Becoming the Man God's Future Requires

Good morning, sir!

Welcome to day two!  Well, we’ve all had time to get back into our routines, but you’re here this morning and that’s great!  I hope you’ve noticed the title above.  Because that is my prayer for you.  

Please pray with me:  “Lord, good morning!  My heart is soft in Your hands today.  Shape me.  Mould me. I surrender to Your touch.  Give me the “greater grace” to see any place where I’m resisting Your hands.  And let the power of humility take root in my heart because I want to become the man that Your future for me requires!  In Jesus’ name amen!

Another great theme that Pastor Paul brought up is the self-sufficient man.  Montana is known for off-the-grid living.  And we take pride in this.  And as Paul instructed us, there is a good side and a bad side to this.  The good side is we know how to be responsible.  We can problem solve!  We can live in -20 degree weather and not complain. Well, at least not too much!  But there is a bad side as well.  We can become so independent that we think we can live without relationships with others and without God.  And that’s a dangerous spiral that any of us can slip into.

God calls us to be responsible for what He has entrusted to us, but never to become independent of the One who entrusted it to us!

Self-sufficiency becomes spiritual weakness when our confidence in ourselves replaces our dependence upon God!  Jesus summarizes this so well here: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

Let’s close with this prayer: “Lord, Give me the strength to ‘abide in You!’  Empower me to keep showing up and being present in every sphere of life You’ve entrusted to me.  But Lord, keep me also close to Your heart so my heart, my words, and my actions demonstrate this truth:  “Without You, I can do nothing!”  Amen!