December 26th, 2023
by Living Hope Church
by Living Hope Church
Good morning Church family and Happy Tuesday! May God bless you abundantly today. Let us continue with this short devotional from YouVersion on how important it is to depend on God.
Skipping The Middle Part
Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks. —Isaac Watts
Jesus loves the Father and lived His entire earthly life fully dependent on Him—and He calls us to do the same. Our love for God should lead to dependency on God. And that dependency leads naturally to obedience.
Our love for Him → dependency on Him → obedience to Him.
But we tend to skip that second part. We skip the dependency, faith, and trust—trying instead to please God by obeying Him in our own strength rather than by faith.
Acting in our own strength is called independence—and it’s the exact opposite of the moment-by-moment dependence that Jesus modeled while walking this earth. As believers in Christ, we’re called to follow His lead, displaying a dependent faith worked out in obedient action as we trust Him!
James puts it to us this way:
But someone will say, “You have faith, I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. (2:18)
The bottom line is this: Our dependency on Christ is displayed by our deeds.
True faith will display itself!
Dear God, I love You! Break the independent desires of my flesh. Give me the wisdom and faith to depend on You with increasing trust. Then, God, I ask that You would enable me to follow You in joyful obedience into any work that You have prepared for me to do.
Living Like God Intended By Pete Briscoe
Skipping The Middle Part
Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks. —Isaac Watts
Jesus loves the Father and lived His entire earthly life fully dependent on Him—and He calls us to do the same. Our love for God should lead to dependency on God. And that dependency leads naturally to obedience.
Our love for Him → dependency on Him → obedience to Him.
But we tend to skip that second part. We skip the dependency, faith, and trust—trying instead to please God by obeying Him in our own strength rather than by faith.
Acting in our own strength is called independence—and it’s the exact opposite of the moment-by-moment dependence that Jesus modeled while walking this earth. As believers in Christ, we’re called to follow His lead, displaying a dependent faith worked out in obedient action as we trust Him!
James puts it to us this way:
But someone will say, “You have faith, I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. (2:18)
The bottom line is this: Our dependency on Christ is displayed by our deeds.
True faith will display itself!
Dear God, I love You! Break the independent desires of my flesh. Give me the wisdom and faith to depend on You with increasing trust. Then, God, I ask that You would enable me to follow You in joyful obedience into any work that You have prepared for me to do.
Living Like God Intended By Pete Briscoe
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2 Comments
At times I have more a hard time to understand.Well I must depend more on God and not only by my own but with Faith.I do depend on my own.God help me to walk more by Faith.I love You . Thanks
At times I wounder why I write if I dont put it in practice.I am finding the time so long alone with the covid.Home alone.