Are you willing to admit your failings in order to experience God’s power?
Week 18 – Celebrating 100 Years of Oswald Chambers
VERSE: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” 1 Peter 4:17
OSWALD: “In the teachings of Jesus Christ the element of judgment is always brought out, it is the sign of God’s love… If Jesus ever gave us a command He could not enable us to fulfill, He would be a liar; and if we make our inability a barrier to obedience, it means we are telling God there is something He has not taken into account. Every element of self-reliance must be slain by the power of God. Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power.” (My Utmost for His Highest – May 5th)
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TODAY’S GUEST: I’m excited to have my friend, Kelly Balarie sharing her “My Utmost” insights today. Kelly is an author and blogger, but most of all, she is a lover of Jesus who has dedicated her life to making Him known! I know you’ll enjoy her inspiring words!
{ Don’t miss the GIVEAWAYS – Plural! – at the end of this post! }
How It Spoke to Kelly…
No one likes a finger pointed at them, especially when it comes from someone close to us. We want to run from it. We want to hide from it. We want to excuse it away. We want to retaliate. Surely, we don’t want to accept it, even if it might hold a grain of truth within it.
Judgment feels like judgment.
I remember being judged as a child. The teacher sent me home with an F on an exam and told me to have my parents sign it. I dug a hole in the backyard and tried to bury the work. Another time, I forged my mom’s signature. When I landed in the principal’s office, I lied all the way to the moment she picked up the phone to call my mom. Then, I fessed up.
There’s often nothing worse than coming to terms with our own failures. We feel deplorable when we feel weak.
But, why?
God never told us: “Go and make perfection out of our self.” Neither did He say: “Be strong and know that you can fix yourself.”
In our weakness, we need Jesus' greatness. It is through the conviction of our heart, we find deeper connection to God. - Kelly Balarie Click To TweetWhat if rather than running from what God wants to lovingly point out in us, we received it? What if we believed God had a good work to do in us, so that His good works could flow through us?
Oswald teaches me: we don’t want to let our inabilities become a barrier to the fruit of obedience God is trying to work out from within us. By doing this, we would be quenching the Spirit of God and all the great works he wants to accomplish. What a tragedy this would be.
Pray to God, “Father, I don’t want to live independent, but dependent on you. What do I need to see, so I can live free?”
Listen and expect God to answer. Fear not the answer, but expect new intimacy with God to take root. You are unblocking the passage of God’s Spirit in your life so that it can reach the lives of others.
More about Kelly Balarie
Kelly Balarie is a blogger at Purposeful Faith and author of “Fear Fighting: Awakening the Courage to Overcome Your Fears”.
She is passionate about joining hands with women who often find themselves stuck in the pits of life. Step-by-step, word-by-word, her dream is that together they can emerge confident – fear, fret and doubt-free.
Get all of Kelly’s Purposeful Faith blog posts by email for a dose of inspiration and encouragement.
DON’T MISS THE GIVEAWAYS!!!
Kelly’s newest book, “Battle Ready: Train Your Mind to Conquer Challenges, Defeat Doubt and Live Victoriously” will be releasing on May 29th!
You have a chance to win one of two copies of Kelly’s new book by entering two different ways:
- COMMENT – leave a message below for your chance to WIN a copy of Kelly’s new book
- SHARE – Go to this Facebook post and “SHARE”
We will randomly choose one winner from both categories – you have two chances to win!
CONTEST EXTENDED to May 20th, 2018 at MIDNIGHT
Thank you, Kelly, for your kind generosity and your beautiful post.
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Disclosure: I make a small commission for purchases made through any affiliate links used in this post.
<< Read WEEK 17 – “Are You Spiritually Employable”
Read WEEK 19 – “Making Your Obedience Inevitable” >>
I’d love to hear from you…What have you seen God do in your life when you’ve received His correction?