Our Sufficiency

                                                                                                                           

Aloha Dearest Family,

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." (II Corinthians 3:5) 

This scripture is at the heart of the Christian life that we desire to walk. Many of God's people tend to think that after we got born again, we were pretty much on our own. Sure, we have our church family and there things that we need to do; like study His Word, give, love people and tell others about God and His son. We were put into the family of God to help others and do the work that God has called us to do. In a nutshell, we are called to walk like Jesus Christ. This can be a daunting task if you think about it. How can we hope to accomplish this? If we try to accomplish this in our own strength we will certainly fail. Let us look at an example from the life of Joseph.

    Pharaoh had a dream that no one in his realm could interpret. But someone who had once been in prison with Joseph, told the Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret his dream. When Joseph was brought before Pharaoh Joseph said, 

"I cannot do it Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." (Genesis 41:16 NIV) 

Joseph had simply told the Pharaoh that he, by his own power, could not do it, but God could do it. What happened next not only saved Egypt from destruction, but many other nations as well, including Israel. Joseph was put in charge of the entire nation of Egypt and during times of great famine, Egypt prospered and saved the lives of millions. Without Joseph looking to God for the answers, he would have failed, and Egypt would have perished. God has the answers to any difficulty we will ever face. We need to get to a place in our lives where we understand that if we want to fulfill our calling, we cannot do it on our own. If we learn anything else in life, it is that we need God.

You would think that of all of the men who ever lived, Jesus Christ had the power in himself to fulfill his mission. But even Jesus could not do it without God.

"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (John 5:30) 

Of all the incredible things that Jesus did, he always knew that he was not his own sufficiency. He knew that God was his sufficiency, and that was the great secret of his success. Whatever made us think that we can do it on our own?

Let's look at II Corinthians 3:5 again from other translations. 

- "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." (New International Version)

 

- "It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God." (New Living Translation)

 

- "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God," (New American standard Bible)

 

- "By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified." (GODS WORD Translation)    

                                                                

It is not within the believer to manifest his own success. God has to be his sufficiency.

 There is a record where the Apostle Paul went to God three separate times for God to remove his "thorn in the flesh". There is much talk in Christian circles about what this' thorn in the flesh" really was. Many think it was some physical sickness or ailment that Paul had. But according to the Bible, Paul's thorn in the flesh were the people that were causing him anguish and grief on a daily basis. As the Apostle to the Gentiles, he faced much opposition; mostly from his own nation, Israel. They tried to stop and hinder him in any way they could. Paul went to God three times to ask Him to remove this thorn in the flesh from him. What was God's answer?

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (II Corinthians 12:9) 

The grace that was given to him was all he needed. God's grace was more than enough for him to endure any and all situations that he would face. We succeed, not because we are so great, but because HE IS. We are more than conquerors only because He is our sufficiency.

Jesus Christ gave us one of greatest keys to success. In John 15:4 he says, 

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine,. no more can ye, except ye abide in me." 

He says that the branch cannot produce fruit of itself. It needs to be attached to the vine to thrive. If we abide in Christ as a branch abides in the vine, we will bear much fruit. 

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5) 

Could he make it any plainer? Since we cannot bear fruit of ourselves, we need to stay connected to the life source, the vine, which is Jesus Christ. If we don't stay attached to the vine, we won't get the nourishment we need to stay alive.

"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) 

We not only need physical food, but we also need a daily diet of God's Word to stay healthy and to live.

God and Jesus Christ are all we need and they are found in the pages of the Bible. Let us not look to any other source for our nourishment. For in them we will find that they are our sufficiency for our life.

Love Always, Ray