Where does the strength, endurance, and will to press on in life come from? Can we make our own destiny and overcome any obstacle as long as we put our minds to it? If we truly desire to live the best life possible we cannot presume to play a role in its ultimate success. Life is only brought to completion by the grace of God as He is in full control over everything. “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of m wickedness with men who do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.” Psalm 141:3,4 Do you see how David acknowledges the words of our mouth and the desire of our heart are governed by God. Continue Reading…
Tag Archive - Inability
Hopeless inadequacy and inability broken by the grace of God: Psalm 141
God’s lovingkindness is everlasting: Psalm 118
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” Psalm 118:8,9 Do you believe that the lovingkindness of the Lord is everlasting? Do you believe that God will fulfill the promises He has made or are you diligently striving to make a way of your own? We are inherently deficient yet we too often view ourselves as complete beings that are complete and powerful. There is nothing that we can do to help ourselves to overcome our inability. Why do we continually strive to make our own way through this world? Do we think that at some point we will finally figure out the key to success that will help us make ourselves complete? We can never make ourselves complete because we lack the knowledge of what makes us complete. Continue Reading…
Legacy of remembering our inadequacy and God’s sufficiency: Psalm 59
Do we always remember that God is truly faithful at all times? Are we aware of our inherent inadequacy? The weight of our sinful condition needs to bear down upon reality for us to fall helplessly before God’s mercy. As we see our own inability we will turn to God as our source of strength to make it through life. “Because of his strength I will watch for You, For my God is my stronghold. My God in His lovingkindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes.” Psalm 59:9,10 God will bring us to a place of assured peace and hope. No matter the foe, we need to release the every situation to God and trust in His faithfulness. Continue Reading…
Riches of man cannot obtain the strength of Calvary: Job 27 and 28
Where will we find hope? When life is over and all the works of our hands are reckoned before God, what assurance will we have? Will God hear our lament in distress? The ways of the wicked will not go on forever; all mankind will stand and give an account for their actions and those that chose to abide in their sinfulness will find no hope. There is nothing that a man earn or create during their life that will grant security when life comes to an end. Help and deliverance can only come from outside of the ability of man. Did Job believe that in God alone was his only source for deliverance? Continue Reading…
Surely you are not that perfect: Deuteronomy 9 and 10
It is easily natural to think of ourselves as better than other people at times: I don’t drink alcohol as much as they do, they don’t even go to church any more but I go every week, I just watch PG films they watch R rated ones, I don’t look down upon anyone like they do, or I at least don’t struggle with those constant sins that they do. We often look at someone else and rationalize our sin in light of what we see when we look at them. This problematic approach of self rationalization is seen and addressed in Deuteronomy chapters 9 and 10. Continue Reading…
A holy calling by grace through faith in Christ: Leviticus 21 and 22
In Leviticus 21 and 22 rules and laws are given by God for Aaron and his descendants for all generations. The priests were not allowed to approach a dead person unless it was a relative and the high priest was forbidden to approach a dead body even of his own relatives. The priest’s needed to live above reproach. They needed to follow God’s commands in regard to mourning death. When customs in that time were to shave your head, cut your beard, and cut your body in mourning the priests could not because they were set apart by God as Holy. Continue Reading…
The painful reality of sin and God’s provision: Leviticus 19 and 20
>I think every other time I have read Leviticus it was my version of the blitzkrieg: fast and swift with little accuracy. It’s the kind of thinking that says if I blitz through this ‘boring’ book of the Bible enough I will eventually glean something useful from it. I was really wrong because I have been reading through Leviticus since May 19th and even though it has been a long slow walk through this difficult book full of sacrifices and laws but I am finding great enjoyment and passion because I am seeing a picture of Jesus Christ .
Provision for a fast food sex saturated world: Leviticus 17 and 18
Lord,
Open these eyes to see your glory. I sit in the torrent of life and I feel beaten and bruised by all the concerns of life. Oh how easy it is to get consumed with the swirling waters around me and not focus on you. Open my heart, mind, and soul as I read Leviticus 17 and 18 today Lord. I need your help to heal my heart. I submit to you now and forever, Amen.
Throughout Leviticus I am constantly reminded about how inadequate humanity is inherently. In chapter 17 God commands the people of Israel to stop sacrificing animals to other gods like the people of Egypt. People needed to bring their offering to the tabernacle to sacrifice to God as a peace offering. In chapter 18 God restates some of the 10 commandments in greater detail regarding how people can relate to each other. After reading these two chapters I feel saddened and a little depressed. Continue Reading…
The impossibility within law: Leviticus 11 and 12
I am listening to Leeland’s song Carried to the Table while blogging today. Great song that proclaims my inability but God’s sufficiency!
Impossibilities! The more I read of the law given from God to the people of Israel I see how it is totally impossible to uphold the law in the human condition. We are wholly inadequate to keep God’s commands. The song Carried to the Table tells us how we are only able carried to be carried. The grace that God extends to us is not able to be grasped by us. Continue Reading…
Sin’s burden and weight expressed in the law: Leviticus 5 and 6
We are inherently sinful! When I look at the law expressed in chapters 5 and 6 of Leviticus I see everyone living in sin. People sinned and it did not matter if they knew it or not sin was still sin. When I think about how difficult it has been for me to stay consistent in my Bible reading I can’t fathom how impossible it would be to keep up with the sacrifices. Continue Reading…
