4th January EVENING CONTEMPLATION TOPIC: THAT NO FLESH MAY BOAST TEXT: 1COR. 1:29 'That no flesh should glory in His presence.' KJV
In God's economy or government, man is honoured to invariably be a channel through which He does His work on earth; man is His means of achieving His purpose here on earth. But men, when so used by God to achieve any thing, are inclined to arogate the praise to themselves; God is pushed into corner, and man is crowned. This tendency in man is in the best of saints. So, the only way God deems fit to prevent this adamic weakness, is to not use strong men. God goes for weak things to achieve great things; whenever He intends to use a man, He first makes him weak and powerless in himself: He fears, as it were, 'strong', 'inteligent', and 'influential' people, because in such, tendency to ascribe glory to self is strongest. Witness Jacob--when his brother Esau matched against him with 400 armed men--how he prayed and expected that God would strenghten him to face his brother, may be by sending host of angels or, by other supernatural signs; but God, instead, came and crippled him; and told him to go face his brother and his armed men: but Esau was overcome by broken and crippled Jacob. Our Lord picked unlearned men to spread the gospel: God never sends strong men to do His task. When a man comes to the end of himself, then he comes to the realm of God's power. God starts His work when man stops working. If ever we would see His acts of grace and power, we must needs resign from our strenght. We are strong only when we are weak. That no flesh may glory or boast in His presence, God would use the weak, despised and impotent agents. Friends, would you be used of God, then empty yourself of all human strenght! Suspect that God is absent whenever you feel strong; but when you feel weak in yourself, God would find you useable. What was used to divide the red sea? just but a rod! A stone killed mighty Goliath! Strong men are robbers of God's glory; He would have none of them touch His work. He does not strenghten His would be workers, He weakens them until they can cry out, 'who is sufficient for this!' Until God hears a man crying thus, God stands at abeyance to such a man!
Prayer: Lord, I am thine...make me perpetually weak in myself...drain me of every human energy: for when am weak, then only then can I be fit for divine purpose. Amen! _________________ Ojoje Adeyi
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