Tag Archives: Jesus

Truth: Day 11—I Can Do This, But Not Without Him

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Growing up, we’re told we can be whatever we want to be. Reach for the stars and all that. Work hard and you can have it all.

It sounds good. Inspiring. Until the weight of it starts to sink in.

Until you realize that you are now expected to actually be something great, have it all, and do it all.

And then your legs are taken out from under you when you experience the truth – that we don’t get to be whatever we want to be and we can’t really have it all and for heaven’s sake, we cannot do most of it, let alone all of it.

We have been dining at a trough of lies and it’s left us bloated and sick with guilt, shame, and striving of every kind.

So I am speaking truth so that I can live truth.

I can be exactly who God has called me to be, and He calls me to be what I could never be on my own.

I can do what He has wired me, gifted me, and anointed me to do, and it is nothing I could ever do on my own.

I can have all that He offers me, all He provides for me, and it can be more than enough, and more than I could have ever gotten on my own.

I am weak in so many ways it’s ridiculous. On some days I can’t stick to anything long enough to start, let alone finish.

I have relied on my own strength so much it’s no wonder I believe failure when I hear it whispered over me.

But oh, the truth.

God was never relying on my strength. Never demanded that I do any of it on my own. In fact, He told me the exact opposite.

“…apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

The truth for my tired self is that it was never meant to be through me. It was never going to be my own strength that got anything done,or made me into anything.

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

I can do this, but not on my own.

Truth: Day 10—I Belong

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

I am no longer one of them, I am one of us.

Not a stranger to God, now part of His family.

I am a citizen of His Kingdom, part of His Church, a stone in the temple that is His dwelling.

I am a sojourner, but I am a wanderer no more. I have a sure destination.

I am not on my own, forging my own path, figuring it all out.

The community of God are my family, my fellow soldiers at war with darkness, my friends and my people. We are the one anothers, learning how to love and forgive and serve and care for one another. Together.

I used to believe that I didn’t belong. Anywhere, but especially in the Church. With all the good ones, the well dressed ones who knew all the things I didn’t know. The ones who would never understand where I had been or why I was now standing in their space.

But now I know the truth, so I speak the truth to help me live the truth.

I am part of something. I am part of Someone.

I am not on the outside looking in. I am not the thing that is not like the others.

I belong.

Truth: Day 9—I Can Be Content

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

I don’t need more.

I don’t have to have the latest and the most and what everyone else has.

I can be content with what He gives me.

I can ignore the shiny things and the faster things and the things that make me feel like I belong at the table with the cool kids.

I can be content at my own table.

But there is a secret to that contentment.

His name is Jesus.

The better thing, always.

I can stand right here and survey my life with my honest eye and see that I have what more than I need. And I can admit that my flesh confuses wants with needs, and I let my flesh boss me around more than I make it die.

But I don’t have to do that.

I have the Spirit of God and I know what is true. So I’ll speak truth so that I will live truth.

I can be content.

Truth: Day 8—I Can Trust God

What I have said, that I will bring about;
    what I have planned, that I will do.

Isaiah 46:11

He will do what He says He will do. Always.

No broken promises, no empty words.

There is none truer than Him.

Not soft. Not weak. True.

He doesn’t leave. Doesn’t give up. Never takes His love away.

He holds nothing over me. Fully forgives.

No shadows, no darkness. Only light.

I had learned to never trust. To keep my distance. My wall was rather high. But little by little He took away the bricks and loved me. One promise at a time He was faithful to me. Not hurried. No impatience. Just steady presence, steady love.

And it healed me. Delivered me. Changed me. Rescued me.

So I declare truth and it helps me live truth.

No matter what comes. No matter what it looks like or feels like. No matter how much I want to run.

I can trust God.

Truth: Day 6—I Am A Witness

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

I have a testimony. A story to tell.

The story of my rescue, of the way He reached into the darkness and pulled a wretch into the light. It remains a spectacular mystery to me.

The many ways He saved me, mostly from my own self-destructive ways, but from cards dealt from a stacked deck too.

The grace that never got winded from chasing me down.

The love that healed a heart that was in pieces.

The mercy that brought my rebellion to its knees in surrender because He didn’t deal with me as my sins deserved.

I could tell of how nothing made sense until He let my blind eyes see Him. Then it all made sense and nothing would ever be the same.

His Word set me free. His love healed me. His grace let me stand. His mercy brought me low.

His death gave me life that will never end.

In a thousand ways He changed everything and became everything and now everything I am is His.

But I forget the story. Forget to tell it. To let it fall on someone else and give them hope.

So I declare truth because I want to live the truth.

He has given me a story to tell about Him.

Where ever I am, I am His witness.

Truth: Day 5—I Am A Servant

 “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:25-28

It’s part of who I am now. Servant. Like Jesus.

Even when. No, especially when, it rubs my flesh the wrong way.

When it feels like all I do is serve.

When noone seems to notice.

When it goes unappreciated.

When I’m tired and when I’m ready for someone else to do the serving.

Even when serving others isn’t serving me. (sit with that one for a minute. it will start to sting.)

I am a servant of Christ and that just rolls off my tongue easy like, until I’m treated like a servant. I don’t mind the title of servant, I just don’t want the duty of a servant. The title lets me keep my pride but the duty forces me to lay it down.

But the truth is the truth and there isn’t some secret meaning to the word servant. It is what it sounds like it is, and Jesus declared it over Himself.

So I declare the truth to help me live the truth.

I am here to lay down my life for others. And when I live this way, I am most like the One who layed down His life for me.

I am a servant.

Truth: Day 4—His Yoke Is Easy

 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

We make following Jesus hard.

Because we think freedom doesn’t come with a yoke.

Hard is trying to follow our own dreams and follow Jesus at the same time. They are rarely ever going in the same direction.

I think following Jesus would be so much easier if we could just stop following us.

It feels hard to love people we don’t want to love.

To forgive people we don’t feel we can forgive.

To say no when saying yes feels so much better.

Following Jesus doesn’t always feel easy, but we all know that if our feelings had pants, they’d be on fire most of the time.

That’s why we need a yoke, not a feeling.

His yoke is risky. Dangerous, even. But it isn’t hard.

Because He’s in the yoke with us. Close. Presence.

So on the days when it feels so hard, I will declare the truth.

His yoke is easy.