Self-Sufficient or God-Sufficient?

 

By Andrea Merrell

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves 

to think anything as of ourselves, 

but our sufficiency is of God. 

2 Corinthians 3:5 KJV

“Grow up. Put on your big-girl panties. You gotta pull yourself up by your own boot straps.”

I’ve heard it all—all my life as a matter of fact. We’re erroneously taught that we must do everything on our own because no one is going to do it for us. So we try and try and try again. When our human strength runs out, we feel defeated and want to quit.

The truth is God never intended for us to live that way. In fact, Jesus said in John 15:5, “Without me, you can do nothing” (KJV). He told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). That’s why Paul was able to say, “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13 KJV). Why? Because of Christ’s strength. His power. His sufficiency—not our own.

The world sees our dependency on the Lord as weakness, but Jesus said His strength is made perfect in our weakness. 

This journey through life can be a rough road at times, but God has given us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3 NKJV). That means we have everything we need.

So … self-sufficient or God-sufficient. His way is always better, but it’s a choice. Which way will you choose?

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and tuelekza.

 

Finding Your Way

 By Andrea Merrell

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6 NKJV

 

The woman was lost in a sea of self-doubt and hopelessness. Desperate for help, she turned to all the wrong things and found herself drowning in addictions, behaviors, and relationships that threatened to take her under.

I’ve seen it so many times. People trying to find peace and happiness. Struggling to find their way in this broken, perverted world we live in. They might seek therapy, self-medicate, or even try mind over matter. But when nothing helps, they feel completely lost.

Jesus said, “Come unto me.” But according to The Word for You Today, “He didn’t merely say, ‘Come to Me and I’ll show you the way,’ He said, ‘I am the way.’” He is the way to forgiveness. He is the way to peace and joy. He is the way to fulfillment in life. He is the way to everything we need or could ever desire ... for all eternity. And He is as close to us as a simple prayer.

Proverbs tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (14:12 NKJV). There is no other way but Jesus.

 

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and tuelekza.

Character and Integrity are Key

 

By Andrea Merrell

The righteous man walks in his integrity.

Proverbs 20:7 NKJV

 

“You are a character, but you don’t have character,” I said to a former boss after I had turned in my resignation and he demanded that I tell him what went wrong. "And you're sorely lacking in integrity," I added.

Sounds a bit snarky, I know. Normally, I would never speak that way to someone in authority(especially a boss), but in the position he held, character and integrity were crucial. We both knew I was speaking the truth. Things had gotten out of hand, and I could no longer work under the constant deceit and manipulation. He had fooled a lot of people but as someone once said, “Wherever you go and whatever you do, the real you will eventually show up.”

According to The Word for You Today:

Character doesn’t have to be in the spotlight, excessively running the show. And it doesn’t resort to intimidation or shaming to get its own way.

Character (moral excellence; ethical quality) and integrity (honesty; doing what’s right even when no one is looking) go hand in hand. They are synonymous. You can find these traits in someone who:

• Shows consistent and decent behavior in all circumstances.
• Plays by the rules and can be relied upon.
• Offers credit where credit is due.
• Lives by faith.
• Trusts God to enable them to accomplish all that he or she was created and called to do.

Gifts, talents, and personality play a vital role in who we are but when it gets down to basics, character and integrity are always key ingredients to an abundant, blessed life.

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Stuart Miles.

The Power of Praise

 

By Andrea Merrell

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 100:4 NKJV

 

“I don’t feel like praising God,” the woman said. “Look what’s going on in my life. What do I have to be thankful for?”

The truth is that’s when we need to praise Him the most. The Bible says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15 NKJV).

What is sacrificial praise? According to The Word for You Today, it is “praise when you don’t feel like it. When you’re going through seasons of hardship. When humanly speaking, you can’t think of a single thing to praise God for. With God, the praise that costs is the praise that counts.”

David is our best example. Even when running and hiding from his enemies, he never lost his faith in God. And he never hesitated to pray and sing songs of praise to the One who could deliver him—no matter how bad the situation.

Praise is powerful. It touches the heart of God and opens doors that no man can open. It brings deliverance. It heals. It crushes fear. It drives away the darkness and the forces of evil. It lifts us out of the pit of despair and into the heavenly realm.

Let praise become as natural as breathing. Let it become your weapon of choice. Read through the Psalms often and let those words soak deep within. Then you can say along with David, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1 KJV).

Now that’s power!

Photo courtesy of priscilla-du-preez-zeqWKOn5PNM on Unsplash.

Don’t Limit Yourself

 

By Andrea Merrell

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13 NKJV

 

“I can’t do it. It’s impossible!”

I can’t count the number of times I’ve said those words—or at least thought them. Watching others do things I wished I could do while convincing myself I couldn’t.

Remember the story of The Little Engine That Could. What if his mindset and confession had been, “I don’t think I can … I don’t think I can …”

He would still be sitting at the bottom of the hill.

We spend so much thinking we can’t that when God asks us to do something, we procrastinate or panic. We focus on our weaknesses and limitations rather than believing we can do all things through Christ who strengthens and empowers us to do what He calls us to do.

The Word for You Today (TWFYT) says, “Believing you can doesn’t guarantee you will, but believing you can’t guarantees you won’t.”

I think about all the times in my life when my response was an immediate, “I can’t.” All the times I’ve limited myself because I was depending on myself instead of Him.

TWFYT goes on to say, “If you want to achieve something, give yourself permission to believe it is possible, then trust God for success."

God has much for you to do, so don’t limit yourself. Be like that little engine and say, “I think I can … I believe I can … I know I can—because through Christ I can do all things.

Photo by Chang Ye on Unsplash