The release of the spirit | Diet 22

WE OPERATE  AS HIS INSTRUMENTS (Cont'd)

We are the instruments, the thermometers. We must undergo rigorous training and strong discipline because what is undeveloped in us as leaders, will also be undeveloped in those we lead or minister to. Additionally, we cannot teach people lessons that we have not learnt before God. The more extensive we are in the school of the spirit and yield to God's dealings, the more effective we shall be in God's work. Similarly, the more we spare ourselves, our pride, our narrowness, our pleasure, the less our usefulness. We cannot expose these traits in others if we have buried them in ourselves. A proud individual cannot deal with another who has the same issue; a hypocrite cannot criticize another's hypocrisy. A person who has a carefree life cannot assist someone else who faces the same challenge. It is important to know that if this still exists in our character, we will not be able to criticise this specific sin in others; in fact, we will hardly be able to identify it in them. 

In the physical world, a doctor may treat patients without seeking medical attention for himself, but this is unlikely to be the case in the spiritual world. Before a minister can treat others successfully, he must first experience healing. He cannot perceive what he has not seen. He is unable to lead others where he has not gone before. He cannot do what he has not learned. 

A spiritual work's early stages are identified by numerous readjustments made before God. A thermometer is meticulously crafted to adhere to strict criteria and is created in accordance with a specified standard. How stringent the discipline must be to bring us up to God's standard of precision if we are the thermometer! We are both "doctors" and "medical instruments" in God's work. How crucial it is that we succeed in His test(His perfect work).

Author: Watchman Nee

Compiled and edited: Peter O. Olutoyese