Day 3
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13 NLT
It is so easy to forget who really is at work in us when we are disappointed in ourselves or when something happens that feels uncomfortable. However, this verse is a reminder of just how much God is active in our lives and making available to us His unlimited resources.
This verse starts by reminding us that it is God who is working. Not just anyone, but Jehovah the existing one, the Living Word, the one who called the worlds into being, the one who names the stars. This God is personally active in my life, loving me enough to actively and continually be at work in me.
What is God doing in my life? He is working in me, implying he is engaged in me, he is busy and active, he is moving things along, he is on track, he is alive, labouring, and present in my life. None of this journey is a road of His absence. He is participating in every moment of my life. He is busy in me.
What is He busy doing? He is giving. He is a giver in every sense of it, but in my life he is offering me, allowing me, supplying my life, furnishing me, and dispensing to me.
What is He giving? I personally love this. He is offering me the desire. What? All of a sudden I am reminded that I can’t even give myself desire when it comes to accomplishing His will. He gives everything. This is a humbling moment and a reminder of just how dependant I am upon Abba. It is a reminder, as well, of how dependable He is. We can trust him for everything even to furnish us with desire. Absolutely incredible. Whatever I lack, he is at work making available. How can one not be overwhelmed with such an amazing God?
He offers desire. When I think of desire I think of ambition, appetite, hunger, motive, craving, and eagerness. My incredible God is dispensing hunger in me. Wow. He is furnishing me with eagerness. He is supplying my life with ambition. He really does do the work. I am realizing one so trustworthy deserves unhindered trust.
He doesn’t stop there. He does not just make available hunger. He then gives me the power, the capability, the empowerment, and strength. He infuses my life with whatever is needed to do what pleases him.
He doesn’t just want me to do what pleases him or what satisfies, delights or overjoys him. He actually gives my life the longing to do it and the strength to bring delight to his heart. This is a humbling but absolutely delightful word. He really is our provider in every sense of the word.
So, I am reminded God is busy in me, furnishing me with eagerness and then supplying me with the capability to do what overjoys him.
I hope this word has blessed you the way it has me. Again looking forward to seeing how we can apply this to our lives. I am going to start with a time of thanksgiving and praise for His Faithfulness in every moment.
Comments(4)
Sue Holmes says:
January 7, 2014 at 11:45 pmWow! The initial message I got from this verse was ‘no excuse’. This relates back to what I mentioned in day 1’s comment about being hesitant to take things on because of my own lack of strength.
He is at work in me … my Creator, my Designer, my loving Father. The one who knew me while I was still in the womb. Him!!!
He’s working … actively involved , doing something, performing a task.
In me … my inner being … the depths … the core of me.
His work produces a gift. The finished product of His work is a gift presented to me. And what is that gift … the very thing that life has taken from me … strength! The strength to do His will. The strength to please Him. But more than that … He gives me the desire. Desire fulfilled speaks to me of joy … “the joy of the Lord is my strength” Joy can be contagious. I see it as a fire that struggles but once it has truly ignited it feeds on itself and keeps burning as long as there is fuel to feed it. My Lord’s joy (desire) bubbles and produces more joy. It doesn’t just produce more joy (desire) in me but also in Him.
I am encouraged also by your emphasis of Him being a giver of someone who wants to pour into my life of someone personally involved. I am thankful that He is the One at work … that my responsibility is to accept that work. And that He even gives me the desire to accept it and power to act on it. It would be an empty attempt if it fell on me some days to desire to please Him and every day to have the power to please Him. My strength is in Him. My desire is Him.
Susan Craig says:
January 7, 2014 at 11:55 pmPersonally this message could not have come at a better time. The past 24 hours has been extremely challenging for me. When I look back at it now,it was only the fact that God gave me first the desire/will to act and then the power to act in 2 emergency situations that I doubt I could ever have handled on my own-weak and tired as I am. Once again the abiding in the vine comes to mind-If we are not abiding in Him,receiving our nourishment from Him,our ability to cope in stressful life situations would be nil. A quick prayer heavenward-God help me!- is all that is needed and we discover power we never had before and clarity of mind to act as needed and even after the adrenalin rush is over,the calm peace of mind when our bodies are so,so weary. Knowing that He is with me in these moments ,providing strength and power for my part in His work, is liberating. In it all is the added blessing that He is pleased with what He is able to accomplish through us-That He is pleased with my small pitiful weak efforts is so awesome and rewarding to my spirit-even when I am exhausted from the work, He is pleased with my willingness to be used by Him-because He is the desire,the power and the glory-as it should be!! It is moments like these that I can almost hear his whisper in my heart-well done my faithful servant!! What more could we possibly desire than that????
Patricia and Keith says:
January 8, 2014 at 1:49 amFor God: The Creator of the universe, of all that is – vast expanses of space, focussed on each of the tiny inhabitants of the tiny planet Earth; each one designed by Him as a unique being, born out of His never ending capacity to love. God: The Almighty, the Great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; for: obeying His commandments, acting on His behalf, following His ways.
Is working in you: So all He is, is at work in me/us. All that is His work – His chosen work – is going on inside me. I may feel detached at times but I am not. He is shaping you. He is active in you, He continues with you, He is present in you, He enables you, present tense – is not was – He continues.
Giving you: Bestowing something unearned. Blessing. He is offering you a gift. He who needs nothing provides to you. He opens the storehouses of Heaven.
The desire: The deep longing that nothing else can fill. The anticipation of wonder. Love burning into flame and passion. A need for – a yearning, a hunger, the longing for that which fulfills, a need to know.
And the power: The Power, His Power! God bestowing His Power in us – the Power that created the Earth and rose Jesus from the dead! Strength, the ability to overcome, that which gives authority, bursting out (e.g. light bursting out through cracked vase, as Freda spoke of once).
To do: To act, to come alive, to move, to purpose and act on it, to create, to work. To act, to continue the work (of the Gospel), to serve God.
What pleases Him: Find out what pleases Him! What brings pleasure to Him? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbour as yourself. Love your enemies, tend the widows and orphans. Obeying His commands, serving others, 3 loves: the Lord your God, neighbours and love each other. Being bold (not brash) to act for Him and in His Name.
How does this apply to your life and what will you do with it.
Application: I need to accept and welcome His shaping of me.
What will I do: Pray for the desire He has placed in me to keep growing stronger. Do my best to do what He wants me to do. Know that I act in His strength not my own so I can do things I`ve only imagined. Pray to be bold and step into the gap.
Pat McRae says:
January 12, 2014 at 11:58 pmWhen I couple this verse with day 1 I get excited. How good God is! He tells me to be confident He is working in me and gives me a few days to let His confidence grow in me. He challenges me with “whatever happens conduct yourself” and now He encourages me. How? By once again letting me know He is still at work in the “whatever”. Isn’t it wonderful He gives me the desire and the power to please Him. Oh the flesh rises up and the thoughts of me, my and I get in the way at times, but, (there’s my favourite word) but along comes the Holy Spirit to whisper in my ear “not your way Pat, come walk with my way it is good” and that’s not the end of it He endues me with the desire and the power to walk His way. I have lots of good desires but I now see desire is not enough I also need the power of God to be able to make those desires reality. Not my power to accomplish His desires but His power. No power for the desire, maybe, just maybe it is not God’s desire for me even if it is good.