Encouraged By Another

I find it amazing how God can use the words of another person to encourage  us. As I read Sarah’s words for today I reflected to how appropriate they were to my walk for the week. There are so many things in our lives that place us in the uncomfortable tension of hoping for the approval of man yet knowing that the approval that really matters is that of God. For those in a job search or something such as that, their hope is that they will be found worthy of being considered. For those who are having their references checked or relying on the input of others, there is the hope that what others say of you will be sufficient to move the hearers to take the next step. It is so easy to look at all of these things and the individuals involved and hope that they will think well of you, and consequently even struggle with the fear that they won’t. This can lead to a day filled with egg shells.

While it is true that so much of our lives has to do with our relationships with others, we should never let those relationships determine our acceptability. If you have trusted Jesus Christ for your salvation then you are adopted into the family of God and you are His beloved child, regardless of how much you might stumble or struggle. It is here that we need to find our hope in Him because Christ is in us, and as it says in Scripture, we are in Him. And as people secure in Christ we know God’s love, we can find our Joy in His constant watchcare and promises, and we are even able to rest in peace knowing that His Spirit is in us enabling us to stand. He has promised to go before us and to make us effective in His service and adequate for all that He intends. So, if in your journey with Him you find that others don’t open the doors you feel should be opened, remember that it is God’s path the we are to follow and as much as we might feel man is in control that it is Him who really is. We are to know that God has our future firmly in His hands and He will move what He needs to move in order to accomplish it.

Today in “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young (4/5)

Let Me fill you with my Love, Joy, and Peace. These are Glory-gifts, flowing from my living Presence. Though you are an earthen vessel, I designed you be filled with heavenly contents. Your weakness is not a deterrent to being filled with My Spirit; on the contrary, it provides an opportunity for My Power to shine forth more brightly.

As you go through this day, trust Me to provide the strength you will need moment by moment. Don’t waste energy wondering whether you are adequate for today’s journey. My Spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring. That is the basis for your confidence! In quietness (spending time alone Me) and confident trust (relying on My sufficiency) is your strength.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV)

This is what the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15