Devotion
2-22-10
It’s Not Me or You
John 3:30 and Proverbs 3:5-6
Last week we talked about decreasing ourselves to increase Jesus in our lives. This week we are going to expand on John 3:30 by confirming it with other verses in the Bible. Today we will focus on Proverbs 3:5-6.
Every one of us has issues we are faced with that tempt us to put our own thinking and reasoning in front of the God’s thinking and commands. Oh we may not think we are doing it, we may even try to rationalize our ideas to mesh with some verse in the Bible, but it is easy for us to do because we become so emotionally involved with the issues or situation we are dealing with. We are human and there is no condemnation in those feelings, however, they will not get us to where the Lord wants us if we do not learn how to put them at the feet of Jesus.
To make this clearer to understand I will share a situation and the common response to it. Afterwards we will see what God’s word says about how we should respond.
Mr. and Mrs. Kirk have been working day and night to make the payment on their new home and two new cars, they are tired, overworked, their bodies ache and they are becoming frustrated with each other over every little issue. Mrs. Kirk suggests that they need to step back and examine how they are doing things according to God’s word. In her study she finds that God wants a just balance in her life and that she has pushed Him aside for the things of the world. She shares what she has learned with her husband. He agrees and they talk about how they can fix the situation. Mrs. Kirk thinks they should get rid of one of the cars and the cable TV as well as put some of their investments on hold. Mr. Kirk thinks they just need to work harder for a few more months and hit the payments on the cars hard to get them paid off. He doesn’t want to lose what they have worked so hard for. Mrs. Kirk says the Bible tells them that God will supply their needs, while Mr. Kirk says that God will give them strength to do the work He has blessed them with. Though both of them are correct in what the word of God says, the question is, are they using the word of God correctly?
Round and round they go with one idea after the other but with no solution to their problem. Why? Because they are faced with a situation where both sides want to be right and cannot see the other’s point of view. It becomes a battle of the will and neither side wants to give in or give up. They both believe they are right and can’t understand why the other does not see it. Therefore, division begins.
So what about you? Have you ever been faced with a situation like this in your relationships, within your family or in your church? I am sure you have, because where there are two humans there will be different ideas. But how do you handle such situations? Well, let’s take an honest look at ourselves through God’s word and see what He says about it.
First of all please go back to John 3:30 and read it out loud and write it down. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now look up Proverbs 3:5-6 and read it out loud and write it down.
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Do you see how these verses deal with the same thing? They are both telling us to set our own ideas and desires aside and to pick up God’s idea, His way.
For us to decrease means that we are allowing God to have control of our lives. For Him to have control we must surrender our will to Him.
Let’s think about the example story you read above about Mr. and Mrs. Kirk. They both thought they were right. How do you think they could come to an agreement? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us we are not to lean on our own understanding; that means we are not to come up with our own plan apart from God’s help. In order to do this we must know what God’s word has to say. We need to understand that God is God and His word is perfect and true. God keeps His promises and will not fail us. If we do not truly believe this we will not be able to live a life of faith in Him.
Proverbs 3:5 tells us to TRUST the Lord with all our hearts. How do we do this? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Trusting God means you BELIEVE He will do what He says He will do. Proverbs 3:6 tells us that He will direct our paths. But when will He direct our paths? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That’s right, when we acknowledge Him in all we do. To acknowledge Him in everything it means we must allow Him to tell us how to do everything. Had Mr. and Mrs. Kirk understood this they could have avoided many of their problems.
The question we all must ask ourselves is this. Do I trust God with my life enough that I could step out in faith to do something that the world would think I am crazy for doing?
If Mr. and Mrs. Kirk had gone to God’s word together, prayed together, and sought God’s will together with the willingness to put aside their own ideas, they would have found a unity and peace in their situation.
We must surrender the stuff, our will, our self reliance, self-righteousness, and unwillingness to give in. God wants us humbled before Him and to trust Him enough that we could lose everything, give it all away, or stop everything we are doing to wait on Him and believe He will do what He says He will do. It’s not about me or you it is all about Him and His faithfulness.
To be continued tomorrow…
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