That Word Is Jesus

November 14

One thing an unregenerate man cannot abide is the notion that apart from God he is nothing. That simply does not compute for the individual who thinks he is a self-made man. It is impossible for someone who thinks he’s in charge of his life to reconcile to himself the Lord’s assertion in John 15:5, “Without Me, you can do nothing.”

Instead of leaning upon our omnipotent God and taking comfort in the power He extends to man to gain wealth, to accrue knowledge, to discover the wonders of the universe, to simply draw his next breath, the denier of the Lord rather closes his eyes to the abounding evidence of God that is all around him.

Conversely, the individual who acknowledges the keeping and sustaining power of God, who leans upon Him, who abides in His mercy and grace, takes great comfort in the awareness that it is not his own strength, his own wisdom, or his own ability that assure his success in life’s endeavors.

In John 15:4, 5, the Lord makes the reality of man’s need for Him quite clear. He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine, neither can you, except you abide in Me.”

The person of faith builds the totality of his life upon the reality stated in Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils.” Without Him, we are mere dust.

With Him, we have the God-infused breath of life coursing through us. That truth is our comfort in times of trial, our hope in times of despair, our reality in times of disillusionment! That truth will sustain us when the mountains crumble into the sea.

That truth will guard our faith when everything we trust has failed. How can a mere word transform the circumstances of our lives from hopelessness to faithful anticipation? It can because that Word is the Living Word! That Word is Jesus who can never fail! (Hebrews 13:5)