Tag Archives: God’s Power

Step Up

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Yesterday I challenged people at Asbury to do something big for God.  Take a risk.  Try something that just looks stupid.  Do something that only God can accomplish through you.  And then when you do it, you can give God all the glory for what happens.

I was preaching about Matthias, the apostle that too Judas’ place after the resurrection.  He had to step up into a calling that was seemingly bigger than him.  And that’s the thing we see over and over again in scripture.  People that God calls to do something, and their first impulse is, on there’s no way.  There’s no way that I can do that.  That’s impossible.  Matthias stepped up and God used him.

This week I want to look at some other folks that stepped up.

Listen to what happens today in Judges 6: 15-16 when God calls Gideon:

And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.

Step Up Message SeriesGideon would be one of the Judges that would free the people from their oppression, that would restore the proper worship of God.  He was a great man, a great leader. And his first impulse was, nope.  I can’t do this.  I can’t do this task that God has called me to.  It’s too big.  It’s too mighty, and I’m too small.  I can’t do it.

But he could.

And he did.   God, through him, freed the people.  God restored them.  God brought life to them.  He was able to free them.

Because Gideon overcame his fear and his doubt.  And stepped up.

You can too, today.  You can do it.  You can do great things.  You can.

Step up.  Through God today, you will do great things.  Believe it.  You will.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

God is Able

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In life, it doesn’t always look like things will turn out our way. It may look like the road we are walking down will lead to the place we’d like to be.

We feel hopeless and we feel like it won’t work out for our best and for the way that we would like.

We think, man how can God fix this? How can this turn around? How can God make something good out of this.

What can God do?

Today, friends, I tell you, God is able. No matter what is happening in your world, in your life, no matter how bad it may look, God is able.

Listen to what Paul says today in Romans 4:18-21 about Abraham.

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Abraham was promised that he would be the father of many nations. He was promised by God that he would be a light to the Gentiles.

But, it took a long time coming. He was promised a son, but it didn’t come on his schedule, it came on God’s schedule. It didn’t come on his time, it came on God’s time.

And he still believed. He still believed that God would keep His word, and do what He said He would do, even when the timing and schedule was not what he wanted.

He knew, that no matter what, God is able. He trusted God.

Today, no matter what is going on in your life, God is able. He is.

Trust. God is good, He is merciful, He is good. Have faith.

Even if it looks hard and tough ahead, God is able. Believe in Him. Trust in Him.

He will not fail you. He won’t. He is able.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Weakness

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We’ve seen a lot of passages this that call us to get up and go! We can do it! Keep pushing! Keep working! You can do it!

And I feel that way. But I also drink a lot of coffee, so it could just be the caffeine talking.

There are times though. There are lots of times in our lives when we are just too weak. We are too tired. We just can’t do it. We are give out. And we want to give up. We just can’t do it.

In those times, remember what we see here in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

None of us are strong enough. God doesn’t love us because we are strong. He doesn’t love us because we are awesome. He doesn’t love us because we are perfect.

So, today if you feel imperfect, that’s ok. If you feel weak, that’s ok. If you feel like you can’t do it, that ok. Because it’s God. It’s God working though us. It’s God that carries us. It’s God that calls us. It’s God that saves us. It’s God that grows us.

It’s God through us.

Instead of feeling bad or ashamed at being weak or unable, we can boast in it. We can boast in our weakness. Because it’s God. It’s God in us. It’s God through us.

Yes, we are weak. And He loves us anyway.

Now that’s awesome.

Boasting in Weakness

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Boasting is not something we are supposed to do. The Bible tells us in Proverbs, it’s the pride that goes before the fall. If we brag, if we boast, if we get too full of ourselves, trouble will come.

Boasting is not good.

Yet today, we see Paul talking about boasting! He says – I will boast. You would think such a statement would be something that would be leading him to trouble.  Listen to what he says in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul says – I will boast in my weakness. For in my weakness, I know Christ’s power. In my weakness I am strong.

That’s something to boast about.

That goes so different from our world. Our world tells us to boast about how awesome we are. How great we are. How perfect we are. It’s about us.

Paul says to that – No! I will no boast in anything about me, but I will boast in Christ thought me. Every great thing in my (and our) life is no because of us.

It’s because of Him.

We have not earned it. We can’t earn it. We can’t boast in ourselves. We boast in Him. As I tell folks at Asbury, if anything I do is good, He gets credit. I’ll take credit for the bad stuff.

His love, His mercy, His grace, these are gifts. And when we realize how weak we are, we can boast even more in them. That’s what Paul is saying. He has realized how much he does not deserve God’s grace, and God gives it any way.

Which makes Him love God even more!

So, today, don’t boast in yourself. Boast in God. Boast in His goodness, mercy, and grace. In our weakness, His strength is made perfect. When we are lesser, He is greater.

If you’re going to boast, boast about your weakness. And when we know that we are weak, we will find that He is strong.

And that’s something to boast about.

Everything You Need

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What do you need today?

What do you need today to be the person God has called you to be? What do you need to be faithful?  What do you need to accomplish great things for Him?

Let’s take the conversation out of the clouds. What do you need to be nice to your co-workers?

What do you need to not get frustrated with your spouse?

What do you need to not get angry with you children?

What do you need to not give into peer pressure today at school?

What do you need to think of yourself as someone of precious worth?

Whatever it is, you have it today.  Listen to the words of 2 Peter 1:3

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

By God’s power, you’ve got it.  Through knowing Jesus, you’ve got it.

You’ve got everything you need. Through a relationship with Jesus, you’ve got everything you need to be who God is calling you to be, to do what God is calling you to do, to live as God is calling you to live.

Through Jesus, there’s not anything that is impossible.  You can be nice. And forgiving. And strong. And faithful. And brave. And patient.  Through Jesus you can do it all.

So, today, in those moments when you hear the whispers. When you hear the temptation. When you hear the doubts. When you hear the fear. When you feel the anger. When you think you can’t do it.

Remember, you’ve got everything you need. Through Jesus, you’ve got it all. Turn to Him. In your trials, your worries, your troubles.

Turn to Him.

And in Him, you’ll find everything you need.

Bragging

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We all have things we brag on.

Those of us that are parents really enjoy bragging on their kids. At least I do!

My friends accuse me of bragging too much on the great things that Asbury is doing. By the way, have I told you that Asbury is awesome! 🙂

We have lots of things, including ourselves, that we’d like to brag on in life.

Listen to what Paul talks about bragging on in one of today’s readings:

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 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. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul finds an area of weakness in his life; his thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what this thorn was, other than it caused Paul great problems and great concern. And he wanted it gone.

He didn’t want to deal with.  He was tired of it. So, he asked God three times to take it away. To take away this trouble. To take away this problem. To take away this weakness.

And God said each time – no.  My strength is made perfect in your weakness.

So, Paul bragged on his weakness.  On this thorn.  Because through it, God was glorified.

Through our weakness, through our frailty, through the things that cause us hurt or worry or pain, God’s strength is made known.

In the times when we can’t carry ourselves, when we can’t walk, when we are troubled, when we are weak, when are unable to go, God carries.

Paul brags on the places where he weak, because in that area, people can see the power of God.

Will we do the same? Will we allow our places of weakness to be places where God’s strength is made known? Will we let God’s strength carry us. Will we brag on our weakness and God’sstrength?

May God’s strength be made known in all our lives.

 

 

There Ain’t No Stopping Us!

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I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite Christian Artists is Rich Mullins.  He did a song we all know and we’ve sung a million times, “Awesome God.”  In worship Sunday at Asbury Church we sang a song “He Reigns” which takes Awesome God and adds to it these words:

There ain’t no stopping us (naw)
Devil there ain’t no blocking us (naw)

I was thinking about that song this morning as I read this passage from Acts:

34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 35 Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them-in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”

If it is of God, there is no stopping it.

Their ain’t no stopping God. There’s nothing that can stop God. Their’s nothing that can stop God’s people from doing what He wants to accomplish.

Nothing.

There’s nothing in front of you this morning that can’t be worked out by God’s plan and God’s grace. Nothing.

As Jesus told Peter, even the Gates of Hell will not stop the Church!

If God is for us, who can be against us.

You don’t have to live a life of defeat this morning.  You don’t have to live a life as it’s always been this morning. This is a new day. This is a new beginning.  This is a new gift from God!

Live in it.  Live this day to the fullest. Live this life to the fullest. There’s nothing that God can’t accomplish.

If it’s of God, nothing will stop it.  Or stop you.  You can live with courage and boldness today.

Don’t live defeated.  Live victorious.  There ain’t no stopping us! Though God.