Because He Is Worthy, We Can Be Free

 I would like to ask you today, where does your power come from? I mentioned this in my last blog, but I would now like to go a little further with this. We live in a culture today in which, I feel now more than ever, there is a stirring movement of self-empowerment. “Be all you can be!” “Be whoever/whatever you want to be!” “You do you!” “Live your best life!” “Believe in yourself!” “You deserve it!” “You’ve got this!” What we should be seeking instead of self-empowerment, is how we can allow The Holy Spirit to have His way in us and trust in His power, not in our own power. I don’t know about you, but every time I have tried to do anything by my own power, it has been an epic failure! That is why Paul tells us to crucify our flesh in Galatians 5:24  “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”  Paul tells us this because he knows firsthand that our flesh is constantly fighting against what the Holy Spirit can do. Our flesh wants to have control rather than allowing us to trust in the Holy Spirit. Therefore we need to let our flesh go daily and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us through each and every day. We aren’t capable in and of ourselves to let this flesh go. We need His help in doing so.

 The World also talks about “self-worth.” That doesn’t exist!!! The only one Worthy is Jesus Christ!!! He is the only one who will ever be Worthy! And because He is Worthy, that makes us free!  (Free, if we have trusted in Jesus Christ as our Savior.) Free from all the things that bind us and constrain us, such as: 

FEAR – 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” So if you are feeling fear, ask yourself, “If God doesn’t give me the Spirit of fear, then where is this fear I’m feeling coming from?”

DOUBT – James 1:6 says, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” So when you pray, have Faith in what it is you are praying about. Trust in God’s promise. Don’t ask God for His help one day, then try and do it on your own the next. Believe He can do what He says He can do!   

WEAKNESS – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says,  “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” I was watching Priscilla Shirer, an American author and motivational speaker, and she said that sometimes we may need to fish all night like Peter did in Luke Chapter 5, without catching anything. She expressed that our boat would be empty to allow Jesus to have room to step in and show us just what He can do! That made me realize, consequently, when we are too weak, or not capable to get the job done, we may feel empty and alone. That is when Jesus steps into our weakness and shows us that our weakness can be made strong by Him.  

ANXIETY – Finally, I feel anxiety is something that may constrain us at times as well. Matthew 6:34 says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” God promises all throughout that His Grace is sufficient. That if He even cares for the birds, imagine how much more He cares for His children. He promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He doesn’t want us to worry about things that are out of our hands. He wants us to trust in Him to care for our needs. Satan loves it when we are worried because that allows him room to enter into our mind and fill it with many different scenarios of all the bad that could happen.

We should be focusing on the promises of God and trusting them! Isaiah 64:6 tells us just how unworthy we are, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” In this verse he says we are as filthy rags and that even our righteousness is not clean. None of us are worthy without Him; however, in Revelation 5:12, “Saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.’” This verse tells us how worthy God is. He came here on Earth from Heaven that He may save us. That is His Truth. He tells us that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” in John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’” In John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Here, Jesus tells us that His truth shall make us free!! In John chapter 10, He sets His sheep free! Verses 9 and 10 state, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”     

So we need to let go of our self and grab on to Him, who sets us free. Allow Him to give us life, a more abundant life. A life free from the fear, doubt, weakness, and anxiety that I previously mentioned. To do that though, we need to trust more in Him and less in ourselves. That is going to take some action and growth on our part. Let’s move forward to see what it is He has for each of us.