What God Promises To Do As Your Source

 (Living "A" Life Versus "THE" Life – Part 3)

     In Part Two we saw some of the things God promises to do as our Source. Let’s look at what else God promises to do as our source:

VICTORY - God will give you experiential victory over the power of sin, the flesh, the world, and the power of Satan. - 1 Corinthians 15:57 - “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

FREEDOM - God will set you free from your lying beliefs, your defeating sin patterns, and your ongoing inner struggles.  Galatians 5:1 - “So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

HEALING - God will heal you of your past and present woundedness. Psalm 147:3 - “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

SUPPLY  - God will supply all of your needs. Philippians 4:19 - “My God shall supply all your needs…..in Christ Jesus.”

INTIMACY - He will draw you into a personal, intimate relationship with Himself. Ephesians 1:5 - “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure.”

TRANSFORMATION – God will transform you to think, feel, choose and behave like Christ. - Romans 12:2 -  “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

     These are just a few of the many promises that God will fulfill in our lives as our Source. However, I have found that many Christians think it is up to them with God’s help to make the above promises an experiential reality in their lives. Let me make this more personal by asking you a few questions:

Have you tried to set yourself free from some sinful or fleshly behavior?

Have you tried to attain victory over some defeating sin pattern? (Examples: anger, fear,  inadequacy, pornography, controlling)

Have you tried to change yourself to be more like Christ?

   If you have tried to do any of these things, let me ask you another question: How is it working for you? Are you able to set yourself free, be victorious, or truly change yourself? If we are honest with ourselves, we can’t do any of those things. Why is that? Let’s look at what Jesus says in John 15:5b to answer the question:

“Apart from Me you can do NOTHING.”

     You see God has it rigged. Only He can accomplish what He promises. Think about this for a moment. If you could accomplish God’s promises of victory, freedom, and transformation, then do you really need God?

     A final point: If God IS the Source, is He going to help you be the Source? The answer is “no.” There is one of two sources from which you can live your life. One is that you are going to be the source or God will be the Source. You have heard the expression that “God helps those who help themselves.” We know that is not scriptural and more importantly it is not true. When we tend to ask God for help we are asking Him to help us be the Source. However, when Jesus says “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life, (John 14:6), he is making it clear that He is not going to help us be the source. Maybe this verse in Psalm 37:5 will help make the point clearer:

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it.”

     What David is saying in this verse is that we are not to depend on our way (i.e. our intellect, capability, willpower, etc.). Rather we are to trust God to do what He promises to do and He will be the Source to do it.

    In Part 4 we will talk further about what it means that Christ is our life and how living from His life will change our life.

Are You Living "A" Life Or "THE" Life? - Part Two

(What it means for Christ to be your SOURCE.)

     I was teaching a group of folks last night in San Antonio about living “A” life versus “THE” life. For many of them, they did not know the difference. I could tell that they were scratching their heads because THE life was a new concept for them. How about you? Did Part One leave you scratching your head?

   

 If so, let’s continue talking about what it means for Christ to live THE life in us. We ended Part One talking about Christ being our SOURCE. Remember, we read last time that Christ is our SOURCE in 1 Corinthians 1:30. Here are two other verses that reveal that Christ is our SOURCE.

“In Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things…..” Romans 11:36

     When you think about the word SOURCE what words come to mind? “Origin”, “provider”, and “producer” are a few words that come to my mind.

     Let’s look four examples of what it means for Christ to be your Source.

·      Christ is your Source to meet your needs. - Philippians 4:19

·      Christ is your Source of power over your sin.   1 John 3:6

·      Christ is your Source to renew your mind to believe His truth.  Romans 12:2

·      Christ is your Source to make all His promises of transformation for you an experiential reality in your life.  Philippians 1:6

God as your SOURCE for living the Christian life means that ONLY God

can PROVIDE and PRODUCE in you what He promises.

     Let me ask you a question: If God is the Source, who is not the source. The answer is that you and I are not the source. Why? Because you and I cannot produce what only God can produce. For example, have you tried to stop yourself from sinning? If so, how is that working for you? What about the situation that you are facing now that you are trying to fix but can’t seem to fix or solve? Is it possible through these two examples that God is trying to show us that He is the only one TRUE Source?

     Final thought: Assume the water bottle in the picture is Christ. The water in the bottle is all that Christ offers you. You can’t produce or provide the water. You can only drink from the bottle which is the SOURCE of the water. How do you think this applies to your Christian life?

     In Part Three, we will look at Christ as our Source for victory, freedom and transformation into Christ-likeness.