Thoughts

Thoughts

God’s power has greater depth than the powers that hinder it. The forces that resist God will always remain on the surface because they strive for outward glory. Long after these shallow, contentious forces have stopped raging, God’s quiet, invincible power will continue, because it is real.

The closer we come to God’s quietness, the more of God’s power and rest we will experience. Striving to make progress by human effort is actually a step backwards, but a quiet and attentive ear can find the way forward amidst great outward turmoil.

The pulpit is most desirable to those who are very unrestful in their spirit, which is why it is better to hear a few words from a wise man on a street corner. If you are adamant about something, make sure it is something that will stand the test. Great authority gives the impression of strength, but most of it is rooted in the weakness of the flesh. Should that be exposed, the person will cry out for grace and love rather than judgment. How can a person find the way of peace by defending the flesh and indulging it with grace and love in the midst of all its folly?

Perhaps the spirit of judgment and burning would cure the jubilation in Babel. Possessing imagined light amidst the prevailing darkness creates an impression of authority, but where can you find God’s light in all this religious light? Through faith and obedience you will acquire light and enemies. This light will show you a prepared way where everything and everyone who has not obtained God’s light and power through the same obedience and faith will be weighed on the scales and found wanting. Satan rages using both friends and enemies; but he doesn’t dare set foot on the way. Have you felt his attacks? The more a person is used by God, the more powerfully Satan attacks him. However, his attacks are only aimed at the things that we, as humans, esteem. By being receptive to the workings and the mind of the Spirit, you will be equipped for the wars of the Lord, even after the opposer has used up all his strength. When I am weak, then I am strong. It requires tremendous self-control to remain quiet before your adversary when you have the right answer but the time is not right. This faithfulness is rewarded with death to your own flesh, while the adversary becomes intoxicated with joy over his victory, a joy that is just as false as the flesh in which such joy dwells. However, when the time is ripe, the answers will be at hand. Then the adversary’s imagined joy disappears, and the power becomes manifest—without any help from the flesh.

People work up great joy and jubilation over God’s many promises without first doing God’s will and fulfilling the conditions of the promises. They are like those who delight in a beautiful bubble that disappears as soon as it bursts. If you expose these soap bubbles for what they are, you will be accused of disturbing the peace. People don’t want to hear the truth about the soap bubble (that it will burst), and yet it bursts before everyone’s eyes. Nevertheless, the jubilation is perpetuated in the joy and hope that the next bubble will last forever. This, too, is vanity and striving after wind, but those who do the will of God abide forever.

Sweet words and flattering speech can produce such wonderful fellowship. It’s just a pity that gossip, backbiting and unrighteousness will cause this beautiful soap bubble to burst. A new bubble then has to be made. A different meeting hall and alternate settings will work wonders! New preachers, a new audience, a new bubble! How beautifully it reflects all the colors of the rainbow as it freely floats around. The jubilation is boundless. If only that ugly fly hadn’t settled on its beautiful surface! But now it has. Sadly, the bubble no longer exists, and the joy has vanished.

We are exhorted to rejoice in the Lord always, but unfortunately the joy over the soap bubble is very short-lived. When will God’s people wake up sufficiently to be able to discern something of the truth? The one who speaks the truth is regarded as a disturber of the peace and a trumpeter of judgment. Sleep is sweet; dreams give joy and strength. People are afraid to wake up to stark realities. Those who can prolong sleep and make dreams brighter are regarded as prophets of the Lord. They are the important people, and wisdom will die with them. Their spiritual fathers ministered splendidly to Baal. In that respect, there is nothing new under the sun—different people just have different gods. Before people can be set free, they have to acknowledge the truth about these things. However, if they live in this deception and lack the power to break free, it shows that they do not dare to hear about their deception and acknowledge the truth. Pilate once asked, “What is truth?” but no answer came. Why was that? Christ’s stewardship did not come so close to the surface that He would answer such questions. He who loves the truth will find it. However, most people reject it because the truth exposes and rejects the lie and puts everything in its rightful place in the cold light of day.

You will hear the strength of man when the “I” in the flesh rages. When that “I” is camouflaged in the spirit, you will hear evidence of its tremendous strength; yet this “I” in the spirit is a bit more difficult to find and identify as that “I,” because it protects itself with numerous Bible verses. Therefore, death to the “I”—whether it is found in the flesh or in the spirit! If anyone boasts, let him boast in his weakness, because it is from here that the power of God springs forth. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest over such a person—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. This “I” knows no fear. It feels pure, victorious and strong in the midst of the greatest folly. In this light, which is darkness, the “I” can perform many pointless, “heroic” deeds by going berserk in a field in which it has not labored. This is also spiritually destructive when seen in the light of truth. The Spirit of the fear of the Lord moves cautiously forward in the knowledge it has, so that it can prepare a way that is worthy of the Spirit of wisdom. But where the Spirit of the fear of the Lord is missing, the Spirit of wisdom will not reveal itself. Move cautiously forward in the Spirit of the fear of the Lord before you use your strength; this is doubly important if you are going to wage war. Many have relied on their own strength and have suffered defeat, but when Abraham looked at the weakness of his body and the deadness of Sarah’s womb (Norw.), he grew strong in faith and overcame. War will open your eyes to things you previously did not know.