Greater is He

1John 4:4 - You are of God, little children ... because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Do we really believe this? If we are in Christ, He is in us, when we take His lead and not our own. Why should we rely on our own selves? Who created us? Who knew us from the beginning of time? Who formed us in our mother's wombs? Oh, He has given us special gifts, but He expects us to use them for His glory, not our own. Because He will be behind those gifts.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 hints at the God-sized hole in each of our hearts He put there so we would seek Him... He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

What are we so afraid of giving up for the sake of the Lord? Giving up, or letting go, doesn't mean losing out; it means greater things, greater blessings. The world has lots to offer, but He has more. And His Spirit in us is greater than we could hope to imagine, if we have that relationship with Him. What holds people back from receiving this word? 

Why is it sometimes proof is necessary, actually seeing to understand? This is a mystery of God. Faith and trust in something we cannot see. That takes even greater faith, doesn't it?

I've been rightly accused by my husband that I will listen to a "stranger's" advice but not his! It happens. I admit it. In a way it's the same thing with listening to the voice of One we cannot see and believing it. Will we believe Him over others?

Our Bible is filled with ancient, yet wise, words. They were all written and spoken through the power of the Holy Spirit. They are just and true. They bring life to those who wish to take the time to heed them. It's not so far fetched an impossibility of a book to read. It's written so all can see and know the God who created us. It shows us His nature through words.

It shows us that if we so choose...and choose being the word of the day...we can have the Lord of lords and the King of kings residing within us. But we must be willing to allow Him in. And once He's in He's going to want to do some attitude, pride, addiction, heart and other

transformations. If we think we have it altogether, we lie to ourselves.

Time and time again I have to remind myself that greater is He....  I can slip foolishly back into believing lies, the same lies that the whole world believes....that each of us controls our own destiny, that we can be self-made men and women, that glamor and a opulent lifestyle makes the man.

Sometimes I truly struggle with friendships outside of church friends. Why? Because He's the most important thing. I choose to devote a lot of my time thinking on Him. Here is a Man who is greater than than any man in the world. He has changed my life. I see Him at work even in the little things of each day. 

I'm constantly reminded that what we see happening each day in the world is what the Bible tells us will happen in the last days. Aren't a lot of the things we see self-motivated, entitlement issues? We're living it out. The decidedly poor choice is to choose self over the Lord. 

Like I've said before...it's our pride that keeps us from coming to Jesus. It's the one thing we all need to have removed. Those who are so broken in their lives and need to know the love and strength of a Savior know what it means to have lost a good portion of their pride.

I have had occasion to work a bit with people in or graduates of Teen Challenge, a faith based drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, one that has I believe an 88% success rate in those who have stayed in the program. They are taught they cannot do, cannot be healed, without Jesus Christ.

There are so many who don't associate themselves with "these sorts of people." Their own alcohol, even drug dependency or flippant use of, is "under control." But when it gets out of hand, is it really under control? It's under some sort of control...their own. It's a feel-good experience. If drugs and alcohol are necessary for feel-good experiences, what are they hiding? What hurt or disappointment or insecurity is beneath it all?

Greater is He....like the students of Teen Challenge, they learn this lesson. Our church is doing a program called Celebrate Recovery. We've had people come off the streets because they saw the sign on our church grounds. I attend a prayer vigil on Thursday nights and we prayed for him because he was going to give his testimony of how Jesus delivered him from alcohol and drugs, how he relies on Him every day and how every morning he wakes up he's thankful because it means he's one day closer to being with Him.

These people are taken out of their dependency on something that will kill if left unneeded. Their dependency on Christ takes over and it is in Him (greater is He) that they are free from the burden of sin. The stains of our sin, whether great or small, are washed away to reveal His character which will reside in us...along with true righteousness.  All these things are possible in Christ. By His blood, by His stripes we are healed. Not just for those who obviously need it but for those whose pride says they don't.

Then we can say that greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Greater are His plans for us than those we cling to in the world.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.