As we’ve explored our relationship with God as His handiwork through the biblical metaphors of the vineyard and the potter the past couple of months, they force us to acknowledge our need to submit to Him. Here is a devotion that explores the first necessary attitude of being God’s child:

IN WORD – The disciples must have been scratching their heads. Jesus told them that God was honored when they bore much fruit. Because just a few sentences earlier, He told them that they couldn’t bear any fruit. At least not on their own. Two thousand years of commentary have given us plenty of time to grasp what Jesus is saying, but the disciples had only had three years with Him. This surely was confusing to them. We might share their confusion, to a degree.
We know that we are to worship God with everything in us, and that includes living a fruit-bearing life. But we easily slip from the spiritual realm into a very natural translation. We think we’re called to go out and work for God. He is honored by fruit, so we intend to bear fruit. We forget a very key element of Jesus’ teaching: We can’t. We don’t have that ability.
Unless we’re abiding in the Vine—in Him—we’re just dead branches. We know the answer, of course, at least in our minds. Jesus is to bear fruit in us and through us. He is the producer, and we’re the branches through whom He produces. But it is remarkably easy to forget that we need to depend on Him as the source of production. We realize eventually that we’re only spinning our wheels by our busywork, but our inclination is only to work harder. We have to train ourselves in an unnatural pose: spiritual, emotional, and even physical dependence.
IN DEED – The element of dependence is why God is glorified when we bear fruit. If we achieved things for God, we would be glorified, not Him. But our incapability gives Him a platform to work in the Spirit. He can work in an insufficient life to much greater honor than He can in a self-sufficient life. Our inabilities can be turned into an act of worship, if we’ll offer them up to His power. Have you learned yet that your dependence on God—your manifest weakness, in fact—is an occasion for His glory? Let Him be honored in you. Learn dependence. “The more we depend on God, the more dependable we find He is.” – Cliff Richard (in “Worship the King” by Chris Tiegreen)

One of the verses that keeps me going when I feel overwhelmed is 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” This was the apostle Paul’s response when he realized his dependence on God. Though Paul came from a good family, had a 1st century Ivy League education, and political power, he nevertheless revelled in his dependence and realized such a state is to be coveted far more than anything the world could offer.
Do you share such a desire to depend on God, or is God merely an insurance card for when you get into trouble? Take time to reflect on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 and ask the Holy Spirit to help you experience the powerful strength and joy of dependence on God alone. Have a blessed week! – back in Singapore, Pastor Sam