Faith Filled Family Magazine September 2016 | Page 93

into having a critical spirit. Fear
of failure, or thinking we are not
good enough are also traps we
can so easily fall into.
We are in good company, look
at the material Jesus had to work
with. Peter an uneducated fisherman, who was impulsive, had a
temper, and also as prophesied,
denied he even knew Jesus.
Matthew, was a greedy and corrupt official, conniving with the
Roman overlords for money.
Paul, as Saul, was a pharisaical tyrant, full of arrogance and
perfectionism. Martha, put duty
before devotion. Are we any
worse than they? Yet look how
Jesus transformed each one of
them. We may think we need to
have a ministry; that we must be
successful, with lots of converts,
churches planted, or an overflowing youth club.
However,
unless Jesus is at the centre of
our motives and we are obedient
to God’s direction; all our selfrighteous works are like ‘filthy
rags’ to Him! Isaiah 64:6. It is n’t
what we do, but who we are by
living in the present and in the
presence of God that counts.
Psalm 139: 23-24 NIV says
David asked God, ‘Search me,
God, and know my heart; test me
and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way
in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.’
King David knew that selfish
motives, even those he thought
righteous, do not come from a
place of love, bathed in God
Holines; without which we are
corrupted by a sinful rebellious
nature. As disciples of Jesus we
are dead to sin, we are born anew
full of grace and love. The Holy

Spirit dwells within our hearts,
exhorting us to live for today in
God’s sheltering love. We can let
go of the fear of failure, of striving to be the best, and needing
to be successful to prove ourselves worthy to God. If we are
living in the past and trying to
manipulate the future, we are
outside of God’s presence and
living in our own strength, and
therefore, fooling ourselves. And
in doing so, heading for disaster,
for ‘burn out’; and we will convince ourselves we have to walk
away from the privilege of walking daily with God.
In the cool of the evening, Adam
and Eve walked with God their
Creator in the Garden of Eden.
It was a loving, trustful relationship that existed between a
loving Father and his children;
anything they did, came out of
that harmony. Jesus modelled
that same principle with his
disciples and He is our perfect
role-model. Jesus did nothing
without hearing from Abba first,
and walked moment by moment
in God’s pleasure by his loving
obedience, even to the ultimate
sacrifice on the cross. By His
Spirit we are enabled to walk in
that relational experience today,
now, this moment; for tomorrow
is another day.

will do everything he can to corrupt our thinking, goad us by
provoking thoughts, feeling and
actions that take us away from
God’s love and protection. The
Lord’s Prayer says ‘lead us not
into temptation but deliver us
from evil’; but we have our part
to play too, in His strength, we
can resist the devil and he will
flee.
1 Corinthians 10:13 ‘No temptation has overtaken you except
what is common to mankind.
And God is faithful; he will not
let you be tempted beyond what
you can bear. But when you are
tempted, he will also provide a
way out so that you can endure
it.
So the litmus test of whether we
trust God or choose our own
way, is to ask the question. ‘Are
my present behaviours, situation
and reactions in harmony with
God’s will and purposes for my
life?’ If I rebel, what will be the
consequences? Could be absolute disaster, but it may seem
nothing has changed, or life may
even seem to improve. Don’t be
fooled, ‘the thief comes to kill, to
steal and to destroy.’ John 10:
10.

Psalm 139:7 asks, ‘Where can I
‘What does God do if we do go from your Spirit? Where can I
not do what we were created flee from your presence?’
to do?’
The answer is of course,
He loves us unconditionally. In nowhere. Our inner conscience
His desire to bring us back into is hard-wired to the Holy Spirit,
His shelter, He allows circum- but if we insist on ignoring Him,
stances that will test our faith, we will inevitably become less
desires and challenges our peaceful, and more prone to
motives. He will stop at noth- reverting to sinful behaviour. A
ing to save us from ourselves critical spirit will sour our relationexcept usurp our free will. How- ship with God, and with everyone
ever the Satan (the adversary) else. Walking away from God