God give us enlightenment to see what is from His hand. Subsequently, may we kneel down and say to Him, "It is You after all. Since it is You, I will accept what You are doing." It is God's very own hand that is dealing with us. We need to learn how to kneel down, kiss the hand, and love the hand that deals with us. We must have this kind of light to see that whatever exists in our difficult circumstances, we accept and believe that it is God's hand. The Lord can never do any wrong.
Second, another great hindrance in breaking the outer man is self-love. We must ask God to take away the heart of self-love. As He deals with us in response to our prayer, we should worship and say, "O Lord, if this be Your hand, let me accept it from my heart." Self-love is a basic difficulty with most believers. May the Lord speak to us today that we may be able to pray: "O my God, I have seen that all things come from You. All my hardships these past five, ten, or twenty years, are of You. Today, I see Your hand in all of my situations. I am willing to offer myself to You. Once again, I place myself in Your hands."
Nee tells us that the Lord has difficulty breaking those who living in darkness and/or are filled with self-love. I can relate directly to what he is saying. Prior to being broken, I lived in darkness and my heart was filled with self-love. I look back at my life now and see that the Lord was trying to get me to see the light, but I refused to see. It took a major crisis to bring me down. It was during the darkest time of my life that I saw His light. He revealed Himself to me, I saw Him through the eyes of my heart, and I became entangled with Him via the Holy Spirit.
I often say that the way the Lord works is often not pretty, but the end result is always beautiful.
May you be broken and may you see His light.
Agape,
Steve
Nee's book is full of light on the topic of brokenness and the Holy Spirit. Here is what he has to say about the reasons why the Lord has difficulty breaking through to people (bold added for emphasis):
"Why is it that after many years under the Lord's dealing, some remain the same? Some individuals have a forceful will. Many have powerful emotions. And others have a strong mind. Why aren't these people broken? We believe there are two main reasons.
First, they live in darkness. Hence, they do not see the hand of God. While God is working, while God is attempting to break their natural, soulish strengths, they do not recognize it as being from Him. They are devoid of light, seeing only men opposing them. They imagine their environment is just too difficult, and their circumstances are to blame. So they linger in their darkness and despair.
May God give us enlightenment to see what is from His hand. Subsequently, may we kneel down and say to Him, "It is You after all. Since it is You, I will accept what You are doing." It is God's very own hand that is dealing with us. We need to learn how to kneel down, kiss the hand, and love the hand that deals with us. We must have this kind of light to see that whatever exists in our difficult circumstances, we accept and believe that it is God's hand. The Lord can never do any wrong.
Second, another great hindrance in breaking the outer man is self-love. We must ask God to take away the heart of self-love. As He deals with us in response to our prayer, we should worship and say, "O Lord, if this be Your hand, let me accept it from my heart." Self-love is a basic difficulty with most believers. May the Lord speak to us today that we may be able to pray: "O my God, I have seen that all things come from You. All my hardships these past five, ten, or twenty years, are of You. Today, I see Your hand in all of my situations. I am willing to offer myself to You. Once again, I place myself in Your hands."
Nee tells us that the Lord has difficulty breaking those who living in darkness and/or are filled with self-love. I can relate directly to what he is saying. Prior to being broken, I lived in darkness and my heart was filled with self-love. I look back at my life now and see that the Lord was trying to get me to see the light, but I refused to see. It took a major crisis to bring me down. It was during the darkest time of my life that I saw His light. He revealed Himself to me, I saw Him through the eyes of my heart, and I became entangled with Him via the Holy Spirit.
I often say that the way the Lord works is often not pretty, but the end result is always beautiful.
May you be broken and may you see His light.
Agape,
Steve
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