Confidence in Christ

Philipians 1:6 - "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

I am amazed at how often I try to rely on my own strength, my own will, my own power to bring about results that are only possible through Christ. Even after seeing the way that I lived in my own power for twenty-seven years there is a struggle within me to attempt to acheive grace through action and self-determination rather than simply relying on the One who brought my dead heart to life. I guess that is slightly discouraging to my flesh. It is one more reminder that I am absolutely helpless without the mercy of Christ. I am absolutely wretched apart from the righteousness that can only be found in Him. Even on my best days my righteousness, apart from Him, is but a filthy rag.

It is, however, tremendously encouraging to my spirit. To think that He who saved me is also constantly beside me, inside of me, working to assure that I become who He wants me to be is beyond refreshing. To know that I no longer have to rely on my own strength, but can rest on His shoulders and allow Him to make His glory known to the world through someone who is so weak should cause me to wake up daily with only the word of Him on my lips. It should result in nothing short of eternal gratitude.

It does require something on my part, though. It requires that I die to myself. The only way that the world will see Christ through me is if I get out of the way enough for Him to shine through. It requires a quality that I absolutely refused to exhibit for most of my life: humilty. But even that is an outflowing of His grace and a work of God in my life. So, basically, I can only be perfected in Christ through submitting to Him and can only submit to Him by the working of His grace. Again, the only response I can logically have to this is gratitude.

I am looking forward to seeing what Christ does through His power, by His working, in His time, through a frail little vessel commonly referred to as Brett.