Saving ourselves and setting ourselves free is a complete illusion and lie. Though we wish we had this kind of power, the reality is that we don't have this kind of power and we never will, apart from Jesus that is.
"It's always been Jesus. It will always be Jesus. It will never stop being the power of Jesus. His blood is sufficient for your salvation. His blood is sufficient to sustain you through every challenge, through every sin and every temptation. Jesus is enough."
If you call yourself a Christian, a Jesus follower, than we need to be continually checking ourselves in and when we are relying on ourselves, rather than in Jesus.
"I got saved by grace, but now that I'm in this deep dark place of bondage I better work hard to get myself out. What? That's the opposite of the Gospel....There's no answer within yourself."
"The greatest challenge is not your discipline, your devotion, your focus. Your greatest challenge is believing the Gospel."
Hands down, the Gospel is the greatest news of all time, period. There has been and will never be any greater news, ever. Do you believe this?
What I've come across time and time again is when we end up relying on ourselves in anyway, where we start thinking that our freedom, healing, deliverance, restoration, redemption, even salvation is dependent on something we need to do or on us working harder, than the Greatest News of all time will slowly becomes just OK News. The more we think it's about us, the less we allow the Good News to be Good News.
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me, Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:29-30 (MSG)
Is the Gospel the Greatest News ever or is it just OK News? When talking to people about the Gospel, the response we should be hearing from people is "Wow! This is too good to be true" because when it comes to the Gospel, it is too good too be true because Jesus has done it all.
"For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17 (NLT)
