Self-Made Or God-Made?

Have you asked Jesus to walk with you or have you accepted to walk with Jesus?

Do you ask Jesus to bless your plans or do you ask to know the Father's will so you can be obedient to it?

Did you ask Jesus to use your talents for his glory or did you ask the Spirit to manifest through you with the anointing of God so that his glory may be revealed?

There is a difference.

But today we don't have time to understand that difference. Everything is a rush. We don't have time to sit in the presence of God, to have his anointing wash over us. We don't have time to meditate on his Word and hear his voice speak his will to our heart. We come to him with our limitations and say "Use me Lord and here is what I mean by 'use'".

Here are the first words to describe Solomon in 2 Chronicles 1:1:

King Solomon, the son of David, was now in complete control of his kingdom, because the Lord God had blessed him and made him a powerful king. (2 Chronicles 1:1)

Solomon had not done anything to accomplish anything. He contributed nothing. He did not fight any great battles. He had won no wars. He did not go out and enslave the world. He had done nothing to warrant any thought that he was a great king. He was what he was and had what he had because God had decided it. God had made Solomon an incredibly powerful king and his fame spread around the world.

On his own Solomon might have been able to survive. He might have been able to accomplish some things, or he might have been conquered and killed in the first week. We don't know but we do know that Solomon was a powerful king because God made him powerful.

Are we a self-made people or a God-made people? Who is in control of your life? Does it matter?

We are not a dumb people.With some hard work we can accomplish a lot. We can at least survive. We can scheme, manipulate, work and accumulate some wealth and reputation. We can even give God credit for all of it, although it was only us who did it.

God does not want credit for what we do in our strength. Jesus does not want you attaching his name to something that has nothing of him in it. If you were a master electrician would you want your name attached to a job completed by an amateur? If you were a well known artist would you want your signature on the finger painting of a two year old? What could we possibly achieve that would give Jesus the same level of glory that he is able to give himself?

What we can accomplish is nothing compared to what God can do through a humble and surrendered child. God does not need us creating glory for him out of our limitations. He wants to reveal his glory as he manifests through us and does his thing in and through us. He does not want our ideas, schemes, or actions. He wants us to be his tool, worked in his hands and all it requires is surrender and obedience. He does not want our opinion or our perspective. He wants our heart, mind, soul and strength given in love every moment of every day.

God blessed and made Solomon a powerful king. What does he want to do with a surrendered you?