This is the ministry of the Spirit of-*God. In II Corinthians 4:2 we read, “We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. Not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by a mani festation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Have you re nounced the hidden things of dis honesty? What does an honest per son look like? We are supposed to manifest the truth, commanding our selves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. There was a young couple who came to me for consultation. The young man was an engineer in his later tw en ties. Their educational time of life was behind them. The young lady he was going with was a secretary. Between the two of them they had a good salary. During court ship days they shopped for a build ing site. They designed a house and had it built. They shopped together for furniture. What an ideal situa tion with which to begin life to gether. Certainly with that kind of setting, any two people should be able to make a go of a marriage. But marital success doesn’t depend on that with which you surround yourself. After they were married problems started coming. The fellow came home one night and in the liv ing room he spotted a cobweb. He was very meticulous and neat. It an noyed him considerably. But he dis missed it, thinking his wife hadn’t noticed it. The second night the cob web was still there. He kept up the front, however, so that she was un aware of his feelings. By the third night it was getting harder to be convincing that there was nothing wrong. When he kissed her his eye was on that cobweb. But he still said the right things. Here was a very lovely home, and yet when this young man came into the house his whole world consisted of a corner of that room where the cobweb was lodged.
cient of ourselves, to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, because the law I could not live up to. I could do my work and be a gentleman around my boss, but there was an area where I was powerless. This was in the area of attitude, and only the Spirit could help here. This has been one of the most precious revelations of my life. I came to un derstand what was wrong with my inner life. My strength would have to come through resources not my own. You may have all kinds of tal ent and ability, thinking that you don’t need God’s help. Christianity deals in the area of the spirit rather than ability. Emotionally upset peo ple sometimes cannot exercise their ability. Yet, a lot of us have a tre mendous amount of self-control. Still there’s a lot of difference between self-control and submitting to an other power. I asked the Lord to give me His power to love my boss. And you know, it worked. Oh, he still kept on saying, “Brandt, come in to th is office!” Now, however, I found my self, not only walking in with a smile, but also with a joy in my heart. Yes, there’s a source of inner strength not your own. It can be yours as you appropriate it through faith. You need the Saviour. He alone can save you from yourself. He wants you to have access to this power which is all availing. P art T wo A ll of us should be interested in learning how our lives can be more effective for the Lord. There are areas in our lives where we are weak, helpless and inadequate. How are you in your reactions to people? So often it depends on what they do and say. We desperately need a pow er not our own but given of God. 8
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