Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Much of the contemporary thinking about the Christian life is flawed.
Mostly because it is viewed without a cross and ministry is assumed without a wilderness.
"I am alive but I am dead".
One of the easiest ways to see if you are dead, is to let someone do you wrong.
The louder you yell and defend yourself, the more we can be certain you are in fact not dead.
Dead men do not yell, no matter how much you poke them.
God uses wilderness experiences to test us, and to allow us to see what is really inside of us.
You can plan your actions, it is your re-actions that display what is in your heart.
There is a real need for modern ministries to be " dead and wilderness tested".
Too often we catch ourselves being awed by people and ministries that have never been tested in the “wilderness.”
Then there is the need for political reasons to avoid, and marginalize those who are in or coming out of a wilderness experience.
We look at them from the corners of our eyes, and pontificate on their lives and shortcomings.
Job's friends, readily come to mind.
Could it be God has led them into a wilderness experience?
“Jesus was led up by the Sprit into the wilderness to be tested.
I am weary of being pressured to feel that I should always agree with people who are always being led to a bigger church or into a better situation.
Why are we never led into a place that is uncomfortable, lonely, miserable, and trying?
Christianity without a cross, and ministry without a wilderness will not work.
The wilderness is the place specially designed for you by God to inoculate you from the success virus. After you have been in the wilderness, you hopefully have learned that authority is not given to satisfy our fleshly need for bread or in our case more perks and status.
And then there is the problem of the “pinnacle of the temple.” If you think it’s tough in the trenches, you need to get real with yourself. It will be tougher when you are on “top”!
Finally, let’s be honest, it’s hard to stay humble when you find yourself surrounded by people who want to make you a king. If you have been to the wilderness, you have settled that there is only One who should be worshipped and it’s not you!
Lately I have been hearing the call of the Master again ...
He is calling me by name ...
He is back out in the wilderness ...
Joseph's dreams were of others bowing to him, when God fulfilled the dream it was about him serving them.
Between the dream and the fulfillment was ... the wilderness experience.
Welcome to the wilderness ...
Greatness in God awaits you on the other side.
Lm
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