Strength in Dependency
Today's Scripture:
But
he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that
the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2
Corinthians 12:9, ESV.
Today's Word:
We
all have areas where we need to come up higher. Perhaps you’ve struggled with a
certain area year after year. Instead of getting down on yourself or trying to
find solutions on the internet, maybe it’s time to pray and say, “God, I need
Your help. I’m asking for Your strength.”
When
you humble yourself and admit that you cannot do it on your own, that’s when
God can enter the scene. That’s when He can turn it around. A lot of times we
think of dependency in a negative light, but dependency on God is not a weakness;
it’s a strength. It enables you to tap into His power. When we yield our
weakness, that’s when God shows up the strongest. But when we don’t turn to
God, really, that’s a sign of pride. We’re saying, “God, I don’t really need
You to help me run my life. I’m doing okay. I’ve got it all figured out.” God
will step back and let us do it on our own.
Today,
what is holding you back? Surrender it to God. Let Him do His perfect work.
Find strength in your dependency on Him.
Prayer for Today:
Father,
today I surrender all to You. Search my heart and mind. Show me if there is any
area where I am trying to lean on my own strength. I choose today to trust and
rely on You knowing that Your strength is perfect in my weakness in Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
14 hours ago
by Rick Warren
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24 NIV)
The foundation of a house tells you how big the house can get. You can’t put a big house on a small or faulty foundation. It’ll collapse every time.The same is true for our lives. You can’t become what God wants you to be on a faulty foundation. We’re given a lot of different options for what will be the foundation of our lives:
- Popular culture. Some people think they’ll simply do what every other person is doing. If it’s popular, that’s what they do, too. Yet what’s popular today won’t be popular tomorrow. Basing your life on popular culture is like building a house on a constantly moving foundation. It doesn’t work!
- Tradition. Other people build their lives on what has always been done or how their parents did it. That does make a little sense. Tradition becomes tradition because it works. But no tradition lasts forever. It eventually wears out, becomes obsolete, and is invalid. In Mark 7:8 Jesus tells the Pharisees never to put tradition before truth. It’s a good reminder for all of us.
- Reason. God gave us the ability to reason; we need to use it. But our reason isn’t infallible. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (NIV). The reason is the smartest among us will falter at times. It’s to be expected. Only God can be trusted all the time.
- Emotions. Some build their lives on a feeling. If it feels right, they do it. But feelings lie — they lie all the time. You lie to yourself more than anyone else. If you live by your feelings, you’ll spend your life manipulated by your moods.
Jesus says this in Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
If you build your life on the rock of God’s Word, truth never changes. Popular culture changes, traditions grow stale, reason can be faulty, and emotions lie.
Yet God’s Word never changes.
You may not always understand his Word. You may not always like it. It won’t always be politically correct.
But it’s the only thing stable enough to build our lives upon.
Talk It Over
- On what have you built the foundation of your life? How is it holding up?
- What distractions in your life keep you from fully building your foundation on the Bible?
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