As we close out Chapter 6, here are some points to consider.
Point 1: On Love
Reference: The section on “A Failure To Love”
Context is the difference between love and hate, and love and things that are far from love, such as impatience, envy, cruelty, boastful, arrogant, rude, selfish, irritable, and resentful.
Love isn't manifested as ANY of those things!
Application for men (specifically, here, married men): Ask yourself the following:
- Do I love my wife because she’s convenient to have around? I.e., Am I just comfortable having her there?
- Or do I really love her unto laying down my life for her?
- Do I want her desires over my own (assuming they’re wholesome and not sinful)?
- Am I more desirous of having my own way than hers?
- Do I think that I am owed the right to be irritable about things she does, which I don’t like?
When you ponder those things, consider what Christ’s answers to those was, before He went to the cross.
Point 2: Are you really ready for revival, in your home or otherwise?
Reference: The section on “The Only Way Out”
Hession says:
“Now the question is: Do I want new life, revival, in my home? I have to challenge my heart about this. Am I prepared to continue in my present state, or am I really hungry for new life—His life—in my home? For not unless I am really hungry will I be willing to take the necessary steps. The first step I must take is to call sin sin (my sin, not the other person’s), go with it to the cross and trust the Lord Jesus there and then to cleanse me from it.”
So am I ready to call sin SIN?
Am I prepared to not look at someone else’s sin as a justification for my own?
Application:
Then Hession says:
“As we bow the neck at the cross, His self-forgetful love for others, His long-suffering and His forbearance flow into our hearts. The precious blood cleanses us from the unlove and ill will, and the Holy Spirit fills us with the very nature of Jesus.
“This blessed process can happen every single time the beginnings of sin and unlove creep in, for the cleansing fountain of blood is available to us all the time.
“All this will commit us very definitely to walking the way of the cross in our homes. Again and again, we will see places where we must yield up our rights, as Jesus yielded up His for us.”
Don’t just know this; don’t just acknowledge it!
ACT ON IT! LIVE IT!
Is Christ real or not?
The question is not “is He real to me?” but IS HE REAL?
DO YOU KNOW THAT HE IS REAL?
If so, then so are these things!
Are you ready to start yielding your own conveniences and rights ALL THE TIME??
Wait, did you say, ALL THE TIME??????
Seriously, there is no way I can say yes to that unless I start DOING it!!
And the only way that is possible is if something or someone outside of me is controlling me!
Point 3: What if others aren't getting it?
Reference: The section on “The Only Way Out”
Context: What if others are wrong, and don’t measure up, or are hard to live with?
Hession says:
“But God will surely answer our prayer and bring the other to Calvary too.”
Questions to think about:
- But what if He doesn’t answer my prayer in my lifetime?
- Or even more, what if He never does?
- What is that to me? Aren’t I supposed to be following Him?
Better to do my part than wait for someone else to do theirs—only then will I be prepared for when they do come, or prepared to minister to others while I wait.
A deeper question has to be asked: Have I really prayed about this for someone else?
There’s a difference between coming humbly before God, like Moses, who knew he was in the right, but still fell on his face before God instead of chiding with those who accused him of not having their best interest in mind! And Christ laid down His life for us, even while we were sinners; even while we chided with Him about our own ways and rights!
Finally, our brother, Kevin sent a devotion out a few weeks back from "My Utmost for His Highest", by Oswald Chambers.
“Faith or Experience?”
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
Kevin’s afterthought:
Am I battling through moodiness, or are my moods and emotions taking over in my life? Jesus gave Himself for me am I willing to give myself for Him?
And in the context of revival in the home:
A, am I willing to give up my grievances, annoyances, irritabilities, for him? These are what they are—SIN—and they will hinder our personal revival, AND revival in our homes!
Point 1: On Love
Reference: The section on “A Failure To Love”
Context is the difference between love and hate, and love and things that are far from love, such as impatience, envy, cruelty, boastful, arrogant, rude, selfish, irritable, and resentful.
Love isn't manifested as ANY of those things!
Application for men (specifically, here, married men): Ask yourself the following:
- Do I love my wife because she’s convenient to have around? I.e., Am I just comfortable having her there?
- Or do I really love her unto laying down my life for her?
- Do I want her desires over my own (assuming they’re wholesome and not sinful)?
- Am I more desirous of having my own way than hers?
- Do I think that I am owed the right to be irritable about things she does, which I don’t like?
When you ponder those things, consider what Christ’s answers to those was, before He went to the cross.
Point 2: Are you really ready for revival, in your home or otherwise?
Reference: The section on “The Only Way Out”
Hession says:
“Now the question is: Do I want new life, revival, in my home? I have to challenge my heart about this. Am I prepared to continue in my present state, or am I really hungry for new life—His life—in my home? For not unless I am really hungry will I be willing to take the necessary steps. The first step I must take is to call sin sin (my sin, not the other person’s), go with it to the cross and trust the Lord Jesus there and then to cleanse me from it.”
So am I ready to call sin SIN?
Am I prepared to not look at someone else’s sin as a justification for my own?
Application:
Then Hession says:
“As we bow the neck at the cross, His self-forgetful love for others, His long-suffering and His forbearance flow into our hearts. The precious blood cleanses us from the unlove and ill will, and the Holy Spirit fills us with the very nature of Jesus.
“This blessed process can happen every single time the beginnings of sin and unlove creep in, for the cleansing fountain of blood is available to us all the time.
“All this will commit us very definitely to walking the way of the cross in our homes. Again and again, we will see places where we must yield up our rights, as Jesus yielded up His for us.”
Don’t just know this; don’t just acknowledge it!
ACT ON IT! LIVE IT!
Is Christ real or not?
The question is not “is He real to me?” but IS HE REAL?
DO YOU KNOW THAT HE IS REAL?
If so, then so are these things!
Are you ready to start yielding your own conveniences and rights ALL THE TIME??
Wait, did you say, ALL THE TIME??????
Seriously, there is no way I can say yes to that unless I start DOING it!!
And the only way that is possible is if something or someone outside of me is controlling me!
Point 3: What if others aren't getting it?
Reference: The section on “The Only Way Out”
Context: What if others are wrong, and don’t measure up, or are hard to live with?
Hession says:
“But God will surely answer our prayer and bring the other to Calvary too.”
Questions to think about:
- But what if He doesn’t answer my prayer in my lifetime?
- Or even more, what if He never does?
- What is that to me? Aren’t I supposed to be following Him?
Better to do my part than wait for someone else to do theirs—only then will I be prepared for when they do come, or prepared to minister to others while I wait.
A deeper question has to be asked: Have I really prayed about this for someone else?
There’s a difference between coming humbly before God, like Moses, who knew he was in the right, but still fell on his face before God instead of chiding with those who accused him of not having their best interest in mind! And Christ laid down His life for us, even while we were sinners; even while we chided with Him about our own ways and rights!
Finally, our brother, Kevin sent a devotion out a few weeks back from "My Utmost for His Highest", by Oswald Chambers.
“Faith or Experience?”
We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.
Kevin’s afterthought:
Am I battling through moodiness, or are my moods and emotions taking over in my life? Jesus gave Himself for me am I willing to give myself for Him?
And in the context of revival in the home:
A, am I willing to give up my grievances, annoyances, irritabilities, for him? These are what they are—SIN—and they will hinder our personal revival, AND revival in our homes!