2 Corinthians 2:5
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves...to claim anything for ourselves, but our sufficiency comes from God."
This is a spiritual paradox, but so true. We may have stuff, but we can only be sufficient when we surrender everything to God and trust Him to provide.
God has given us ability, gifts, talents, and discernment, but these virtues must be surrendered to His control and authority. Otherwise, we plod through life making our own decisions, doing our thing, and living on the perimeter of all God wants to do in and through us. It's really easy for me to live life on auto-pilot as I utilise what I have to make decisions. I'm not talking about easy what to eat decisions, but those which consume more of my time and effort, and what I will place effort in. For example, I have ideal jobs which I just want to apply for and get. However, I must learn to be dependent on God that He will dictate the job which I am to have.
As long as you and I are self-sufficient, we need not ask God for anything. God will not impose His will or way on us. He has given us a "free will" to either obey Him or disobey Him. Have you ever prayed harder than when you are no longer in control and desperate for help that you ask God to make things happen, because we simply can't?
Our choice will determine the consequences we will experience. It is only when we surrender our rights that we can learn to lean and trust God to be our sufficiency. God wants us to be in the center of His will and for Him to be the center of our life.
It's little wonder why people who have little are often the happiest when they receive simple pleasures, rather than us contented folks who can never be satisfied. May we learn to be surrender our self-sufficiency to God.
blessings,
M.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
12 November 2008
Nothing
2 Corinthians 2:5
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves...to claim anything for ourselves, but our sufficiency comes from God."
This is a spiritual paradox, but so true. We may have stuff, but we can only be sufficient when we surrender everything to God and trust Him to provide.
God has given us ability, gifts, talents, and discernment, but these virtues must be surrendered to His control and authority. Otherwise, we plod through life making our own decisions, doing our thing, and living on the perimeter of all God wants to do in and through us. It's really easy for me to live life on auto-pilot as I utilise what I have to make decisions. I'm not talking about easy what to eat decisions, but those which consume more of my time and effort, and what I will place effort in. For example, I have ideal jobs which I just want to apply for and get. However, I must learn to be dependent on God that He will dictate the job which I am to have.
As long as you and I are self-sufficient, we need not ask God for anything. God will not impose His will or way on us. He has given us a "free will" to either obey Him or disobey Him. Have you ever prayed harder than when you are no longer in control and desperate for help that you ask God to make things happen, because we simply can't?
Our choice will determine the consequences we will experience. It is only when we surrender our rights that we can learn to lean and trust God to be our sufficiency. God wants us to be in the center of His will and for Him to be the center of our life.
It's little wonder why people who have little are often the happiest when they receive simple pleasures, rather than us contented folks who can never be satisfied. May we learn to be surrender our self-sufficiency to God.
blessings,
M.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves...to claim anything for ourselves, but our sufficiency comes from God."
This is a spiritual paradox, but so true. We may have stuff, but we can only be sufficient when we surrender everything to God and trust Him to provide.
God has given us ability, gifts, talents, and discernment, but these virtues must be surrendered to His control and authority. Otherwise, we plod through life making our own decisions, doing our thing, and living on the perimeter of all God wants to do in and through us. It's really easy for me to live life on auto-pilot as I utilise what I have to make decisions. I'm not talking about easy what to eat decisions, but those which consume more of my time and effort, and what I will place effort in. For example, I have ideal jobs which I just want to apply for and get. However, I must learn to be dependent on God that He will dictate the job which I am to have.
As long as you and I are self-sufficient, we need not ask God for anything. God will not impose His will or way on us. He has given us a "free will" to either obey Him or disobey Him. Have you ever prayed harder than when you are no longer in control and desperate for help that you ask God to make things happen, because we simply can't?
Our choice will determine the consequences we will experience. It is only when we surrender our rights that we can learn to lean and trust God to be our sufficiency. God wants us to be in the center of His will and for Him to be the center of our life.
It's little wonder why people who have little are often the happiest when they receive simple pleasures, rather than us contented folks who can never be satisfied. May we learn to be surrender our self-sufficiency to God.
blessings,
M.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
