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"By Myself I Can Do Nothing"
by Steve Countryman John 5:19-20 and 30 19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 30By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. I have read these verses lots of times in the past but never really noticed these two lines before. I thought that Jesus being the Son of God had retained some of His heavenly power here on earth. What a revelation this was! Jesus sacrificed a lot for us just to become human on earth. Because Jesus was fully man and fully God, He had to give up His position in heaven, royal powers and authority to be human. This was some of the restrictions Jesus lived with while He was on earth all because of His love for you! Jesus lowered Himself to become human like you and me. This really changes things when you consider that Jesus had the same daily grinds that everyone else did back then the same routines, the same problems, the same temptations and the same troubles. Jesus subjected himself to the totality of what the world had to offer pain, suffering, deception, disease, sickness, corruption, sin and death. All without any godly power of His own. What made Jesus different from the rest of the people of that time? His daily intimate relationship with the Father. Because Jesus was willing to submit to the authority of the Father and to His will, the Father was willing to share, bless, empower, equip and give authority to Jesus for that day's heavenly business. Jesus loved God the Father, submitted to and obeyed God the Father everyday. Jesus was totally dependant on God the Father for ALL things. Receiving from God all things including instruction, grace and wisdom. The relationship that Jesus had with God the Father was so close and intimate that Jesus couldn't bare to be separated from the Father even for an instant. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. The thought of being without God the Father caused Jesus great stress! Jesus had never been without Father God. They are one and have been one since before the creation of the world. Father God was with Jesus every second of every day while Jesus was on earth except the last few moments on the cross. Jesus has never known what it is like without the Father with Him. That was more worrisome than all of the torture that Jesus would have to endure. For Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him at the hands of the Romans. Jesus foretold His disciples repeatedly what He would have to go through. But now with the reality of the work of the cross before Him and the separation from Father God that He would face was almost too much for Him. Knowing that the sins of the world would be for Him alone to bear and how God cannot look upon sin meant that God would have to turn His back on His one and only Son. Separation from the Father that would cause Jesus complete isolation and loneliness. That is part of the punishment for sin, to be separated from God and His love. Jesus endured that part of Hell for us! That is a relationship that none of us can really fathom. How do you treat God in your daily relationship with Him? How well do you know Him? You can know about someone but still not know them personally. Knowing about Jesus verses really knowing Him personally. The difference is in the time spent with Jesus to learn and know Him better. His likes and dislikes, His character traits, His wisdom and feelings. As you spend that time with Him and in His Word you find the differences between you and God. That is when you realize how dependant you are on God and how far you have to go to be more dependant in all areas of your life on Him. You can do nothing without Him! Too many times I have realized what a mess I can make of things by myself! Reality is that we all need Christ everyday, in every way, in every part of our lives, every second of every day! When you think that you can do it all by yourself is when you are headed for real trouble. I have learned that the closer I get to God, the closer my walk is, the more I know about Father God, Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit the more I realize how dependant I am on Him daily. I have also learned that I took God for granted most of my life for all of the wonderful blessings that He gave me daily that I never gave Him credit or thanks for. Jesus is our example of what it is to be a Christian. We are to submit and commit everything to the Father daily in prayer and in turn the Father will give us our "daily bread", all of our daily needs. All that we need to get through the day. All that we need to be victorious through the day. All that we need to be a powerful witness for His kingdom. All that we need to be empowered and carry the full authority of God the Father as a child of the King! All that we need to be used by God and let His Shekinah Glory shine through all that we do. All that we need to fulfill the destiny that the Father has for us. All that we need to be prosperous in all areas of our lives! All that we need to be successful, faithful, powerful and dedicated Christian men and women of God! Just like Jesus, we too are to be totally dependant on God the Father for and in ALL things! Trusting God enough to admit your shortcomings and allow God to God in you, to you, for you, with you and through you. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Are you ready! Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |