The Stage Of Christian Life (3)
As a human being, especially in this instantaneous era, where everyone hopes that everything can happen quickly, then the time in the wilderness is the most troublesome period in his life.
God, who was usually near, suddenly disappeared and was nowhere to be found. Prayers hit walls, nothing was answered, businesses fell apart, nothing worked.
The wilderness is a time of purification, a place where the flesh is destroyed, a place where motives are purified, a place where we are all formed to have divine character, a place where we will be transformed to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.
One thing we must remember, even though we are in the wilderness, GOD never let us be lacking. God always provides for all our needs, it's just that what God meets are our basic needs.
Just as Israel in the desert is filled with its need for food (manna), but only food to nourish the body, not food that can satisfy our tongue.
God also still provides clothes for us, it's just that the clothes given are not clothes that can satisfy our fleshly desires, but clothes that make us not naked, and not chilled. (Remember the Israelites, their clothes and shoes were not damaged for 40 years.)
The wilderness is where God taught that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by the word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4: 4).
The flesh always demands that it can never be satisfied, there are never enough words out of our mouths, everyone always feels inadequate. In the wilderness God taught us what we mean "need" not "want or necessity".
For example, every human being needs clothes, but flesh needs (wants) clothing that is branded (famous). Humans need a house, but the flesh wants a house that is bigger than what we have today. We need a vehicle, but the flesh is always never satisfied with the vehicle we have, and so on.
For this we need the wilderness, so that people can say to the flesh, "Enough, all that I need has been fulfilled by God". Humans learn the meaning of the words, "much is needed, buy what is needed"
God never limits our desires, it's just that God doesn't want greed within us. A person who has been trained in the wilderness will realize that everything he has belongs to God, he is only an intermediary for God in carrying out the blessings given to Him, so that every time he wants to use the wealth God has given him, he will first ask the owner of the property that, is he allowed to use it?
He will no longer use his money or other assets to satisfy his fleshly desires, because he is aware that if he misuses the property entrusted to him, it will make the owner of the property angry to him. Greed will be destroyed in the wilderness.
Many ministries today work on the basis of the desires of the flesh, everything that is done is good according to human standards, but not according to God's standards.
Many servants of God are given various kinds of gifts with the intention that these gifts are used for the glory of God's name, but what happens is that the gifts are used for the great name of the servant of God himself and it means that he has stolen the glory of God.
God never allows HIS glory to be stolen, everyone who steals God's glory will be destroyed by Him, but whoever exalts and glorifies God's name, will also be glorified by God. For this reason, a wilderness is needed, so that humans understand the purpose of their life, which is to glorify God.
Everyone who has been "born again" or has received "baptism in the Spirit" is prepared by God to be His ministers. What is meant by being a servant of God is being a servant of God in the place that God has shown him.
If he was an employee, then he would be a good employee (and many people were attracted to Jesus because of the nature and way of working that person).
If he is a businessman, then he will be a good entrepreneur (so that his employees will always see Jesus in the face of the entrepreneur).
He also sets aside a large part of his income for the expansion of God's kingdom on earth, because he understands that everything he has belongs to God, his job is only as a manager.
The world separates someone who works as a servant of God (full time) is a priest/pastor. (Because he devotes his whole life to God).
While for other people who work in the world (the fancy term is market place) are less spiritually than those who work full time.
This heretical understanding needs to be straightened out, it makes no difference if we work in the church as fulltime servants of God, or we work as employees or entrepreneurs.
God only looks at our hearts, and the term servant of God is intended for all people who are followers of Jesus. God never orders everyone to become a pastor/ evangelist/ other ministry, he has assigned everyone in their respective places.
There are many unrighteous pastors, who become fraudsters, who steal God's money for the sake of their stomachs. We must remember, God's servants in the Bible are God's servants who have never been formally educated in priestly schools.
All Jesus' disciples were directly educated by Him, Jesus never ordered Peter, Thomas, John and others to go to school under the priests who were there at that time.
Jesus also did not look for students from the school of priests, only Paul who had a theological background, but his life had to be changed by God, so he had to live in the wilderness for 3 years. (Because the result he got from theological school was that he liked to persecute / kill Christians).
John the Baptist was the son of a priest, but he was not taught in a formal priestly school, he was taught directly by God in the wilderness.
The world says that if you want to be a servant of God you must attend a theological school, but God teaches in:
1 John 2:27
“For in you the anointing you have received from Him remains within you. Because of that, you don't need to be taught by other people. But just as his anointing teaches you about all things - and His teaching is true and is not a lie - and just as He previously taught you, so you should abide in Him"
A person who has been baptized in the Spirit will receive a direct lesson from God. (With a note that the person really wants to be taught by God). The Bible is the only source of God's teaching.
But instead of looking into the Bible, many people are looking for "other bible" in their life, they learn about the word of God from books published by other servants of God.
Indeed, these books are useful for teaching, and many books were written under the direction of the Holy Spirit, or their writing was guided by the Holy Spirit.
The problem is that many Christians read books without checking the truth of the contents of the book into the Bible (cross check).
For example: many Christian books say that God will forgive all of our sins, so people who read the book will feel their sins have been forgiven. (Because he has asked for forgiveness of sins).
Whereas in the Bible there are requirements that must be met, namely: "our sins are forgiven on condition that we also forgive the sins of others against us", there is a reciprocal principle in it, and these words were uttered by Jesus, our Lord.
In the wilderness we will rise and fall in our relationship with God, stubborn hearts will be crushed, pride will be broken, God will purify a person like a metal refiner.
A metal refiner will put his gold in a fiery furnace, so that the pure gold will be separated from all the impurities that were attached to it. Jesus wants to form a church that is holy, pure and flawless.
The person who is purified will cry and cry out in pain, but God does not intend to destroy that person, He only wants to shape that person so that they can be used as a noble vessel. It is up to us to be used by God as what?
1 Timothy 2:20
“In a large house there was not only vessel of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth; the former is used for noble purposes and the latter for less noble purposes"
So now it is up to us, whether to use it to become His noble vessel (servant) or just an ordinary vessel (ordinary servant). What we decide will determine our destiny in eternity later.
Life in the wilderness is the life that all those who have been called by God must live. A period of preparation to become reliable/ extraordinary servants of God.
Is it true that God left someone in the wilderness? No, God never leaves His children, only He sees us from a far. He trains us to face the problems in our lives, whether we cling to Him, or run away from Him. It is in the wilderness that a person's character is changed by God.
Jesus loves you and whole your family
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