Day 26: Are You Strong Enough?
- Joni
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Did GOD really say this?
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for MYSELF through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD”
(Exodus 14:4).
Oh yes.
GOD didn't only SAY IT.
HE DID IT!
But wait.
Why would GOD harden Pharaoh's heart?
Is GOD a mean GOD?
NO.
Is GOD trying to create evil?
NO.
Pharaoh had already hardened his own heart again and again,refusing to
LISTEN
and
LET GOD'S PEOPLE GO.
Yet even Pharaoh's stubborn rebellioncould not stop
THE PURPOSE OF GOD.
GOD would use what Pharaoh intended for his own power
to reveal
GOD'S POWER.
Because GOD was about to do somethingthat no human being could possibly do.
HE was going to
PART THE RED SEA.
And when the sea opened,
there would be no question
WHO DID IT.
Moses couldn't do it.
The Israelites couldn't do it.
Pharaoh couldn't do it.
Only GOD.
And therefore,
GOD GETS THE GLORY.
Hmm.
There it is...
IT'S NOT ABOUT ME.
Because sometimes GOD allows usto stand before something
we absolutely
CANNOT DO
so we can experience
what only
HE CAN DO.
Fast-forward from the Red Seato another body of water.
There HE was.
JESUS.
Walking on water.
Peter sees HIM and questions,
“LORD, if it’s YOU, tell me to come to YOU on the water.”*
And JESUS says one word:
“COME”*.
And then,
"Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward JESUS”*
Wait.
Who gets the GLORY?
Peter?
Or
JESUS?
Hmm.
Because the moment Peter takes his eyes off JESUS and focuses on the wind,
he begins to SINK,
and cries out~
“LORD, save me!”
And
IMMEDIATELY
JESUS reaches out HIS hand and catches him.
“You of little faith... why did you doubt?”(*Matthew 14).
Hmm.
Who gets the GLORY?
So I ask you~
WHO PARTED THE RED SEA?
GOD.
WHO ENABLED PETER TO WALK ON WATER?
JESUS.
WHO REACHED DOWN WHEN PETER BEGAN TO SINK?
JESUS.
WHO GETS THE GLORY?
GOD.
And maybe that is the point.
When I can do everything myself,
I can easily begin thinking
I DID IT.
But when I reach the place where I absolutely cannot~
I have an opportunity to
TRUST GOD,
WAIT PATIENTLY,
and
WATCH EXPECTANTLY
for GOD to do
what only
GOD CAN DO.
That doesn't mean I do nothing.
It means everything I do is dependent upon
HIM.
Because,
“I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me”(Philippians 4:13).
Not~
LOOK WHAT I CAN DO.
But~
LOOK WHAT CHRIST CAN DO THROUGH ME.
All because of
My JESUS.
Your JESUS
THE ONE who STRENTHENS us.
ALL FOR HIS GLORY.
Because...
IT'S NOT ABOUT ME.
But here is the amazing thing.
The GOD whose story isn't ultimately about you or me, as it is
ALL ABOUT GOD,
because GOD made it all about usthe moment
JESUS didn't make it about HIMSELF
on the bloody day on the cross.
Because HE made it about
EVERYONE~
"This is how much GOD loved the world: HE gave HIS SON, HIS ONE & ONLY SON...
GOD didn’t go to all the trouble of sending HIS SON merely to point an accusing finger,t elling the world how bad it was. HE came to help, to put the world right again.
Anyone who TRUSTS IN HIM is acquitted;anyone who refuses to
TRUST HIM
has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it.
And why?
Because of that person’s failure to
BELIEVE in the one-of-a-kind SON-OF-GOD when introduced to HIM"
(John 3:16 MSG).
Wow!
There it is.
ALL FOR HIS GLORY~
And JESUS showed us
what
ALL FOR HIS GLORY
looks like.
HE didn't come seeking
HIS own earthly applause.
HE came
to SERVE,
to SAVE,
to SURRENDER,
to DIE,
and
to RISE.
So maybe
ALL FOR HIS GLORY
isn't about making ourselves invisible.
It's about making
JESUS VISIBLE.
Less~
LOOK AT ME.
More~
LOOK AT HIM.
Because when GOD parts the RED SEAS in my life,
when JESUS catches me as I am sinking,
when HE STRENGTHENS me to do what I could never do alone,
I don't have to wonder
WHO GETS THE GLORY.
HE DOES.
It's not about ME.
It's all about HIM.
And because
HE SO LOVES,
HE invites
EVERYONE
into
HIS STORY
so that our lives can point back to
HIM.
ALL FOR HIS GLORY.
Because that my friend,
is
“MY JESUS.”
(listen to the song below)
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