John 5:19 Jesus 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.”

Something I have been saying for many years is that Jesus in His physical body did nothing in His power as the Son of God; it was all in the power of the Holy Spirit, who rested on Him from the point of His baptism by John, (Matthew 3:16-17) and as He says here, it was echoing what the Father was doing. The more we meditate on that, the more it should cure us of trying to do things on our own! We are so isolated and self-centered that we think we can and we have to do things on our own, when neither of those ideas are true. We do have free will and we do have independent action, but our scope, when compared with that of God, is less than that of an ant compared to an elephant. Logic should tell us that it makes far more sense to get in step with the Creator than to attempt anything without Him, much less try to rebel against Him. In making us in His own image, (Genesis 1:27) God gave us creativity, as well as the free will to use it. He wasn’t after robots. That said, our powers of all sorts are severely limited. It is only when we allow His power to flow through us that our weakness is transformed into real strength. (2 Corinthians 12:9) When Jesus said this was true for Him, why would we think we were any different?

This is something I have struggled with over the years, and I’m still not totally clear on it. I am so prone to run off on my own, in how I think about things and in how I attempt to do them. I have experienced being used by God and I honestly like nothing better, but I still attempt to do things on my own. That’s not at all to say I’m to be lazy; I’ve done more than enough of that, too! I am to seek the Lord for what He is doing and what part He wants me to have in it, and then submit everything I have and am to that end. As Paul said, specifically to slaves, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23) And as he said more generally, “Whatever [I] do, whether in word or deed, [I am to] do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17) Yesterday the Lord spoke clearly and powerfully through me, but I also displayed anger at some who were trying to be helpful later in the day. That wasn’t Holy Spirit speaking! Today we will be setting up my photo display, and I have clear ideas of how it should go. However, I have a close friend who wants to help me, and I’m quite concerned about biting his head off when he does things differently than I had been thinking. That’s not doing it in the name of the Lord Jesus! As the Lord told me years ago, I need to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, allowing Him to carry me along by His Spirit even while my body is busy, so that the results will be His, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for what really was a very good day yesterday. Thank You especially for how that one man was impacted by what You said through me. I pray that he would indeed give all of himself to You, just as You expressed through me in the message, so that he would be added to Your family as a brother in Christ. I also pray that everything about the exhibit over the coming week would impact people and open their hearts to repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!