Orange Moon Cafe "Be Strong" Part 2 - Weakness and Strength

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe...

 

  "Be Strong"

 

Part 2 - Weakness and Strength

 

   In some matters, we feel strong and able.  Others cause us to feel weak and challenged.  Our dual sensibilities lie in personal disposition, upbringing, success, failure, and perceptions of the future based on experiences of the past.  More importantly, we require the sense of both weakness and strength in order to walk rightly with God and effectively in life.

 

   "My strength faileth me" (Psalm 38:10).

   "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).

 

   The truth of the matter is that even in those matters wherein we feel able, our dependence on God is no less than the issues that openly reveal our need.  Let our Heavenly Father withhold the breath He gives, and our strengths instantly dissolve.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing" declared the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples (John 15:50).  Thus, we do well to frequently acknowledge that all our capabilities proceed from God's faithful provision of enabling and guidance.  "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).

 

   It is also true that our Father would not have us live in the sense of debilitating weakness.  As Moses promised the children of Israel, God assures us of strength for each day's doings.  He calls us to realize and affirm that whatever we must do, we can do through His direction of our steps.  Certainly this includes overtly spiritual callings.  However, since we are to "do all to the glory of God," His promise of enabling also ensures strength whereby we can honor Him in the fields as well as the temple.  "Unto the pure, all things are pure" (I Corinthians 1:31; Titus 1:15).  God calls His children to  arise to each new day with the confidence that we face life not merely as ourselves, but as ourselves inhabited, inspired, and empowered by Himself.  "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, of Zion!" (Isaiah 52:1).

 

   I cannot!  I can!  Through Christ!  This is the humility and the bold confidence of the Christian.  Left to ourselves, no breath would be provided, nor would our lungs have the strength to breathe it even if it were made available.  Thankfully, God does not leave us to ourselves.  He rather dwells within us as the Life of our lives and the abundant might of our moments.  Whether we feel strong or weak, our path finds Footprints that not only lie before us to direct, but also Feet that dwell within us to walk.  "This is the way. Walk ye in it... I will dwell in them and walk in them" (Isaiah 30:21; II Corinthians 6:16). Weak in and of ourselves, yes.  But strong in and through Him, yes, yes!  Both truths must concurrently reside in our hearts and minds as our "I cannot" serves as the aqueduct whereby our "I can, through Christ!" freely and forever flows to the glory of God.

 

"My strength is made perfect in weakness."

(II Corinthians 12:9)

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

(Philippians 4:13)

 

Memory Verse

   "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."

 (Psalm 39:4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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