SPIRITUAL REALITY OR OBSESSION
http://www.teachtheword.com/watchman_nee_pdf/Spiritual%20Reality%20or%20Obsession.pdf
Enjoy reading "SPIRITUAL REALITY OR OBSESSION" by Watchman Nee. You can read it online for free.
I read it years ago and came to see in myself that I was obsessed with many things and really wasn't walking in spiritual reality.
I would love to hear your thoughts, especially if you've confused obsession with spiritual reality.
Anybody up for ture confession?
Lucinda
Hi Lucinda thanks for the link. I started reading this and will have to take more time even though it is only 59 pages. Don't want to skim over.
God bless you!
I am only on page 12 but had to tell you this is exciting to read!
Manna thus far to page 12! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Lucinda,
Wow...finally I got through this. It is only 59 pages but they were really filled if you know what I mean. Here are some things I learned from this book.
1. We can know the Word up and down and backwards and forwards and be right in our doctrine but if we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to discipline us through the Word we have nothing to offer but "rightness" but spiritual reality comes from being disciplined.
Learning this brought up something that happened along time ago. I did something to another and thought I had made a righteous decision. Never thought about it as being anything but a right response. Seven years later as I was in prayer one day the Lord brought it up and showed me how very wrong I was in that instance. I was so ashamed and repented. But the Lord wasn't satisfied He had me write a letter to this person apologizing for something I did/said 7 years before. I thought the person had long forgotten it and moved on. I recieved an immediate response and a relationship was restored. I thank the Lord for revealing this to me and for that restoration. (and btw this person is not a Christian)
I think that is the spiritual reality Nee is speaking of that can add life to the body of Christ. Experiential not just correct doctrine.
2. One of the other things I learned is that spiritual reality is trueness, as Nee puts it. Falseness does not have a "witness" in spiritual reality. It may seem right, and good but still may not have a witness by the Holy Spirit. This I think is where "pride" comes in. We feel that something is "right or good" so it must be and everyone else must feel the same way or they are "off". I have done this and I see this as a poison in the body.
For instance, when the Lord took me out of fellowship with the church I had been attending. It was right and good that He did this. He had His purpose for doing so. There were many things wrong with the church I had attended for so long...but my musings stopped there. However, the Lord taught me things about myself that were not right either-but I could not see that at first. I praise my Father for He is patient and kind and wants the best for me even if it hurts me. He does not indulge me like an overpermissive parent. What seems right and good to us is not necessarily "trueness" from the Holy Spirit for He digs much deeper in the heart.
3.Spiritual obsession is accepting what is false and convincing yourself that it is infact true. Nee uses the examples of the Pharasees treatment of Jesus and Paul's obsession to destroy those who followed the Way...like the martyring of Stephen.
So in a nutshell here is a good quote from the book:
"Herein is the difference between the Old and the New Testaments: in the Old Testament, people know right and wrong by outward law; in the New Testament, we know the true character of a thing by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is possible that we see our fault through doctrine or teaching, but even so we have yet to see our fault in the light of God. Knowing our fault through doctrine or teaching is superficial; perceiving our fault in God’s light alone is thorough. Only in the light of God can we see what God sees. This is the meaning of seeing light in God’s light.
If we do not want to be obsessed we must live in the light of God. Our greatest temptation is to kindle our own firebrand. Whenever we are confronted with a problem, immediately we try to search out the answer ourselves. We ourselves attempt to decide what is right and what is wrong. Brothers and sisters, this is not the way God wants us to go. We need to be humble, acknowledging how unreliable we are. Our judgment is undependable, our thought is undependable, our action is undependable. We are subject to error. What we judge as right may not necessarily be right; what we judge as wrong may not be wrong at all. That which we consider to be sweet may actually be bitter, and vice versa. That which we take as light may not be light after all, and that which we take as darkness may turn out not to be darkness. We must not substitute for the light of God the firebrands which we ourselves kindle. We should receive light from God."
God bless you!
Thank you for your insight Kathleen.
Lucinda