“For God is at work within
you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants you to
do.” - Philippians 2:13 TLB
As Christians, we find it so
hard to get rid of the sins that so easily trip us up in our walk with the
Lord. Addictions, fears, irritability, temper, bitterness, gossip, etc. plague
us day and night. The problem comes when we try to control them in our human
effort (Ephesians 2:8-9). If
we succeed in overcoming them on our own, by sheer will power, they will
eventually come back, or be expressed in some other symptom. Then God gets no
glory. However, it is much easier to deal with them, if we surrender to God and
let Him replace them with the fruit of His Spirit.
Throughout the ages, all of
humanity continues to try to be good enough to earn God’s love. Yet, we will
never be good enough. If we could be, we would not need Jesus’ sacrifice on the
cross. We cannot save our self! We cannot be good enough, because we would have
to keep the whole law in order to be perfect (James 2:10). That is also the Good News, however. The words to
these songs put the truth in a nutshell, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.”
“He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.”
No matter what you need in
your life – a mate, a job, a child, a home, a healing, a blessing of any kind –
relinquish it totally to God and pray the prayer that never fails, “Father, Thy
will be done.” Breathe deeply and release the pent up anxiety about this issue.
You have no need to carry any concern about it at all, because God cares about
you. He fills our emptiness with His joy and contentment. His presence in our
life melts away our fears and insecurities. He fills in the gaps of our
unbelief (Mark 9:24). He will
give us wisdom and understanding concerning the desires of our heart. Let go of
your worries and cares and let God be God. Allow Him to do His work in you,
through you and for you.
During the day, when you
feel a negative emotion rising in your soul, stop to take a deep breath. Exhale
slowly and deliberately. Clear your mind of all the clutter and listen as God’s
Spirit speaks to your spirit. Allow His words to cleanse your soul, calm you
and energize you to go on with your day as you walk in His rest (Hebrews
4:1). With your faith and courage
renewed, you can accomplish everything God planned for you to do. We release
our need to depend on human resources and on our own strength, and we let God
work out everything for our good, so that He gets all of the glory (Romans 8:28).
Jesus gives us the perfect
example of a life fully surrendered to our Heavenly Father. As we surrender to
God’s will for our day, He fills our every need, hunger, longing and desire
with a soul full of peace and security. He never leaves us, and He will never, ever, under
any circumstance forsake us (Hebrews 13:5; 1 Kings 8:57). No
matter how unattainable the solution to our problem appears to be, God always
has a way. We just have to wait on His timing. He transforms our life from the
inside out and cares about every aspect that matters to us.
Prayer:
Father God, You shed your
light in the dark places, You make our way straight and smooth (Psalm
4:8, 27:11), You fill the longing of our
soul. You give us Your loving kindness, direction, strength and power to
accomplish Your will for our day. We never have to worry, because You have
everything under Your control. Remind us to let You be God in our life and to
stop trying to take Your place!
Thought for the Day:
God will always meet our
needs according to His riches in glory. – Philippians 4:19 