On My Own Strength....

John 5:30
[Jesus]-
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

cf. : 5:19 “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
cf. ; 8:28 “So Jesus said to them, “when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

This is Jesus speaking here. I want you think about whether or not you could say the same thing; “I can do nothing on my own.” Jesus was God and yet He says that He can do nothing apart from the Father. Now it seems like it would be a bit easier for Jesus because He and the Father are one; but Jesus was also fully human and as such he did battle with the human nature. Satan tempted him just as he tempts us.

Matthew 4 gives us this account:
Scripture tells us that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The Spirit which is being referred to here is the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit. He is co-eternal with God and so it is God that led Jesus to be tempted.

Now, I don't know if that raises any questions in your mind, but right there a little flag went up in my mind; “God led Jesus to be tempted!? Does this mean God leads me to be tempted?

To answer this I went to 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 which states; “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

God does not do the tempting; but as we remember in Job, Satan was allowed to tempt Job; “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So again we see that God, in His Sovereignty allowed for Satan to test and push Job towards unrighteousness, but Job was not given any more than he could handle, for God still sustained him.

And this is the key point that I want to draw out; it is impossible without God to stand on our own. Even Christ could do nothing apart from the Father. Likewise without the grace of God we can do nothing good. In answer to that first question, “I can do nothing on my own;” we can do nothing good our own. Unless it is through the Holy Spirit and His power in us, nothing we do has eternal value and thus is not good.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, that we should walk in them.”

If you are anything like me, it can be easy to get caught up my day to day works that I don't stop to think about my choices. Ultimately our choices either point to eternity or they point inwardly to our own works. How futile! It is possible for me to be doing “good” things, but instead of being profitable for eternity they are only profitable for this world and time. When I think back to the idea of Satan and how he has le-way to tempt us we truly must have our guards up! Go back to Matthew 4 and read the temptation of Jesus again. Satan is a deceiver. He is not obvious. He used Scripture to try and convince Christ to take a short-cut for people to see His glory. If Jesus would have followed, he would have been disobeying the Father's will for Him. Christ knew the full Word of God and was able to discern that this was what Satan was trying to do. I don't know if I would be wise enough to discern this, for I am not in the Word of God consistently enough to see if what I am hearing is fully backed up in Scripture. Satan used this verse, “ If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” Those were words in Scripture, but used out of context for the very next verses speak about Satan and stepping on him. Convenient that he didn't use that part, eh?

For the past few weeks it has been coming up more and more the importance of being in Scripture. Will we attend to this call? God allows for temptation to occur, so will we prepare ourselves for the battle? Or will we continue in our own works which without Christ at the center ultimately lead to death?


Be Encouraged by this:!
Hebrews 2: 18
“For because He himself was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”

What do you Live For?- From Mars Hill Church Blog

What Do You Live For?–Part Two
Diagnosing Your Worship

If all of life is worship and we find that our lives are broken in some way, then change must begin with changed worship in the heart. The following questions from Dr. Tim Keller can help you diagnose your worship:

• What do I live for?
• What would I die without?
What do you live for?

Related questions to explore what you live for include the following:

• What desires are in the depths of your heart?
• What desires shape the course of your life?
• What desires make you feel alive when they’re met, or leave you feeling furious, dead, or depressed when unmet?
• What desires are you willing to pay the price for and sacrifice to get?
• What desires get you out of bed in the morning and cause you to spring to action in hot pursuit?
• What desires lead you to blow up in rage against anyone who gets in your way?
• What desires lead you to keep your distance from other people for fear of what might happen—or what they might see—if you were close?
What would you die without?

Maybe you’re thinking you don’t have such intense desires as those suggested in the previous paragraph. They may strike you as dramatic. If so, then consider the possibility that your ultimate desires are already being met to some degree.

But what if they were threatened? For example, let’s say you have your spouse, kids, dream house, dream job, and great friends; your life is a picture that others only dream of. But what if those things were taken from you? Would you feel like dying?

You see, you always live for something. To not worship is to not live. It’s like a garden hose that can’t be turned off. You can aim it at the grass, the car, or the shrubs, but you cannot stop its flow.

In the same way, your heart is constantly pouring out in worship to see your deepest desires satisfied. Distorted, sinful, misdirected worship is referred to as “idolatry” in the Bible, and the object of such worship is called an “idol.”

Letter from a Delinquent Daughter-

God;
It has been awhile since I have last really spent some quality time with you. I know that you have plans for our lives and that you do take special interest in each of us (Jer. 29:11). I know that you desire for everything that I do would bring you glory (1 Cor. 10:31). I know that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of those things we don't see (Heb. 11:1). I know that if we commit our ways to you, you will give us the desires of our hearts (Ps. 37:4).

These promises are ones that I want to cling to; and yet I know that you see us for who we are. And for me I know that means that you see me as a prideful person who desires selfishly and wants control of her own; to know all things and who will not walk in confidence until I do know these things for sure. You see that I don't trust well, but at the same time you know that the depths of me desire to do these things better. You know that my heart is restless and waiting:

Closer to Me by Future of Forestry-

I wish I could feel all the strength of your peace
Inside me, building love endlessly
I wish I could fall in a sea of your light
While the brilliance around me, watch it chase away night

Closer to me
Oh, I want you to be
Even closer to me

I wish I could feel just the warmth of your breath
Around me as I lie on my bed
I wish I could taste of your sweet ruby wine
As you lift me to heaven, to the place where we shine

Closer to me
Oh, I want you to be
Just closer to me

For the day I await
'Cause my heart knows I've found you
And I'm still looking for you
Yeah, the day I await
'Cause my heart knows I've found
And I'm still looking for you

You call us to seek you with all of our hearts; you say, search me and you will know me...when you seek me you will find me when you seek with all your heart. Heb. 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” So I do know that I've found you and that I continue to seek you to draw closer to you... Forgive me for where I fall short and where my pride gets in the way. Forgive me for my lack of faith at times. Teach me every day to trust you more.

Ps. 25:2-5
“O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.”

You have given me the work of my hands and have placed responsibilities before me. These things Lord, I seek to do before you with utmost honesty and truth. I know that I may never walk in complete faithfulness on this earth but I do love you and I do seek to learn more and more how to love you better and more completely.

Lover by Nevertheless-

I am a lover. I am a shame. I am appalled by the things that I fame.
I am a lover, but I've had my share of flirting with the darkest affairs.
And you can find me here, with my head against the wall, lost in my regrets and every time I fall you catch me in your hands.
You circle me like a wedding band. I have a lover, faithful and true.
He cares for me in all that I do.
I have a lover, my song He has sung with love on His lips and grace on His tongue.
And you can find me here with my head against the wall, lost in my regrets and every time I fall you catch me in your hands.
You circle me like a wedding band.
A promise from Heaven, a promise from You, a promise to love, I will hold on to.
God of new beginnings, to You I cry, Teach me how to love; teach me how to die.
In death there's forgiveness, and forgiveness calls on new life. So You can find me here with my head against the wall, lost in my regrets and every time I fall you catch me in your hands. You circle me like a wedding band. A promise from Heaven, a promise from You...

I commit myself to learn more and more about you. My desire is to serve you better each day with a more fervent heart. Place people in my life to challenge me in these areas.

A letter from a delinquent daughter,
Love.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that I will seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4

ABC interviews Mark Driscoll on Idols

"Hell is inhabited by those who through thousands of little daily acts have elevated self above God." Clyde Kilby