"Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. " Jeremiah 33:3

Thursday, May 17, 2012

"When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end. Because I am your God." Isaiah 43:2-3 MSG

Today's Scripture title is the same one that was in the devotional journal that I am doing.  The theme was when we find ourselves in situations where we are way in over our head we are not to despair because God has promised to always be with us.  Yet today in my journaling it was greatly enhanced because of something that the Lord had shown me two days ago...

In the women's weekly Bible study that I am in we are currently doing Thirty Discipleship Exercises, The pathway to Christian maturity put out by the Billy Graham Evangelistic association. The exercises are designed to get each participant deeply into the Scripture based on thirty topics that every believer needs to know if we are going to share our faith effectively and then disciple those who become believers.  Each topic has at least six scriptures some more.  It is all the Word of God, and I am loving it!

I journaled the following today; I thank You Lord for the over-my-head situations that I find myself in and consider each one a gift from you, because when I am weak, I am dependent on You!  And when I am weak, You give me Your strength! 

Two days ago I was reviewing the homework assignment that we would be discussing in Bible study that night.  I had circled the key words or phrases in a very familiar verse Romans 8:26; "In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."  I circled  Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, and as I circled weakness the Spirit within me prompted me to go back and read that portion again.  

Right here I want to say that I have never heard the audible voice of God, but having said that, I know His voice, I have been studying Scripture for years and I hear Him speak all the time in Scripture.  Jesus said His sheep hear His voice, and I know that to be true.  I didn't have to read very far before the word jumped off the page, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, never in our perceived STRENGTHS.  

I say perceived strengths because those are the times that we serve the Lord and we don't discuss it with Him, we aren't depending on Him, in other words we don't need Him (we think) after all we have done it so many times before!  When we do things in our own prideful strength and leave God out of it we will yield filthy rags.  Flesh cannot do kingdom work.  Maybe it isn't even service maybe its those days that we go about our business without giving God a thought, how arrogant we don't even know what a day holds and the One who does we don't even consult. 

God's plan for our lives, His agenda for our day, yes He does have one, will be way beyond anything that we would even dream of, it will be out of our comfort zone, He will never call us to do the things that we can accomplish without Him!  He wants to break us forever from leaning on the arm of flesh.  God will give us things to do that only He can do...when we  humble ourselves before Him and surrender to Him all of our lives to do with what He has planned, He will do it through us!! That truth gets me very excited!!

Now I know what the Apostle Paul was talking about when he wrote; "Each time He said,  "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness."  So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."  2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT.  

I used to despair when I would try and fail, all my attempts at good works seemed to fall flat, now I know that God's plan for all believer's is to fill them with Holy Spirit and He is the one who is at work in and through us to do the over the top things that He calls us to do!! And God gets all the glory!!!  And we are as amazed as anyone when He begins to do it in our lives!

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 NLT.

1 comment:

  1. Miss your posts, hope you will be back soon! :)
    Emily

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