John 5: 19 – “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
The Son can do nothing by himself: Lord Jesus, if you can do nothing by yourself, I am beyond foolish to think that I can do anything by myself!
I want to imitate You. I want to be so dependent on You and so connected to You that I only do what I see You do and what I hear You tell me to do. Your ways are not my ways, but I can know You like Moses did. I can become intimately acquainted with Your words like Paul was. I can pursue Your heart like David and receive a new identity like Mary Magdelene. Please do this work in me. And remind me not to lean on my own strength!
Now you:
- Are you facing a decision or a situation that is beyond you?
- Are you battling fear about your future?
- Do you look at the limits of your own abilities and resources and wonder how you will make it to where you want to go?
- Do you secretly question God’s ability to be bigger than your weaknesses and failures?
In John 15:5, Jesus uses an analogy of a vine and branches to depict how our life in Christ functions. He tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches and without him we can do nothing – we wither and die spiritually and emotionally. This is the same thing that he said in the verse from John 5 above about Himself. I see a pattern here! He can do nothing without the Father and He only does what he sees the Father doing. Likewise, we can do nothing by ourselves; we can, however, do all things that we are called to do through Christ who strengthens us.
Try these four steps to connect to the supernatural power of God for your life:
- Ask the Lord for what you need. Whether it’s wisdom, provision, strength or transformation, ask God for what you need.
- Offer up thanksgiving to God that He heard your prayer and is beginning the download into your life. (Don’t just do this once. Offer thanksgiving daily!)
- Consecrate the situation to God. Let go of your vision of the outcome and allow God to bring the outcome that He knows is best. He is God. You are not.
- Don’t give up. Delay is not denial.
Cecily is a mother to one daughter and three sons and a step mother to two daughters. She is a native New Englander, who, while fairly-well traveled, has never lived anywhere outside of New England. She loves the beach, the mountains, good food, and football (she’s been a BIG Patriot’s fan before it was cool to be one!). She loves to cook and you will most likely find her scanning PaleoOMG.com or Pinterest for her next recipe challenge. She is an avid fitness freak, indulging in Spin, Kickboxing, and Insanity classes along with running and working out at home.
But Cecily’s greatest passion is finding hidden treasures and bold Truth in God’s Word and teaching it in such a way that everyone can understand and remember what they heard. Nothing thrills her more than when someone comes up to her and says that they have been changed by something she taught (especially when they remember the message better than she does!). Cecily is a late bloomer in the blogosphere as she was very busy raising 6 children, volunteering in their schools, starting her career as an Executive Assistant, being the Worship and Arts director at her church and then recently taking the directorship of the Women’s Ministry. Life with 6 kids in a blended family posed more challenges than the Apollo 13 team had to face, and has given Cecily endless messages and potential blog posts! Cecily speaks at Women’s Conferences and at her church as a guest minister from time to time. Her husband John is a stalwart supporter of everything she does and is her greatest cheerleader. Now that the children are grown (they keep coming home, though!), Cecily has more time to write and speak about these wonderful life lessons regarding faith, blended family life, financial and marital challenges and the joys of watching God show off His faithfulness.
Women identify with Cecily because she has survived divorce, single-motherhood, being in the trenches blending a family, loving an addict, the stresses of ministry and marketplace jobs, and the life change of children growing up and becoming adults. Cecily has not only survived but thrived as a result of every difficult and unforeseen circumstance. She loves to boast about God’s faithfulness and the importance that her day-to-day, intimate relationship with Jesus has made through it all. She shares keys and practical steps that encourage women (and men!) to pursue the Lord for themselves and not sell their ability to hear from God short. Cecily’s favorite topics to talk and write about are Hearing God’s voice, Journaling for life, and Myth-busting.
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