[04ctd]

I Can Do It Myself - Lies of the Adversary
Bill Money

Jesus: "without Me you can do nothing." John 15.5
Us: "Thank You for the guidance, Lord. Now I understand what You want me to do. I can handle it from here. I'll let You know if I need any help."

We would never admit saying this, but this is what our behavior looks like.

Once we get a glimpse of what God wants us to do, we go galloping down the road, leaving the relationship in the dust. Then, a little ways down the road, we find the bridge over a deep canyon is washed out. As we then slowly backtrack, we come to Jesus standing at a fork in the road.

He says to us: "Why do you not believe the Scriptures to be true? Why do you think you can do something of significance for the Kingdom without Me?"
We respond: "Forgive me Lord. What would you want to do through me?" He says: "Take this fork, and I will ride with you, I will give you the capability to cross the deep canyon."

The priority is the relationship, not the completion of the task. Jesus is much more interested in building the relationship with us than He is in having us complete the task. That relationship is so important to Him, that He will remove our ability to complete the task if we are attempting to do the task without Him.

But the adversary lies to us, saying: "You can do this on your own. You don't need any help. Didn't God give you a brain? Use your competence and experience to get this job done And so, he entices us to eat the apple " and you will be like God." (Genesis 3.5)

But the Scriptures teach us the truth, with Jesus telling us: "without Me you can do nothing." (John 15.5) And, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4.13)

The truth is, we can do nothing that matters for the Kingdom unless Christ does it through us. On our own, we can create a lot of dust and activity - but, it has no eternal value and none of it will matter in the long term.
I don't know about you, but I want my life to count for something. I don't want to spend my life doing nothing of value for the Kingdom. And that which is of value must have Christ doing it through me. Don't let the lies of the adversary steer you into the ditch.

In your time of prayer, seek to know the truth of the Scriptures and seek Christ to do His work through you, so that your work matters for all eternity.