Having Achieved Independence, Let’s Revisit Dependence

We’ve just concluded celebrations of Independence Day and the 250^th anniversary of our nation’s founding. Independence, in many ways, has been a marvelous thing, not only for us as a country but also as individuals. Freedom is truly a blessing. However, as we enter the 251^st year of the United States, with no certainty about what the future may hold, it might be wise to recognize in some respects dependence isn’t a bad thing.

 

I’m not suggesting that we restore a dependent relationship with Great Britain. (My fake British accent is terrible.) But even though a “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” philosophy has provided great motivation for many of our nation’s great achievers – whether explorers, settlers, farmers, inventors or entrepreneurs – we’re still dependent on others for our success.

 

This isn’t a message we often hear in our society. Napoleon Hill, in his 1937 book, Think and Grow Rich, emphasized individuality and independence in a statement that has shown amazing endurance over the decades since: “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” That declaration epitomized the so-called “American Dream,” that if a person works hard, he or she can achieve their wildest dreams. But tell that to a six-foot-five man who weighs 250 pounds. His dream of being the winning jockey in the Kentucky Derby is as probable as seeing a hippopotamus fly.

 

A corollary to Hill’s slogan is, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” It sounds clever, it rhymes, and it resonates with our natural bent toward self-centeredness. But in truth it’s not that simple. Every achievement requires some level of dependency.

 

Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Abbott had Costello. The best race car driver can’t win without the pit crew. The best wide receiver in football can’t do anything without the quarterback throwing him the ball. The best chef in the world can’t create a world-class meal without the people that grow, raise and produce the necessary ingredients. And the old song reminded us, “It takes two to tango.”

 

Nowhere is dependency more essential than in growing spiritually. Yet this is exactly where some of us insist on trying to demonstrate our independence. I know, because I’ve tried it – and failed miserably. People say, “You just have to have faith,” and then proceed as if there’s no God at all, as if everything weighs on their own shoulders.

 

But Jesus Christ said just the opposite: “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” (Matthew 11:29). He was evoking the image of two oxen yoked together, pulling a wagon or a plow. They share a load neither could pull on its own. The same is true spiritually. When the Lord calls us to do something, we’re to do our part but He doesn’t ask or expect us to operate independently from Him.

 

Elsewhere Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The apostle Paul, in reviewing the various circumstances he had experienced in life – good and bad – affirmed that truth: “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

 

There have been times when I thought I knew exactly what God wanted me to do and set out to do it – without consulting Him or seeking His direction. Only after spinning my wheels or finding myself at a dead-end did I remember, “Oh, yeah. I can’t do this without the Lord!”

 

To live the so-called “Christian life” also requires that we learn to value and utilize the strength of other believers. One of the best passages about this is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, which says:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work;

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered; two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

 

Everything is easier when the workload is shared, whether it’s cooking a meal, making a bed, handling finances, or navigating through the many challenges of life. And growing in our faith isn’t intended to be pursued in solitude. As Proverbs 27:17 observes, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” A good friend used to say, “We should all be mentored mentors.”

 

There are those who think they can survive and thrive in their journey of faith without the aid of others, but from the beginning that wasn’t God’s intent. After creating the first man, Adam, the Lord concluded, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). That remains true today.

 

The writer of Hebrews recognized the importance of having support from others as we strive to know and serve God and His people: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25).

“The Day” is the promised second coming of Christ. No one knows when that will be, but each day we’re closer to it. Independence has its benefits, but when Jesus returns we want to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). To accomplish that, we need to depend on one another – and especially on Him. 

A Faithful Life – and a Legacy That Will Endure

American Christianity said farewell to an iconic Bible teacher and theologian last week. John MacArthur, who pastored his church in California for more than 50 years, passed from this life at the age of 86 and went on to his eternal reward. Over that span he preached more than 3,000 sermons and authored hundreds of books.

 

Sometimes controversial but always steadfast in his trust in the inerrancy and timeless relevance of the Bible, MacArthur was known for his verse-by-verse exposition of the Scriptures and bold stance on foundational biblical principles and doctrines. While some might have differed with some of his interpretations, MacArthur left a solid legacy of unwavering confidence in the Word of God, touching countless lives through his preaching, radio programs, and writings.

 

In 2 Timothy 4:3 the apostle Paul warned, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” We’re living in such a time, but MacArthur wasn’t among those teachers. He was a champion of biblical truth, letting Scripture interpret Scripture rather than shaping the message from the pulpit to fit the prevailing culture.

 

I met MacArthur once at a CBMC conference where he was the week-long Bible teacher. One of his messages pointed me to a life-changing understanding of my relationship with Jesus Christ. He was speaking about how to study the Scriptures effectively, suggesting one way for grasping what a book of the Bible says is to read it repeatedly. He suggested 1 John in the New Testament as a good start, since it consists of only five chapters and can easily be read daily over the course of a month.

 

That’s what I did. Every day for 30 days I read through 1 John, a simple book that offers a clear, concise synopsis of the Gospel. Its teachings gradually became more and more familiar, but I kept stumbling over two seemingly contradictory verses.

 

The verses were 1 John 2:7-8, “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in [Christ] and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.” 

 

It troubled me that the apostle John was saying in one verse this was an old command “which you have had since the beginning,” but in the very next verse was declaring it’s “a new command.” If one of these verses had appeared at the start of the book and the other at the end, I might have concluded John was addressing different things. But as a writer, I questioned how this close follower of Christ could be saying two apparently opposite things in consecutive verses. I thought, ‘Come on, John, is it old or is it new?!’ 

 

I was in a small group Bible study at the time, and we’d been memorizing specific Bible verses. One was Galatians 2:20, which says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The other was 2 Corinthians 5:17, which declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

 

These verses also bothered me. While believing they were true, I wasn’t experiencing them in my life. I was still being defeated by some of the same temptations and sins I’d always wrestled with. Jesus didn’t seem to be living in me. And I didn’t feel like a new creation. In my mind I was the same old sinful mess I’d always been.

 

Over time, however, pondering these passages and others, I came to a startling realization. I’d been trying to live the so-called ‘Christian life’ in my own strength, maybe asking God for a little boost from time to time. I was way off base. God wanted me to recognize that living the Christian life isn’t difficult – it’s impossible. That is, without the power of Christ at work in me through His Spirit. 

 

This is why Jesus told His disciples, “…apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The apostle Paul had learned this lesson well, but also observed, “I can do everything through [Christ] who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

 

Getting back to the two verses in 1 John that had confounded me, they affirmed for me this truth. Admittedly, the context for those words concerns loving one another as believers. However, God used them to help me understand that all of His commands, starting with the Ten Commandments, have been given to mankind from the beginning. As we read the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, we see even the most faithful have had a terrible time obeying God’s requirements.

 

So, the apostle John was stating the command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” originally found in Leviticus 19:18, is an “old command.” However, through the power of Christ living in us, it is now also a “new command.” That is, we might not be able to love our neighbor as we should – as well as many other things. But by allowing Jesus to work in and through us, we can do what we’re commanded to do.

After years of struggling, praying and then telling God, ‘I can’t!’ His response to me, in essence, was ‘I know, My child, but I can do it through you – if you’ll let Me.’ And I have John MacArthur to thank for putting me on the path to discovering this foundational truth. 

Discovering Strength Through Weakness

Strength. We admire those who have it, and those who don’t have it desire it. Before Arnold Schwarzenegger became a motion picture star and then governor of California, he was a body builder with muscles rippling all over his body. His physical strength translated into prominence in the worlds of both entertainment and politics.

 

I remember as a boy seeing comic book ads featuring the “100-pound weakling” and how renowned body builder Charles Atlas’s training could transform him into a force to be reckoned with. As a society, and as a nation, we’ve always been enamored with strength: Military might; political power; financial influence; social clout.

But have you ever considered that being weakness – being weak – isn’t necessarily a bad thing?

 

In many areas of life, the “can-do” spirit is commendable. ‘I can do it!’ ‘I’ve got this!’ But sooner or later we’ll encounter times when our honest response is, “I can’t do this! I give up!” We hate being in that position, but experience has taught me that when I’ve reached the point of “I can’t!”, God is eager to respond, “I know you can’t. But I can!”

 

I could recount numerous times, at various stages of my life, when I’d reached the end of my proverbial rope. I had tried and done everything I could. Then, out of options and at the brink of despair, it was like God telling me, “Okay, now see what I can do.” As lo and behold, as old versions of the Bible would say, I found the Lord truly doing “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). 

 

Sometimes He met my needs by working through me; sometimes He did it in spite of me. Many times God’s message to us in times of crisis is, “Get out of the way and watch Me work.” In circumstances like these, He showed me that self-reliance isn’t the path to spiritual growth and maturity.

 

Toward the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ taught His disciples a crucial lesson, using a grapevine as a metaphor. He told them, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing…. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:5-8).

 

We enjoy looking at fruit trees and the different types of fruit they can bear – apples, oranges, peaches, grapefruit. Their fruits hang gloriously from the tree limbs, but the limbs by themselves can accomplish nothing. They must be attached to the trunk of the tree, from which they literally receive their life and productivity.

 

It’s the same for followers of Jesus. We can strive as hard as we like, but without His Spirit working in us and through us, we can’t achieve anything of eternal value.

 

The apostle Paul knew this all too well. As Saul, a leading Pharisee zealously persecuting the pesky “Christians” who were viewed as heretics, he had often flexed his strength and influence physically, politically and religiously. However, after His life-changing encounter with Jesus enroute to Damascus, he was undone. God was about to teach him about a very different kind of strength.

 

Years later, writing to believers in ancient Corinth, Paul stated, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me…. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

 

This wasn’t just a one-time observation either. Writing to a different group of Christ followers, Paul reflected on the various hardships and challenges he had faced and then declared, “I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

 

Are you facing something today that has taken you to your limits, beyond your capacity to handle or resolve? If not now, maybe you will tomorrow, or next week, or next year. Sooner or later such times come to us all. We can shake our fists and curse the devil, but that doesn’t do any good. Those are usually occasions when we can truly experience God’s power at work, building our trust and deepening our faith in Him.

At times such as those, we have no choice but to apply the truth of what both Jesus and Paul asserted: “Apart from Me you can do nothing,” and “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” As the apostle noted, weakness isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

The Command That’s Both Old and New

Many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the Ten Commandments. There was a time when most people could recite them almost by rote, but in these “post-Christian” days, that’s no longer the case. In reading the Bible we discover other commandments, but when asked, Jesus boiled them all down to two: 

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

But did you know there’s a commandment that’s both old and new?

 

Years ago, the keynote speaker at a national Christian conference stated the best way to gain a good understanding of a book of the Bible is to read it repeatedly, “until its message becomes a part of you.” He suggested starting with the New Testament book of 1 John, since it’s short, consisting of five chapters. “If you read it through every day for a month, you’ll be amazed at the impact it has on you,” he said.

 

I decided to give it a try. Every day, I dutifully read all of 1 John’s five chapters and learned a lot. However, two verses didn’t seem to make sense. They were 1 John 2:7-8, “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him [Jesus Christ] and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.”

 

Why did this trouble me? Because as a writer, I’m conscious of how ideas connect and am quick to notice when a train of thought seems to jump the tracks. Verse 7 said, “I am not writing you a new command but an old one….” Yet the very next verse stated, “Yet I am writing you a new command….” Knowing the author of this book was the apostle John, after reading and re-reading this several times I wanted to ask, ‘Come on, John! Is it old or is it new?’ I couldn’t get past the seeming contradiction.

 

As it happened – not a coincidence, I’m certain – I had been trying to memorize two other verses that describe what the Bible says about followers of Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

 

The other verse was 2 Corinthians 5:17, which declares, “Therefore anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”

 

Being relatively new in my faith at the time, these verses perplexed me because they seemed to say that if I was “in Christ” and had been “born again,” then I was a new person. It said I’d been given a new life. Yet in many ways I seemed like the same messed-up guy I had always been, struggling with the same issues and temptations as before. How could I be a “new creation”? How could Christ be living in me if I continued doing the same old stuff?

 

This led to be a turning point in my spiritual journey, an “Aha” moment. One weekend I was assigned to cover and report on a Christian businessmen’s event in another city. As it happened – again, I know it wasn’t coincidence – I stayed in the home of a man who felt his mission in life was to help young believers understand who they really are in Christ, rather than who they think or feel that they are.

 

It would take too long to detail our discussions that weekend. Suffice it to say I discovered I had been trying to live the so-called “Christian life” in my own strength. When I failed, I thought I should just try harder. That isn’t what the Scriptures teach, however. 

 

At a particularly teachable moment, Jesus used the object lesson of a grapevine to admonish His disciples, “If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He didn’t say “you can’t do a lot” or “you can’t do nearly as much.” He said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.”

 

At another time Jesus told His followers, “A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). There’s that phrase, “a new command” (or commandment). Since the Jews had already received the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), why was He calling it a “new command”?

 

This was my “Aha”: Living the Christian life as God intends isn’t difficult; it’s impossible – in our own strength. This is why Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” Later the apostle Paul would echo that principle by writing, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

 

Attempting to live a new spiritual life with old fleshly habits and weaknesses is an exercise in futility. To be a “new creation in Christ” means having the life of Jesus in us through His Spirit. Appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to do what we can’t do ourselves, no matter how good our intentions are and how hard we try.

 

Summing it all up, John the apostle wasn’t contradicting himself when he wrote, “I am not writing you a new command but an old one,” and in the next verse stating, “Yet I am writing you a new command.” The old, unchanging command is for us to love others as Jesus would. Except our imperfect, sinful selves can’t. We might not even want to. But through the power of the “new command,” we can – appropriating the power and motivation of Christ’s Spirit at work in us. This understanding, at least for me, has been truly transformational!

Self-Help Isn’t a Biblical Benchmark

The grapes in a vineyard are helpless apart from the vine.

Years ago, I interviewed the CEO of a major corporation who talked about how he became immersed in self-help books, audiotapes, and other motivational resources. He was always striving to become a better executive, eagerly studying and testing any technique or philosophy he thought might enhance his skills and productivity.

Sometimes he would be sitting quietly in his den, wearing headphones and listening to the latest self-help message he had discovered. If his children wanted to visit with him, one would warn the other, “Don’t bother Dad now. He’s motivating.”

 

Bookstores – a vanishing breed these days, sad to say – have long recognized the “self-help” section as one of the most popular destinations for customers. Who doesn’t want to improve, whether it’s becoming a more successful person, more adept craftsman, more skilled artist, athlete or photographer, better spouse or parent, or any of myriad other life pursuits?

 

The one exception, I suppose, was the bookstore employee who, when asked by a customer where to find the self-help section, responded, “Help yourself!”

 

In many ways, the self-help approach to life remains the rage. The Internet, especially with resources like YouTube and Google, has only fed our self-help appetite. We can find videos showing how to do virtually anything, from hanging a picture on the wall to assembling a bicycle, learning how to play the guitar or drums to fixing a leaking faucet.

 

You’ve probably heard someone say, “You have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.” Have you ever tried to do that? Talk about a superpower! And who has shoes or boots with bootstraps anymore, anyway?

 

We’ve even spiritualized the self-help philosophy somewhat. There’s the adage, “God helps those who help themselves.” This saying has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin, while others contend it was coined by a British politician named Algernon Sidney. Someone quipped a variation of this saying, “God helps those who help themselves, but God help those who get caught helping themselves.”

 

Some folks might say, “Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘God helps those who help themselves’?” No, you won’t find it there, unless you’re consulting the books of 2 Opinions or 3 Babylonians. (Which aren’t in the Bible either.) Seriously, if anything, the essence of the Scriptures is quite contrary to the self-help mindset.

 

British preacher and theologian A.W. Pink summed it up well when he said, “To declare that God helps those who help themselves is to repudiate one of the most precious truths taught in the Bible, and in the Bible alone; namely, that God helps those who are unable to help themselves, who have tried again and again only to fail.”

 

We could cite dozens, even hundreds of passages about how the Lord helps those unable to help themselves, but a good place to start is Jesus. Speaking to His disciples, Jesus used a vine as a metaphor for dependence on Him: 

“Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

 

The apostle Paul might have had this admonition in mind when he wrote, “I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

 

Paul, despite his many accomplishments, never got over his dependence on God. He wrote about a “thorn in the flesh” that he had, although the apostle never specified what that was. It was a perpetual affliction, to the point that, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me…. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

 

The corporate executive I mentioned earlier discovered this. Someone introduced him to the Bible, and in the process, to Jesus Christ. Before long, he said he disposed of all his self-help resources and started using the Bible, its teachings and truths as his guide, both professionally and personally. And that remained the case for the remainder of his life.

We live in a culture that was birthed with a “can do” spirit, individuals filled with determination and self-will to accomplish great things. They were the original “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” folks. Certainly, we all have abilities and talents in certain areas. But from an eternal perspective, we truly cannot do anything apart from the indwelling power of God’s Spirit. Paul noted Jesus’ earthly life was filled with the power of God, and “by God’s power we will live in Him to serve you” (2 Corinthians 13:4). 

Availability Matters Much More Than Ability

 Have you ever felt envious of someone engaged in fruitful Christian work? Maybe it was a missionary sharing exciting stories of changed lives from the mission field? Or someone singing an inspiring song during a worship service? Or a friend building into other people spiritually – and the thought that came to your mind was, “I could never do that”? 

There’s no question that some people are especially gifted for specific things God has called them to do. I often think about a friend that had the gift of evangelism who seemed to encounter unsaved but receptive people wherever he went. Not everyone is called to leave their familiar surroundings to engage in foreign mission work, dealing with new languages and cultures. And most of us certainly haven’t been equipped by God to stand in a sanctuary, Sunday after Sunday, giving challenging messages from God’s Word.

 

However, we all can do something to advance the kingdom of God. In many cases, we can do much more than we could ever imagine. Because from the Lord’s perspective, availability is much more important than ability.

 

When God drew me out of the newspaper business to apply my writing and editing skills and expertise to vocational Christian ministry, I felt totally out of my element. My job description included writing and editing a quarterly magazine and collaborating on a book with the organization’s president. All my experience had been with newspapers – I’d never written a magazine article, and writing a book was an item on my “hope to do someday” list. I was fairly young in my faith walk, so for a time, I felt perhaps the Lord had made a mistake in calling me into a full-time ministry role.

 

But for 17 years I had the privilege and blessing of directing an award-winning, cutting-edge magazine for business and professional people, helping them understand how to apply biblical principles every day in the workplace. And the book I wrote with the president? It was just the first of nearly two dozen books I’d one day write, co-author and edit. As someone has said, “Who’d a thunk it?”

 

This helped me to appreciate the assurance of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It wasn’t a matter of my ability – God was saying that if I was available, He would do what needed to be done through me.

 

It was a similar experience when someone suggested that I try to engage in what we commonly refer to as Jesus’ Great Commission – to “go and make disciples…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). My first thought was, ‘I can’t do that. I’m not a theologian or a Bible scholar.’ But my friend suggested that as I invested time and energy in other people to help them grow in their faith, I would grow spiritually as well. Time and again, that has proven to be true.

 

Once Jesus was speaking to His closest followers, perhaps near a vineyard, using principles from the grapevine to teach them about becoming fruitful spiritually. He said, “I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener…. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:1-5). In essence, He was affirming that their availability, not some innate ability, was what mattered most.

 

Then there was the time my boss instructed me to travel to Brazil to meet with and encourage a group of men interested in starting a marketplace ministry in Sao Paulo and other cities. I was reluctant. ‘I don’t know anyone there, and can’t speak Portuguese,’ I thought. And I was hardly an authority in how to get a ministry for business and professional people started. 

 

Finally, I agreed to go, although a part of me felt certain I would return in failure, telling my boss, “I told you so!” But that wasn’t the case. My days there far exceeded my expectations. I was warmly received, God had clearly prepared the way, and the people I met with – speaking as needed through translators – were eager to learn what I had to teach them. Which, as it turned out, was more than I realized.

 

I hadn’t gone as an expert, but as one making himself available for whatever God desired to accomplish through me. As we read in Philippians 2:13, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

 

Is there anything God is calling you to do, something you feel totally inadequate for doing? If that’s the case, then, as another friend of mine used to say, “You’re in a great position!” 

Because you’ll have the opportunity and joy of seeing and experiencing what only the Lord can do – using you as His instrument. As the apostle Paul wrote to encourage a group of struggling believers, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Don’t Believe Everyone Who Says, ‘You Can Do it!’

Just as grapes are dependent on the vine, we can't
succeed apart from the true Vine.

As a journalist, I’ve always been intrigued by communications, both in theory and in practice. Today, with social media, the Internet and the plethora of TV programming, not only on networks and cable but also on many other platforms, traditional radio has become an afterthought for most people. 

However, I still enjoy listening to radio, especially while driving during the day. I particularly enjoy hearing some of the nation’s best preachers and Bible teachers. One of them is Alistair Begg, an engaging Scotsman who pastors a congregation in Cleveland, Ohio. 

 

Recently he was talking about his initial exposure to the American game of football, very different from the football he was familiar with in his native Scotland. We call it “soccer.” Trying to figure out the strange American sport was difficult enough for Begg, but what really caught his attention were cheerleaders.

 

As the game progressed, the cheerleaders’ team was getting clobbered. Unfazed, the girls continued to shout, “You can do it!” even though – as Begg recalled – “no…they couldn’t.” No amount of enthusiastic cheering could help the team’s overmatched offense and defense.

 

Bringing the illustration home, he observed that as we travel through life, we confront formidable challenges. We might we try fortifying ourselves with self-talk. “I can do this!” Or friends offer words of encouragement, “You can do it!” Sometimes, however, like the beleaguered football team Begg observed, we can’t. What do we do then?

 

We can grit our teeth and try even harder. Or we can quit, concluding that it’s hopeless. But there’s a third, and usually better, alternative.

 

Many times, when we conclude, “I can’t,” we’re just moments away from realizing, “but the Lord can!” Especially when we’re engaged in matters making a difference for eternity. This is why the apostle Paul wrote, “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). 

 

He was referring to the many times when he confronted great difficulties or had serious needs. Paul had seen God accomplish the seeming impossible – delivering him from shipwrecks, freeing him from prison, sustaining him through beatings and riots, and other trials. Even if friends were telling him, “You can do it!” Paul knew that without the Lord’s intervention, he couldn’t.

 

In similar fashion, Jesus used a common grapevine to illustrate our need to rely totally on God. Just as the branches must draw their sustenance from the vine, He said, “I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Our best efforts and intentions – apart from Christ – amount to nothing.

 

I have experienced this many times, even when I didn’t realize how the Lord was intervening on my behalf. One time is forever etched in my memory: After accepting a job to work with CBMC, a Christian ministry, my family and I were moving from Houston, Texas to Chattanooga. My pastor suggested that I speak briefly to our congregation, asking them to pray for our transition – but my initial response was, “No, I can’t. I’m not a public speaker.” The prospect of standing before hundreds of people during a worship service terrified me.

 

However, God impressed upon me this was something He wanted me to do, and reluctantly I agreed to do it. “I can’t do this myself, Lord,” I prayed. “You’re going to have to empower me to do it.” And He did. 

 

God gave me a sense of peace and confidence. My nerves calmed and I saw the faces of many folks who had been a part of my spiritual growth over the past three years. As I spoke, I experienced the truth of Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

Years later, working for a sister ministry, my boss asked me to travel to Brazil to offer encouragement and support for people serving the Lord in the marketplace there. Again, I thought, “I can’t do that. That’s not my area of expertise, I don’t know anyone there, and I can’t even speak Portuguese.” Again it was like God was saying, “I know you can’t – but I can, working through you.”

 

The trip to Brazil far exceeded my greatest expectations, none of my trepidations came to pass, and I even returned there a couple of years later. To this day I remain in contact with some of the friends I made during those visits. 

 

Drawing from his own experiences, the apostle Paul wrote that the Lord gave him the assurance, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” and he could therefore conclude, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

So, the next time you’re confronted by a daunting, even overwhelming challenge and people cheer you on saying, “You can do it!”, don’t feel badly if you know you can’t. Because if the Lord wants it to be done, He can do it through you. 

Good News: You May Be Rich and Not Know It!

Have you gotten a promotional mailing recently that said you might have won millions of dollars? Woo-hoo! Or maybe you’ve received one of those emails, supposedly from a foreign official, advising you’ve been chosen to receive some hefty sum of money? Recently I saw an ad declaring that millions of dollars are waiting for people to rightfully claim them. Maybe we’re rich, and we don’t know it! 

 

Years ago I did receive a phone call from the representative of a restaurant, informing me that I’d won a contest that I had registered for during a visit a couple months earlier. At first I was skeptical, suspecting some kind of scam. I even replied to the caller something like, “Yeah, right!” However, it proved to be legitimate; a few weeks later I received a check in the mail.

 That was the only time that’s happened to me. Usually when we hear about unclaimed riches there just for the picking, it’s a gimmick. But did you know there indeed are unclaimed riches, available to every one of us, with no tricks, gimmickry or deception involved?

 

Actually, there are two different classifications. One, according to the Scriptures, is the priceless gift of redemption and eternal life. As John 1:12-13 declares, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” 

 

Romans 6:23 explains, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And Ephesians 2:8 affirms this, stating, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

 

Sadly, and in my view, amazingly, many choose not to receive this gift. Similar to the millions of unclaimed dollars, God’s gift of eternal life doesn’t benefit anyone unless it’s received.

 

There’s a second category of eternal riches available – except these are reserved only for those who already belong to God’s family. It’s the power to live a new, transformed life. The Lord offers it to all of His children, and it’s readily available, but too many of us fail to take advantage of it.

 In John 15:5, Jesus cautioned His followers, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” The uninitiated might be inclined to ask, “What’s that supposed to mean? I can do lots of things.” But I like the clarification the apostle Paul offered: “I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

 

We can think, like the skeptic, that we can do many things without relying on Jesus Christ. But the point is that apart from Him, we cannot do anything of eternal value. But with Him, even the simple acts we do throughout a given day – speaking a kind word to someone, deciding to give some of our time to another person when we didn’t think we had any spare moments, approaching our work responsibilities, even offering a friendly smile to someone (when a facemask doesn’t hide it) – can be transformed into sacred moments through the power of Christ.

 

Thinking back, I ruefully recall the years I spent trying to serve the Lord and live the so-called “Christian life” in my own strength. And wondering why it wasn’t working as I expected. Then someone introduced me to the eternal riches available to me that I wasn’t utilizing.

 

One of my favorite verses, 2 Corinthians 5:17, declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Unfortunately, it took me a long time to understand that. I would still awaken each morning as if I were still the old guy I was before Christ, only trying to live up to a new set of standards. That’s not difficult – it’s impossible!

 

Romans 6:4 says, “We were therefore baptized with [Christ] through baptism in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Another translation says, "walk in newness of life." Just a few verses later we’re told, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). We’re instructed to let loose of our old, unproductive lives – but that’s only possible by embracing the new, resurrection life of Christ that resides in us.

 

This seems straight-forward, and some reading this might think, “What’s the big deal about this?” Well, it is a big deal. 

 

If you were to visit one of those unclaimed riches sites and discover to your astonishment half a million dollars that has been sitting there with your name on it, waiting for you to claim it, how would you feel? Excited? Amazed? Overwhelmed? That’s essentially how I felt after discovering how, after trying to live the Christian life in my own strength for years, I could appropriate the power and unspeakable riches of Jesus Christ for successfully living the life I’d been failing at so miserably. It had been there all the time – I just didn’t know it. 

 

Let me ask you: Are there any unclaimed spiritual and eternal riches waiting for you, if only you fully understood they were there, if you were just willing for the Lord to give them to you? 

Who Are Your Heroes?

When I was growing up in New Jersey, if someone talked about a “hero,” more often than not they were referring to a sandwich, aka “submarine” or “torpedo.” But sometimes I think a sign should appear in the window of someone’s deli that reads: “A real hero is not a sandwich.” Because what our world needs isn’t more sandwiches, but more people whose lives are worth emulating and honoring. Bona fide heroes.

Who comes to mind when you think about a hero? 

These days, “heroes” come in all shapes and sizes. We make heroes of movie and TV stars, even though their achievements – besides being extraordinarily attractive (usually) – mostly consist of being paid lots of money for skills at pretending to be people they’re not, who exist only in fantasy worlds. These same folks keep gossip tabloids in business.

We might choose heroes from athletes renowned for being able to run fast, jump high, tackle hard, throw a ball through a hoop, hit a different kind of ball over a wall, or drive race cars fast around an oval for three or four hours. Even though we know very little about them personally, such as how they act when they’re not competing in their sport, many of us still accord these folks with hero status.

Some of us find heroes among politicians, singers and musicians, best-selling authors, even folks whose videos go viral and become Internet sensations. But just because people become famous for being famous, does that make them genuine heroes? 

This might be one reason “superheroes” have become huge box-office draws – film characters captured from the pages of comic books. We’ve got Superman, Ant Man, Wonder Woman, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, Thor, and many other make-believe personalities with “super powers.” Sadly, since they’re all figments of someone’s imagination. 

More than 2,400 years ago, Greek philosopher Plato offered a perspective on heroes that still resonates today: True heroes, he said, are not the rich and famous, but people characterized by humility, wisdom, and a heart for serving others. 

I think Plato had it right. Aren’t we all drawn to individuals who possess humility, manifest wisdom, and display readiness to serve others when needed? In my lifetime, I’ve been fortunate to encounter a handful of people who fit this description. The most interesting thing about them, though, was common disinterest in being anyone’s hero. They were just going through life, seeking to become the kind of men and women they believed God wanted them to be.

Many of these were committed followers of Jesus, persons whose lives were transformed through their relationship with Him. The Scriptures speak a lot about this. For instance, Proverbs 11:2 declares, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 15:33 gives a similar view: “The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

The Bible presents us with a collection of individuals we might regard as heroes – Noah, Moses, Samson, David the Goliath killer, apostles Peter and Paul. But when we look at each one closely, we find they all possessed proverbial feet of clay, flawed people whom God used in spite of their shortcomings.

So in our search for heroes, we needn’t look for perfection. If we do, we’ll discover there are no heroes to be found. The folks who have impressed me most through the years have recognized their imperfections. This awareness increased their reliance upon Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

The apostle Paul, for instance, never forgot his past sins and acknowledged his weaknesses. But those didn’t stop him from pursuing his God-given calling with zeal. He wrote, “…there was given me a thorn in the flesh…. Three times I pleased with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me…. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Underscoring his dependence upon Christ for living out his faith, regardless of his circumstances, Paul also wrote, “I can do everything through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Ultimately, only Jesus Himself is deserving of being called a hero, having shown us not only how to live – but also how to die. And how to experience new life through His Spirit. If we desire to make a lasting difference through our lives, an eternal difference, we should cultivate the same reliance that Paul did. Because, as Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

In our search for heroes, the best candidates are those who understand this.

Should We Just ‘Let Go and Let God’?

Should we just "let go and let God"?

There’s a school of thought that even if we believe in the Lord, we’ve got to work our heads off to accomplish what He wants to get done. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me,” goes the mantra. Then there’s the opposite perspective that it’s totally up to Him; we have nothing to do with it. This view says, “Let go, and let God.” So which is it?

We could simply shrug and borrow the words of the King of Siam in “The King and I” and declare, “it is a puzzlement.” Or we could conclude, based on the Scriptures, that it’s a case not of either/or, but one of both/and. Writer and theologian J.I. Packer has stated it well, arguing for what amounts to a middle ground: “It’s not let go and let God – it’s trust God and get going.” 

Oswald Chambers offers a similar view in My Utmost for His Highest: “There are not three levels of spiritual life – worship, waiting, and work…. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one.” Later he writes, “We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles.”

There are times when we have exhausted every resource, when we’ve run out of ideas for addressing a particular need or concern. At those times, we have no option but to let go and let God. There’s nothing more we can do, so we must trust Him to do what we cannot. However, at other times we worry about a certain matter and use that refrain as a cop-out. “I’ll just sit here on this stump and wait for the Lord to do something about it."

I’m in the process of writing a book. It’s taken some time to get it done, and admittedly there have been times I wished I could just step aside and let the Lord finish it. After all, it’s all about Him and people who have been faithfully serving Him for decades. However, God has given me the ability to write, a passion for the craft, and a gift for communicating His truth in practical ways. So I know this book has to be a partnership between Him and me.

Jesus said in John 15:5, “apart from Me you can do nothing,” so I realize that if I attempt to accomplish anything of eternal value without Him, I’m being more than foolish. At the same time, it was the apostle Paul, himself a very strong, determined fellow, who wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The Lord empowers us – gives us the capacity – to carry out the work He has entrusted to us.

Speaking on what motivated him, what drove him, to be so urgent and instant in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, Paul stated, “If we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us…” (2 Corinthians 5:13-14).

So, as for “let go and let God,” sometimes we have no other alternative. Most of the time, however, He wants us join with Him in His work, because as the apostle declared in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). 

There’s no place in the Lord’s workforce for the complacent or the inert. We all have a calling; we all have a job to do. But we must never forget that apart from Him, we can’t do anything that will matter for eternity.

We Can’t . . . But He Can!

Early in my journalistic career, while working as an assistant editor on a suburban newspaper, I was assigned responsibility for closing out the Saturday morning edition. I’d only been on the job for several weeks, but this new responsibility seemed to be going well. With layouts for the front and “jump” pages nearly complete, I was feeling pleased with myself.

Then I heard an alert from one of the wire service machines. Uh-oh! A major calamity had occurred in another state, involving a school bus and dozens of children. I couldn’t ignore this tragedy just because my page layouts were about finished. This breaking news needed to be in the paper.

Reluctantly I began revamping the layouts with only a short time before the presses were set to start. Delays cost money. I knew how to do page designs, but not under such tight deadline constraints. As the seconds ticked by, I frantically tried to make the necessary changes – essentially starting from scratch. Panic started to pervade my thinking. “What should I do?!”

Then the “cavalry” arrived, in the person of the managing editor. He had just “stopped by” to see how I was doing. I’m sure a single glance told him I wasn’t doing very well. But rather than berate me, he sat down beside me and started revamping the pages. Within a few minutes the layouts were done and passed along to the composing staff to assemble. Doom had been averted.

With potential disaster staring me in the eye, the senior editor had swooped in and saved the morning. He did what I could not.

Recalling this little episode has provided a metaphor for many moments in my life. Things seem to be going well when suddenly something drastic occurs that disrupts the calm. I attempt to respond, but nothing works. What do I do now?

Sometimes, as I’ve learned, the answer to that question is simple: Nothing. There’s not a thing within my human capabilities that can be done. There’s only one place to look for the answer, and that’s UP. At such times there’s nothing more pleasing to God than to hear us admit, “Lord, I can’t do this!” Because then He can demonstrate what He can do – and that He doesn’t need our help.

Jesus asserted this when He told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He wasn’t referring only to crises that exceed our capabilities. Jesus was talking about anything of eternal value. We can only accomplish those things through His power.

Later the apostle Paul, writing about how he could endure times of deprivation and struggle, as well as times of abundance and tranquility, said, “I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). I could never recount all of the times I’ve experienced the same thing – when the seeming impossible became possible, but only through the Lord’s enabling power.

It might involve dealing with a devastating loss, addressing overwhelming personal challenges, or answering God’s call to do something well beyond our comfort zone. “I can’t do this, Lord!” we cry. His reply is, “I know. But I can do it – through you.”

The ultimate example, of course, involves our sinfulness that totally separated us from God. When the only standard is holiness, absolute righteousness, no amount of good deeds and intentions can offset our depravity. 

Reflecting on his recurring tendency for not doing what he wanted to do, and doing what he didn’t want to do, the apostle Paul wrote, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Have you ever asked a question similar to this? I know I have. 

But then Paul added, “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord…. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 7:25-8:2).

Writing to a different audience, believers in the city of Corinth, the apostle reaffirmed this truth: “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Whether it’s confronting formidable challenges that seem beyond our capacity or acknowledging our inability to “clean up our act” to establish an everlasting relationship with God, the reality is actually very simple: We can’t – but He can!

Valuable Lesson from a Donkey

A friend reminded me of a fable about a hapless donkey that somehow fell into a well. The water in the well wasn’t very deep, but it had no way of getting out. When townspeople discovered the animal’s plight, they tried to devise a solution to save it, but it seemed impossible.

When confronted with challenges, we can either
let them weigh us down or strive to overcome them.

Finally the citizens determined that if they couldn’t extricate the donkey from the well, the humane thing would be to bury it alive rather than let it die a slow death of starvation. So they began shoveling dirt into the well. The donkey, however, had different ideas. It would shake off each shovelful of dirt and let it fall to the well’s floor.

As the dirt falling from above began to accumulate, the animal realized it could step up onto the dirt pile and raise itself higher in the well. Eventually, the dirt had filled most of the well and the donkey, cleverly perched on top of it, simply stepped out of the well to safety.

The principle from this fable is one we could apply to many problems we encounter on our journey through life. The donkey could have decided he was doomed and accepted his fate. He could have given up and become buried under the dirt. Instead, he kept shaking it off and rising up under the challenge until he had overcome his dilemma and stepped out into freedom.

Many times our difficulties threaten to bury us as well. Problem piles upon problem, and we’re tempted to succumb to despair. However, if we remember the lesson of the donkey, we can regard these challenges as stepping stones rather than tombstones. 

It may seem like a puzzling reality, but we learn much more from difficulties and failure than we do from prosperity and success. For instance, financial problems often are the result of poor decision-making. Impulsive purchases, spending more than we’re earning, presuming upon God by accumulating debt. Or our priorities might be out of whack, causing harm to relationships and preventing us from accomplishing cherished goals.

At times the consequences of self-inflicted woes threaten to cover us up. We can choose to let that happen. Or we can learn from bad experiences, pursue ways of properly resolving them, and use this “dirt” to climb above our circumstances.

Followers of Christ, however, differ from the donkey in one crucial way. The donkey worked to resolve its problem solely through its own initiative. There was no one to help him. When our best efforts prove insufficient for the challenges we face, we have the assurance that we don’t have to confront them alone.

The apostle Paul, who dealt with multiple crises during his life as a disciple of Jesus, observed, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). In fact, Jesus Himself stated that if our desire is to do things of eternal value, we can’t accomplish them on our own strength. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Toward the close of his letter to the church in the city of Ephesus, Paul offered this encouragement: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10). In our culture, many of us have learned the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality. However, unlike the donkey who was clever enough to use the dirt as a means for achieving freedom from the well, the Lord wants us to rely on Him whenever we confront perplexing dilemmas.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t respond by doing whatever seems appropriate, but often even our best efforts aren’t enough. For this reason the apostle exhorted another group of believers to “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:10-11).

When we’ve inadvertently fallen into some “well,” we don’t have to fall victim to the “dirt” cascading down on us. Instead, we can trust in the wisdom, guidance and power of God to lift us back to solid ground.