Rely

Rely

2 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)

"Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead."

Do you really rely on God? I mean lets be honest, most of us do only what is within our power to do and most churches really only do what is within their power to do. Many of us don't really live by faith, which is the call of the Christian.

God did not create us to rely on ourselves and certainly God didn't send Jesus to die on the cross and go through hell on our behalf for us to rely on our own wisdom, strength, or power.

First, God is God, He created us, therefore He is to be sought out. Secondly, God sent Jesus, so that through Him we may not only have forgiveness of sins, but also so we can have a relationship with God on a personal level. Thirdly, God promises and gives us His Spirit when we are baptized into Him to help guide us. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, these 3, are 3 in 1, and because of that, we don't need to rely on anyone, anything, especially ourselves without Him.

Look at how many decisions and choices we make everyday and do not consider or consult God. We take jobs, buy houses, enter dating relationships, make business deals, financial decisions, pick places to worship, we get married, we make friends, and make all sorts of choices without fully relying on God's guidance, wisdom, discernment, and approval. I am guilty, we all are and can be.

God cares about us. He loves us uncondtionally. He would not have created us, send us His Son, or give us the gift of His Spirit if we are not valuable to Him. However, God is a God of freedom and will not force us to Love Him, choose Him, obey Him, or listen to Him. All He can do is offer and be there for us.

We must choose God. Choose to seek, listen, decide, and choose. It is up to us whether we read His word, pray, grow, attend church, serve, or use our gifts God has given us. If we do not choose God or learn to rely on Him, then our life will be riddled with regret, pain, sorrow, and grief. If we don't rely on God, we may make choices or decisions that could have been prevented had we relied on God.

Relying on God isn't going to keep our lives free from mistakes, problems, or even temptations. But, learning to Rely on God will help us make better decisions and choices. It will help us have strength, endurance, and hope when we are faced with troubles, trials, problems, and things that grieve us that are out of our control.

Rely on God. Put your faith into practice. You will not grow or mature in your faith until you learn to rely on God and learn to fully surrender your will, your ways, and your life to Him. It's a process, it takes time, but slowly we all can learn to RELY on God in ALL areas of our lives and how different will our lives and churches look if we've got people relying on God to do things only God can do?