My husband is recovering from major surgery for an infected knee joint prostheses and I am recovering from Lyme disease, so Chris Tiegreen, one of my favorite authors is bringing a word of encouragement to ALL of us today! (I highly recommend his devotionals. You can order them at bookstores or online, including www.tyndaledirect.com. )
The power of God is at work in our lives. We know that because it’s written so clearly in our Bible and has been preached and taught so often. But life has a way of beating us down as though someone or something–some archenemy or some elemental principle of a fallen world–is trying to convince us that the power of God doesn’t apply to us, or that it isn’t all that powerful in the first place. That’s why many Christians feel defeated. The awesome power of God doesn’t seem all that accessible in real life.
That has produced a curious dynamic. The Bible raises our expectations with miracles and the majesty of God, and then many well-meaning teachers try to lower our expectations again so we won’t be disappointed. This dynamic sets up a choice for us: we can fix our hearts on what Scripture says, or we can accept the words of those who tell us to just be realistic. In other words, we have to choose whether we’re going to have faith or not.
We know the right choice. Still, the promise seems too good to be true. The power at work in and through us is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Him in heaven. That’s what God offers us. That’s the power we’re called to place our faith in. And that’s why our expectations get raised so high when we read Scripture. God gives us no ordinary promises. We’re offered the greatest power in the universe.
What will you believe today? In the trials you face, in the obstacles you come up against, in the discouragement that hounds you relentlessly, will you cast your confidence toward the power of God or the hard facts of “reality”? That’s the question that confronts you moment by moment in the life of faith. You either believe in God’s unimaginable power or you don’t. Decide today that you will.
Content taken from THE ONE YEAR AT THE CROSS DEVOTIONAL, by Chris Tiegreen. Copyright © 2011. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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