The Self
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 13447 |
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August 6, 2006 |
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 "All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives" (Proverbs 16:2).
Even though he was educated under Gamaliel, considered the most able instructor of his time, and was thus learned, cultured, and had mastered the Law, the apostle Paul considered all of it "rubbish" once he began to believe in Jesus Christ and experienced the work of the Holy Spirit (Philippians 3:8).
As he humbled himself before God and implored to Him in an earnest hope of becoming renewed and transformed by spirit after having thoroughly destroyed his fleshly thoughts, and his theories and frames of thought, the apostle Paul could communicate clearly with God in the midst of the work of the Holy Spirit, receive countless prophecies, discover spiritual secrets fleshly men of this world could never realize, and manifest God's wondrous power.
What specific steps can you to become a spiritual individual with whom God is pleased?
1.You must look back at yourself and see how proper and good your spirit is before God.
It is possible for you to overlook some of your shortcomings. For instance, if an individual has gotten used to a certain pair of shoes for a long time, he may forget that his feet are not of the identical size. Similarly, the existence of "the self," of which you are not aware, is very possible. In most cases, however, "the self" formed within each person is of untruth rather than truth.
Since you have been leading a Christian life for a long time, have never missed a worship service, and always pray fervently and diligently, do you think your life in Christ is going well? As Proverbs 16:2 reminds us, a person may think his ways "are clean in his own sight." However, our lives and our ways must be clean not in our own sight but only in the sight of our God "who weighs the motives." For God is sincere, as promised in the Bible, He will answer and bless anyone whom He deems is after His heart.
The second half of 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us, "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His," and Jesus in Matthew 6:33 reminds us, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."
If God deems that you are after His heart, He will bless you in every aspect of your life. He will bless you with a good health, financial prosperity so that you will not be lacking in providing for food, clothing, and housing, and cause for your family to be a unit filled with peace and joy. Are any of you currently faced with the problem of diseases, family discord, or financial difficulty and deeply troubled by them? If you truly live by faith in God's sight and have committed your everything to Him, even in times of crisis and difficulty you will always be filled with gratitude and joy, carry out your God-given duties in the grace, and quickly receive God's answers and blessings.
To the contrary, there are people who say they live by faith but – without having committed everything to God – they cling to their problems, constantly and always anxious and troubled. From their increasing anxiety, they are tormented in the heart, suffer from disease, lack joy and gratitude, and unable to carry out their God-given duties, all of which contribute to prevent them from receiving God's answers and blessings. People undergo such torment because they fail to realize that the root of such problems lies within themselves and because they seek to cover their shortcomings and evil with their achievements.
For instance, if "disappointment" has crept into your heart by some event, you must recognize that you have a desire to boast and be served in your heart and throw such a fleshly heart out. If you fail to do this and befriend only those who recognize and serve you, you will not discover yourself or come further into spirit.
Also, if you feel uneasy or uncomfortable when dealing with others, it attests to the fact that goodness is lacking in your heart, and you will be able to trace such remnants of evil as arrogance, deceit, and boast from a word and behavior of judging and gossiping about others. For your heart has grown numb over a long time, you fail to discover these remnants within your heart and even if you have discovered them, you will only overlook them. I urge each of you to keep this in mind and search and destroy "the self" within you that has been formed so rigidly.
2.You must destroy a heart in which you look at everything in your own sight.
An individual who always puts himself above others and thinks only about his circumstance is unable to think about other people's circumstances. Misunderstandings and discomfort arise around him and it will lead to the destruction of peace. Therefore, even at a time in which there is room for misunderstanding, you must put yourself in the other person's shoes and be able to think and look at everything in goodness. You must also possess spiritual love by which you can give way for the benefit of others even if you do not attain better things.
For instance, if you have the heart to seek your own benefits, no matter how fervently or earnestly you pray for God's kingdom and other souls, your prayer could not be truthful. This is because God does not accept the words on your lips but the aroma of the heart contained in your words. In addition, an individual who looks at everything in his own sight and does not know to look after other people's heart only prays in his own way as well. When he prays for the church and the shepherd, for example, instead of asking for the things the church really needs or the shepherd truly desires, he asks for things he thinks are necessary for the church and the shepherd.
However, when you look at things not just in your own sight but with a heart to look after other people, you will be led by the Holy Spirit and pray for others in line with the heart of our Father. We must abstain from looking at everything in your own sight, judging and condemning others, and spreading the news and gossips about other people's shortcomings. I urge each of you in the name of our Lord to destroy and jump over the boundary of "the self" in you and be able to search the heart of others in goodness and love.
3.You must let only the Father, Our Lord, and the Holy Spirit make a dwelling in your heart.
While you search and thoroughly destroy "the self" within you, you can receive rewards from the Father for your faithfulness and be elevated to a position and a level to live close to the Father's Throne in heaven only when the Father, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit make a dwelling in your heart.
What does a person – in whose heart there is no "self" but only the Father – look like? He has the image of Prophet Hosea. In order to help the Israelites – who were busy with their idol-worshipping during Hosea's time – realize His love for them, God had Prophet Hosea marry a harlot. Hosea obeyed God's Word but after giving birth to three children, his wife became an adulteress again.
We find in Hosea 3:1-3, "Then the LORD said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.' So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. Then I said to her, 'You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.'"
When a person no longer has in his "self" remaining in his heart but only "Father God," he can obey God in any fashion the way Prophet Hosea did. He can tolerate people he could not otherwise tolerate with common sense. With the heart of God in him, such individual love people he could not otherwise love with the heart of man.
In order to get his wife back, however, Hosea needed to pay a certain price. By the same token, in order to save souls who are bound to the chains of the enemy devil and Satan, you must also pay a price that is proper in righteousness according to God's will.
Keep in mind that you can pay the price through the faithfulness and devotion you offer to God with your wholehearted sincerity through the capacity in which you serve God. When you pray from the heart for God's kingdom and for the salvation of souls with the heart of Prophet Hosea, you will lead many souls to heaven as much as the aroma of your prayer fills God's golden censer.
Like Hosea, after you have destroyed "the self" in you and attained earnest love according to God's will, you can give life to those who have been tempted and fallen away, and give glory to God without restraint when you love others from the heart.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as the apostle Paul confessed, "I die daily," you must have a clear understanding of "the self" within you and completely destroy all the theories, thoughts, righteousness, and frames of thought. May each of you become a spiritual person with whom God is pleased and who fathoms the heart of other people's heart and seeks their benefits, thereby always leading a victorious life, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
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