The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. – Zephaniah 3:17
Trusting God to see you and love you, meet your physical needs and save your soul in eternity requires a leap of faith. Many popular theologies today include bits of self-sufficiency in a hybrid message of God helping those already helping themselves. But Almighty God is strong enough to rescue the most unlovely, least likely, and seemingly least deserving person you know.
A faith that pleases God means you take your hands off the wheel and acknowledge His presence in your everyday life, regardless of how difficult your circumstances may be. When you believe in His strength rather than your own, He will bless you with peace, gladness, and wonder. Jesus tells a story about a son who squandered every good thing in his life. He wallowed in the foulest mire, embracing a sin-filled life. Yet, the father watched for him daily, anxious to answer his request for help, hoping to place the family ring on his finger and welcome him home (Luke 15:11-24). Is that the Father you are trusting today? Or does your God expect you to strive for your own solutions, winking at your shortcomings and ignoring your addiction to sin? Those are two very different versions of grace!
Embrace God’s mighty salvation through the blood of His Son, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Pray that God’s strength would be preached in fullness across America this year. Intercede for the many holding positions of leadership to hear that saving message and respond in faith.
Today’s Verse: Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-24
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
