Tuesday, November 14, 2017

"His Best, His Power, His Glory"


"His Best, His  Power, His Glory"


    Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ begin each day with the privileged responsibility to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).  We will be tempted to act otherwise, that is, to forget or ignore "the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20).  Or, the devil may tempt us to proudly live by our own devices.  As the Apostle Paul wrote regarding leaders of the church, the immature were not to be placed in such positions "lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (I Timothy 3:6).

    In every venue of life, we may avail ourselves of the risen life of the Lord Jesus, thereby thinking, believing, speaking, acting, and relating according to His overcoming life.  The standard to which God calls His trusting children far outweighs our human capacities, even as the Savior told His disciples, "Without Me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).  Through Christ, however, we can "do all things" (Philippians 4:13).  Ponder the glory of such promise.  Our Heavenly Father offers us His capacity to fulfill our responsibilities, whether at home, or in the workplace, the marketplace, the church, the neighborhood, the road, the playing field, the sickbed, indeed, the Wherever.  As we suggested in a recent message, we do not want to live this day seeking to do our best, but rather His best.  "We shall live with Him by the power of God" (II Corinthians 13:4).

   We access such grace by faith, and by submission to the glory and will of God.  Our Father does not grant His enabling for carnal motivations and activities, but rather for the determined purpose of living in a manner that empowers us to honor the Lord Jesus and bless others.  As we devote ourselves accordingly, in response to the Holy Spirit's working us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure," we may go forth with complete confidence in God's promise to enliven our human faculties by Divine capacities of knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and power (Philippians 2:13).  Thereby we fulfill our responsibilities, enjoy our privileges, and live in the keen awareness of "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).

    His best, by His power, for His glory.  The path lies ahead of us as this day begins, gleaming with the promise of grace and imprinted by the nail-scarred Footprints of One who lived His earthly life not by His own Divine abilities, but rather in the affirmation, "I live by the Father" (John 6:57).  The Lord Jesus beckons us to avail ourselves of His overcoming life, as revealed in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  All other ways and means are futile, and we will only truly live in the day as we remember and affirm…

"God sent His only Son into the world, that we might live through Him."
(I John 4:9)

Weekly Memory Verse
   To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
(Romans 8:6)
   

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