Resurrection
Power
TODAY’S
SCRIPTURE
…He is risen from the dead,
just as he said would happen...
Matthew 28:6, NLT.
TODAY’S
WORD
We have a reason to
celebrate life every single day because the God we serve is alive. His
resurrection power didn’t end on the cross 2000 years ago; His power is still
at work today. Not only did He resurrect Jesus from the dead, but He wants to
extend His resurrection power into every single area of your life, too.
Maybe you have a dream to get
out of debt, pay off your house or be free from a burden of lack, but it looks
impossible. Business is slow. The economy is down. You’ve gone as far as your
education allows. But God is saying, “I’m not limited by those things. I’ve got
resurrection power. I can give you one break that will thrust you to a new
level. I can open up doors that no man can shut. I can bring talent out of you
that you didn’t know you had. I can cause people to go out of their way to want
to be good to you for no reason.”
Today, get your hopes up.
Get your expectancy up. Remember, He is risen, and He is alive. There’s a shift
coming, and He is faithful to His Word. Let His resurrection power flow in
every area of your life!
PRAYER
FOR TODAY
Father, thank You for Your
resurrection power at work in my life. Today, I give You my broken dreams,
disappointments, failures and setbacks, and I trust that You will breathe Your
life into me. I trust that You have a good plan for my future, and You are
leading me into total victory in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
***
“It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5 NLT)
Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle, like Jacob’s, is really with God! We want to be God, and there’s no way we’re going to win that struggle. But we try anyway.
A.W. Tozer said, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us."
We aren’t God, and we never will be. We’re humans, and the times when we try to be God are the times we end up most like Satan, who tried to be equal with God, too.
We accept our humanity intellectually but not emotionally. We give mental assent to the idea, but when faced with our own limitations, we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be taller (or shorter), smarter, stronger, more talented, beautiful, and wealthy.
We want to have it all and do it all and become upset when it doesn’t happen. Then, when we notice God gave others characteristics we don’t have, we respond with envy, jealousy, and self-pity.
Surrendering to God is not passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. It is not accepting the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite: sacrificing your life in resistance to evil and injustice or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed. God often calls surrendered people to do battle on his behalf. It’s not for cowards or doormats.
Surrendering is not putting your brain in neutral and giving up rational thinking. God would not waste the mind he gave you! God does not want robots to serve him. Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use your unique personality. Rather than being diminished, surrendering enhances your uniqueness.
C. S. Lewis observed, "The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become — because he made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."
Talk About It
- In what ways have you been trying to do God’s job lately?
- What do you discover about yourself as you surrender more fully to God?
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