I heard a song today called "All I have is Christ" by Sovereign Grace Music. The words captured my heart as they sang Hallelujah all I have is Christ…. Hallelujah Jesus is my life…. Words that are so dear, yet they are often tossed around, dropped, and trampled on rather than caught, held close to the heart, and lived out.
This song along with various scriptures just reminded me of why I DO NOT look to myself but rather to the grace of God in every aspect of my life. What competence, what knowledge, what gift, what ability, what possessions do I have outside of Christ? None, nothing, zero, nada! So I do not count on myself for anything for I know that I cannot even tie my shoe if it were not for the grace of God let alone preach his Gospel to the nations.
John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." – If you are able to do anything whether you abide in Christ or not it is his mercy and grace that allows it.
Recently I was told "I don't know how you are going to make it overseas". In the form of a question it could have simply been asked "How are you going to make it overseas"? The comment was stated with the implication that I would not make it overseas as if I lacked certain skills, competence, or qualifications to do such a task. After I responded to the comment, I thought to myself long and hard and I realized that I do lack in innumerable ways to do such a task as what I am about to do. But the great and glorious beauty of the matter is this; because I am nothing apart from Christ, I have thrown myself upon his sufficient grace and I have total dependence on Christ and Christ alone. How did I make it from 1/23/87 – to this day? You would have to be a fool to think it was anything other than the grace of God!
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “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 weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Too often people think God uses the strong, the mighty, the wise, the wealthy, the courageous people of the past, present and future age, but if they knew him they would know he uses just the opposite that he may be glorified. The strong, wise, rich, smart, one looks to themselves therefore they are prideful before God with no sense of who God is and the things of God are foolish to them. He/she thinks they have obtained their strength, wisdom, courageousness on their own therefore in their heart there is no need for God.
1 Corinthians 4:7 "For what makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"
1 Corinthians 2:14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned"
God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there’s never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world. Next time you’re reading through the gospels or the book of Acts, take a few minutes to consider the work of God in the apostles. They were slow to believe, slow to understand, and had horrendous memories! Sound familiar? (MacArthur)
God’s favorite instruments are nobodies, so that no man can boast before God. In other words, God chooses whom He chooses so He might receive the glory. He chooses weak instruments so no one will attribute the power to the instruments but rather to the God who wields the instruments.
Those who pursue their own glory will sadly find God’s strategy unacceptable–and they’ll miss out on true glory and true joy. Isaiah 13:11 "I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless."
1 Corinthians 1: 18-31"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not —to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord"
