A Final Word part 3
Sum it up for us. Give us the final word. "Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might." I really like this. Especially as, you know, the bottom line. Because I hear a lot about how "You need to be an overcomer!" and, to be perfectly honest, I don't like that. I don't like putting burdens on people. I don't like saying, "It's your job to pull yourself up by your bootstraps." The idea that "God helps those who help themselves." If you can help yourself... do you need God's help? Or is it more likely that "He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless" (Isaiah 40:29 NLT). Is it more likely that "Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me" (2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT). God's strength is perfected in our weakness. When we can't... that's when He will. If we (think we) can do it ourselves, I believe God will let us try. To an extent. I believe God is always working behind the scenes and protects us from a lot of things that we don't even know about. That hedge of protection that keeps a lot of things at bay. I'm a firm believer in that. What we're talking about here, though, is the idea of accepting His strength. "Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed" (Proverbs 16:3, NLT). Don't let God be just your last chance... make Him your first choice. Let Him be involved in whatever you do. I like to give this example (mostly because if I use myself as an example instead of other people, I know I'm not going to get offended): I'm a writer. I've written stuff my whole life. But it wasn't until I turned my three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) to doing something that would glorify the Lord that anything really happened. When I started writing Jesus books... I started publishing books. When I started writing Jesus Rants... people started to (I hope) get affected in a positive way. My point is: Be who you are, and do what you do... for God. With God. Because of God. It is the power of God working in us to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. You CAN go your own way, right Jonah? But you might end up in the belly of a fish. So let me get back to my original idea about "overcoming." An overcomer is not someone who has the ability to (maybe) overcome. An overcomer is someone who HAS overcome. To wit, "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many tirals and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (John 16:33, NLT). That's Jesus talking. The red letters. That's Jesus letting us know what the bottom line, or the final word is. And that bottom line is that HE has overcome the world. Which means, in Him, WE have ALREADY overcome! We are MORE than conquerers in Him. He conquered. We get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. That's the good news of the gospel. So instead of trying to be something we're not, or overcome something we think we haven't... we need to embrace the truth. The finished work of the cross. We need to embrace who we really are--which is who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us! We need to be strong in HIS power! Let HIM fight our battles. The only fight left in the New Covenant is the Good Fight of Faith. Laying hold of eternal life. Receiving and releasing the gift we've already been given. That's how we enjoy the gift. That's how we live as people who have overcome. That's how we experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God--by letting HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us!