#man's weakness

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Real true faith is man's weakness leaning on God's strength.

Dwight L. Moody

[coolksaposts]

23  O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself:

It is not in man that walketh oto direct his steps.

24  O Lord, pcorrect me, but with judgment;

Not in thine anger, lest thou †bring me to nothing. Jer 10+23-24 KJ

23 I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.

We are not able to plan our own course.

24 So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.

Do not correct me in anger, for I would die. NLT

23I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps. 24Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.…Berean Study Bible ·

Proverbs 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 20:24 A man's steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) O Lord, I know . . .--The confession is made not by the prophet for himself, but as by and for Israel.

The way of man.--The path which a man takes for good or evil, for failure or success. His conduct in life depends, the prophet says, on something more than his own choice :--

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough-hew them how we will."

Compare Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 20:24, as expressing the same thought of the necessity of divine guidance. The two Hebrew words for "man" are used in the two clauses, the first expressing the weakness, the latter the strength of men. Even the strong man has to confess that he needs a hand other than his own to direct his steps.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

It is those who, most conscious of their own weakness, exercise the greatest faith in the Lord as their strength, who open a way for the Lord to make the greatest measure of that strength manifest in them. The hinderance to the Lord's strength in us is our own strength, so often. The way for His strength is our weakness.

T. Austin-Sparks

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

God Wants Your Weakness

by Vaneetha Rendall Risner | I am not brave. I recently heard someone differentiate between bravery and courage, saying that bravery is the ability to take on difficult situations without fear, while courage is taking on difficult situations even when you’re afraid...

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

We are never more safe than when we are most sensible that we can do nothing without Christ.

John Newton

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Believer's Daily Remembrancer

Devotional for May 25

"I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD." - Psalms 71:16

Our own weakness would dismay us, but God's strength is offered to us; in His light we see, and in His strength we work. We have duties to perform, difficulties to encounter, and foes to overcome; let us therefore go in the strength of the Lord.

It is promised to us, and may be received by us; we must ask it of God, we must expect it in faith, and go forth believing that He is faithful who hath promised. Never let us attempt any thing in our own strength; if we do, we shall be sure to fail; let us first take up God's promise, rely on His veracity, and so go forth to duty, conflict, and danger. Then the battle is not ours, but the Lord's; then we are sure of success, succour, and victory.

The Lord will then be our strength and song; our refuge and certain salvation. His strength is made perfect in weakness, and His grace is glorified in the unworthy.

Let us not fear, let us not loiter, let us not despond, but let us go in the strength of the Lord, and we shall be more than conquerors. He giveth courage to the faint, and to those who have no might He increaseth strength.

I know the God in whom I trust, The arm on which I lean; He will my Saviour ever be, Who has my Saviour been; Strong in His strength my foes I face, Assured of victory through His grace.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

We Wait with Longing

by Christoph Blumhardt (1842–1919)

"Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God—Jesus, the Son of God. Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin" - Hebrews 4:14-15

Dear Father in heaven, we look to Jesus Christ, who is at your right hand, through whom you have promised help for the whole world. Unite us with him so that we may receive authority to help men according to your will. May your name be kept holy among us, for your children have every reason to rejoice in the Savior you have given them. We thank you for everything you have shown to those who believe in you. We pray to you, hasten the time when your day shall come with glory, the day when you will give the glory to Jesus Christ, when he will reign and triumph over all evil and bring the peace you have always wanted to give the world. We wait and long for this. Amen.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Personally Weak but Strong in Him

by Aiden Wilson Tozer

After the exchange of sin for righteousness is that of wrath for acceptance. Then comes the exchange of death for life. Christ died for dead men that they might rise to be living men. Paul's happy if somewhat involved testimony makes this clear: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) . This is mysterious but not incredible. It is one more example of how the ways of God and the ways of man diverge. Man is a born cobbler. When he wants a thing to be better he goes to work to improve it. He improves cattle by careful breeding; cars and planes by streamlining; health by diet, vitamins. and surgery; plants by grafting; people by education. But God will have none of this cobbling. He makes a man better by making him a new man. He imparts a higher order of life and sets to work to destroy the old. Then as suggested in the Isaiah text, the Christian exchanges weakness for strength. I suppose it is not improper to say that God makes His people strong, but we must understand this to mean that they become strong in exact proportion to their weakness, the weakness being their own and the strength God's. "When I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10), is the way Paul said it, and in so saying set a pattern for every Christian.