| I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child | | | | that. No matter how much the eye would like to hear, it |
| with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within | | | | cannot. The eye needs the ear. |
| me. These are among the moving opening words of | | | | When we read I Samuel Chapter 18 verses 12 to 15, |
| Psalm 131. Do reach for your Bible and read it. | | | | we learn related lessons. If the man who has the |
| It could be subtitled, "Finding our true self". It is like | | | | anointing does not know how to behave he won't be |
| moving on a class. It is like moving on into Class 5, but | | | | around for very long. |
| before you can move into Class 5 you have to | | | | Know how to behave in the body of Christ and in the |
| complete and leave class 4! To do this and to reach | | | | Church of Jesus Christ. |
| this point spiritually, God will wean you from one | | | | King Saul didn't behave and Saul saw that David did |
| experience and on to another. These Psalms 120 to | | | | know how to behave, and then Saul realised he had a |
| 134 are called Songs of Ascent. They are songs used | | | | problem. |
| by the people of God as they climbed the slopes of | | | | There also came a day when David almost, almost, |
| Jerusalem on their way to worship, they are also a | | | | lost the anointing of God, and he prayed that God |
| series of remarkable and revealing spiritual steps as | | | | would be merciful to him and not take the Holy Spirit |
| we grow and mature. | | | | from him. |
| This is why we have to remain pliable in the Hands of | | | | That is one of the main problems Paul deals with in I |
| God and flexible, changeable, open to change and | | | | Corinthians Chapter 14. |
| moving on and progressing and maturing in Christ, as | | | | When you come into the anointing of God and when |
| we learn how to overcome. | | | | you come into the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it is |
| Leave Class 4 before attempting to move into Class | | | | possible to become careless, and we never discover |
| 5. There was nothing wrong with Class 4. It is just that | | | | and find our true selves and our true ministry. |
| you have outgrown that now. | | | | The last day of a Tour in Israel, which was a free day, |
| There can be a sin of feeling that we are a little bit | | | | I always found was quite a dangerous day, as people |
| special in the eyes of God. It is quite common, and He | | | | became careless and myself included. |
| always has to move us on from that type of | | | | There is an enemy who would want to rob us of what |
| immature thinking. We are moved on from past | | | | we have in Christ Jesus, and it is possible for any one |
| experiences and from past ministry, and from always | | | | of us to become careless. |
| doing things this way or that way, and such a time can | | | | By being weaned, we learn where to get spiritual food. |
| be hard and sore. | | | | We learn where to go when we are spiritually hungry, |
| Finding our true selves; when God speaks to us about | | | | when we need guidance, and when we require help |
| changing it can be frightening and terrifying. And why? | | | | and ministry of some kind. |
| Because we have to trust at some new level and at | | | | We learn the lessons and move on in our walk with |
| some new depth and perhaps even take greater risks. | | | | God, and a degree of greater maturity should reveal |
| Class 5 is usually a little harder than Class 4! More is | | | | itself, because we are weaned. We are no longer |
| expected of us, but all the time we are finding our true | | | | making a mess and causing a scene and dribbling our |
| selves. | | | | food all down our front, because now we are weaned. |
| When you are weaned, you no longer take in the | | | | It is all right for the parent to say to the visitor, "Please |
| same food, nor the same way, nor the same amount. | | | | excuse our child. He is only eight months old." But there |
| You are becoming what God has designed you to be | | | | is something wrong if he is still messing up when he is |
| in the body of Christ, in the Church of Jesus Christ, in | | | | 84 months old. The spiritual parallel is equally valid and |
| the Kingdom of God. | | | | true. |
| There are some things you cannot do, and you realise | | | | |