Thoughts Along the Way©
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
I was working on my computer when a little message came up saying that updates were ready for my computer. It also said that I could continue to work during the update process. (It lied!) I thought fine as long as I can continue to work. What it didn’t tell me was that the computer would run slower or that every couple of minutes after the preparation a little message would pop up saying that I needed to restart the computer. Each time the message appeared it would interrupt what I was working on. Finally I restarted the computer because I was not able to get any work done.
For many years I lived and worked believing similar spiritual lies. I believed that God had saved me and now I was to “work” for Him. Yes, I believed that the Holy Spirit was in the heart of every believer to transform them into the image of Christ. I had great head theology but my practical theology went more along the lines of “Jesus died for me and God has forgiven my sins. Now I must work as hard as I can by my own strength and wisdom to show God how worthy I am or how appreciative I am.” In case you missed it, the lies are that it is by my strength and wisdom and to prove to God how much of a god I am by showing Him how good I am or worthy I am.
The computer message didn’t tell me the whole truth. It told me just enough to get my co-operation. It was too late to turn back by the time I realized that what it really wanted was to possess my computer for the next 10-15 minutes. By not understanding the true work of the Holy Spirit or the complete work of Christ on my behalf, I acted like I was getting a new version of my operating system but that I could still use the old one. The new version would kick in when I got to heaven. What an incredible lie! The new version is to start operating now. I am to die to my old self, so that Christ can live in me and through me. Each time I rely on my own efforts instead of living by faith in Jesus, I am denying Jesus. I am putting myself in His place and saying I can do this without Him. My heavenly Father is much too loving to leave me in such a mess. He continues to send me messages to remind me that I need to reboot my operating system. He is drawing my heart to repentance and a return to a life of faith.
Of course, I still need to be diligent in doing what God desires me to do but it is no longer about me but about Jesus doing through me. Doing God’s work with my own strength limits God because it then depends on what I can do. When I finally rebooted my computer, everything worked the way it is supposed to work. When I finally allow God to be in charge and respond in faith to His leading, everything works the way it is supposed to work.
Prayer: Father, I so often act like I am in charge and You are an interruption. I believe the lie that says I can empress you with my efforts apart from faith. Forgive me for thinking that I don’t need Jesus every moment of every day. Give me fresh faith to love You and live by. Keep me from the lie of self-effort. Let my life bring glory to You rather than to me.