Slow Down: God At Work

Philippians 2:13 (AMP) [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight…

“Pius, we need to talk”, said Pius to himself. “How much longer will this cycle continue. You lie and have an unbridled tongue that can, at the least provocation, lash out in anger or indulge in vulgar talk. You repent with profuse tears and deep remorse, promising God heaven and earth and vowing good behavior going forward only to go right back to the same old pattern of fears, lies and lack of self-control. For how much longer Pius?”

God-sized demands are only met by God-sized ability. What God has done in redemption is to produce a new race of men who are wired with the DNA of his Son, who Himself is God, knowing that what man needs is not mere wiping away of his old sin but a change of nature. God provided man with a new spirit, and the Holy Spirit to dwell in our heart. Now this new nature functions by the power of God. The best a recreated man can do is to discover how to depend on God so that His power can have free course.

The verse preceding today’s text talks about ‘working out one’s salvation’, however, the following verse, which is today’s text, makes it very clear that the out-working of one’s salvation is only made possible by the inworking of God in us. Somewhere around River Jabbok, as the morning sun was slowly rising over the horizon, Jacob was busy contending with God. This was a man who knew his way around difficult men and difficult situations, employing hook and crook to achieve his ends. However, on this fateful morning, it was until his thigh was put out of joint that, for once, God had his way with him, and Israel was born (See Gen 32:22-30).

Learn to trust God. Learn to trust in His word. God’s word has integrity, it is alive and full of power. The wisdom of resting on (believing, trusting and doing) God’s word is that God is watching over His word to perform it. His angels are attentive to His word to bring it to pass.

Go into today remembering that when a man depends on God through His word, he is tapping into grace, for God himself will supply the strength and wisdom needed to accomplish what His word says.

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