Monday, May 21, 2007

The Me You Can't See
I recently read a book entitled "God's Generals", it's the story of great men and women of God in the last century that were used of God to bring healing and revival to the world. It's an easy read with nice pictures and interesting facts, stories about men and women like Katherine Kuhlman, John Lake, A.A. Allen, Alexander Dowie, Charles Parnham and others.
The interesting and frightening thing that spoke to me throughout this book was that many of these people had real issues, things that often overshadowed their ministries, things that hindered and almost destroyed their lives. Many of them were able to overcome the rumors or items haunting them, while others lived with the questions and complications the remainder of their lives.
Ever since I finished reading the book I've found myself searching my life, asking God to help me to not allow there to be anything in my life that would be displeasing to Him, nothing that would taint or tarnish His anointing upon me, nothing that would keep me from Him.
It's not the big things that hinder us, nothing is huge when it begins, no, it's not what you see or hear, it's the me that you don't see that can destroy me. I may speak with the tongues of men and angels, have prophetic ability and insight, have great results in my outward life, but if the inside of me is wrong the outside will eventually reflect it. We are called to bear fruit, and that fruit is expected by God to be good, the true life of that fruit is inside, where you can't see what's growing. Perhaps this is why Jesus said to either make the tree good or to cut it down, lay the axe to the root.
I'm not being critical or judgmental of the people in this book, I'm using it as an opportunity to learn, a plumbline to ensure that my life and ministry does not fall into the same trap. I want to hear Him say, "Well Done!", or at least, "You did good son!"

1 comment:

ruthrap said...

Self-examination will always bring criticism and usually it's negative...but the key to staying on track is to stay on task.. keep faithful to the cause of spreading the Good News of the Gospel..If we do that...He is always there to help make a way for us...just knowing that He knows..that is enough to keep us from veering off the path...just remember..we can fool all kinds of people ...but we can't fool or hide from Him! Knowing that His eyes are on us can be comforting, but it also can be convicting!