Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14
Are you determined to
have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until
we are brought into the experience of the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire”
(Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It
may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and
self-willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we
stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are
persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically disturb
and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have
been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever.
Is the Word of God
tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my
life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet
exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The
Spirit of Jesus is conscious of only one thing— a perfect oneness with the
Father. And He tells us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew
11:29). All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a
self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may use me,
go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake,
I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.
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