Our weakness is His might

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:3-10

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Weakness plays a vital role in depth of a relationship with the Lord. The Lord prefers to work in our weaknesses in order that HIS strength might be shown. Our culture would tell us that we need to be strong. “Suck it up and be a man” some would say. Others might say, “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Pick yourself up off the ground.” Still others might say, “Just hold it in. You don’t need to go expressing yourself to people.” These are bold face lies by the Enemy to prevent us from seeing our true selves and our true weaknesses in order that we might turn to the LORD our God and rely on Him.

It is clear that Paul had to have this realization in order that he might not thing higher of himself than he ought.

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” -2 Cor. 11:30

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2 Cor. 12:7-10

All throughout Scripture, it is seen how the Lord uses weak people to show the power of His might and the splendor of His majesty. His heart is after the weak, meek, and underdogs. When we realize the depth of our weaknesses to the point that we no longer have any strength or energy to even try to deal with things, this is when the Lord can work. Only when we realize that by no efforts of our own that we are brought out of our struggles but rather through His grace and strength and renewal, then we are finally put into a willing position.

Jesus asked His disciples to keep watch with Him. What He says to them after finding them asleep is, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Our flesh/body will always be weak in the matter of the spiritual realms. We have no strength or energy to do anything by our own efforts. Only when we allow ourselves to be willing to be used by God and to finally step aside and let Jesus do what He needs to in us, only then will the Spirit work like it needs.

I am continually being reminded and shown more of my weaknesses, realizing that I can’t do anything by on my own and even that I need a support system to aid me and help me in these things. One of my biggest weaknesses is when it comes to money. I have never had much of it so whenever I see an opportunity to get a lot of it, my flesh wants to jump at the chance. There are also many times when I know that I spend my money out of flipancy and don’t really pray or discern where my money should be sent. The Lord has been refining me in this but it is still something that I need the Lord and the Body to help keep me accountable for.

This is only one of my many weaknesses. Our God will allow us to run ourselves down in our own strength, wait until we are no longer going to put forth effort, and then He will raise us and renew us and release us from the oppression of the bondage we have been under. Just as Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead four days, the same happens for us in our bondages and oppression.

Jesus said this himself quoting Isaiah 60:1-2 (see Luke 4:18-19):

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

I was poor in spirit but I now know the good news of Jesus Christ. I was once a prisoner but Jesus set me free. I was once blind but my eyes have now been opened and I see with new eyes. I was oppressed but I have been released from oppression.

All of these are true about what Jesus still wants to do for us. Not just in the physical but mainly in the spiritual. I was poor in spirit but He filled me with the Holy Spirit to lead me in all truth and into a more intimate relationship with Jesus. I was a prisoner to the world and to the law of sin and death but I have been set free by grace and risen to newness in Christ Jesus. I was unable to see spiritual things but now I can. He has set me free from the oppression and lies of the Enemy day be day.

Read Isaiah 61 prayerfully to see Isaiah’s revelation of the Year of the Lord’s Favor.

Jesus has set me free. I now live because of Jesus. I am an heir of salvation grafted into the promise to the Israelites. Let us now proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Praise be to God that He desires my heart and desires my participation in His eternal plan in accordance with the Body; the Bride of Christ and the Dwelling Place of the Lord.

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Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 “For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

The Resurrection

The resurrection can only be summed up in one word: Jesus. His life is truly different because He was brought back from the dead never again to die. Many miracles have been seen in which people are raised from the dead but nobody has been raised from the dead to persist in life and never feel the bitterness of death again. Further than this, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and everything was placed under His feet (See Eph. 1:18-23). Most importantly Jesus said that He, Himself, was the resurrection and the Life (See John 11:25). This is important because it has more implications on our life than simply the reflection of an event.

The cross and resurrection cannot be separated. The two are intermingled with each other. Without the cross, the resurrection would never have taken place but without the resurrection, the cross of Christ never would have had purpose. While these both can simply be events to reflect upon, there is a more profound depth to be found in them that bears upon our lives the most drastic of implications.

Before we can look at the implications of the cross and resurrection, however, we must first understand that it is only in righteousness from God that we can approach God. Paul expands upon this very well in the book of Romans.

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” -Romans 3:22-26

We must understand that our righteousness comes from God’s grace through faith in Jesus and not by any amount of our own works or achievements or “goodness”, for surely if we have all sinned and fallen short then it is as Jesus says and, “No one is good-except God alone” (See Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19). It is the righteousness from God that allows us to step into His midst and approach His throne with confidence because this righteousness comes from the grace of God by Jesus’ blood which covers us in all of our sins and unrighteousness (Eph. 3:12 and Heb. 4:16).

Since we know the foundation of our righteousness is from the grace of God on account of Jesus’ blood, we can look at the implications of the cross and resurrection.

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” -Romans 6:4-12

We must daily find ourselves on the cross in order that Jesus may carry His work out in us and through us. We must be willing to give up everything that we cherish and hold dear in our lives be it physical items, selfishness, personal dreams and ambitions, our own intellect, or even our plans for serving God in order that Jesus might live. When we put these things to death on the cross of Christ, we find ourselves having died on the cross of Christ and Jesus lives in us and is shown in our lives. We become the fragrance of Christ. Service then happens through Jesus and for Jesus and to Jesus. Then Jesus will be shown as living and alive.

Just as Paul could not separate the cross of Christ and His resurrection, neither should we. Jesus died on the cross in order that He could defeat death and sin and be raised into life and be seated at the right hand of the Father. This same law is at work in us when we are found in Jesus. We who are in Christ were crucified with Him in order that sin may no longer hold power over us. It is in our death on the cross of Christ that we are freed from the power of sin. When we are freed from this power, we are raised into the life of Christ and He lives in us through the Spirit (see Eph. 2:4-10, Rom. 8:1-2).

Knowing this, then, it is safe to say that Jesus’ resurrection, carried out and exerted by the power of God, is the same resurrection that allows us to walk in newness of life and live in the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory (see Col. 1:27). We are brought out of death and raised into a new life. This life is a life of freedom. As we have stated, this freedom is a freedom from the power of sin. This life also has nothing to do with guilt or condemnation because Jesus did not come for these things but rather to save us from these things and set us free from them (see John 3:17, Gal. 5:1). This life is not our own nor is it of our own effort but it is life in the Spirit. No longer are we living by our own natural efforts and understandings but we are walking in the Spirit of Christ to do the work that the Father has for us (see Eph. 2:10, Gal. 5:24-26)

“Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” -John 12:23-26

Jesus is the kernel. We are the many seeds. Jesus died so that He might live in us. May we find ourselves dead that Jesus’ resurrected life may be shown through us to the world. May we embrace the cross of Christ in order that we are raised to newness in life to be led by His Spirit. May we realize and embrace the cross and resurrection daily in order that we might not live for this world or anything in it but rather that He might shine His light into the darkness.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”-John 11:25-26