Like Jesus

God has not said that He wants a improved you when you decide to follow Him. He doesn't want someone who is a better version of themselves. He gives us an example of what He wants us to be in this life. He wants us to be like Jesus. When I compare myself to Jesus I realize that I am not even close. It isn't as if I can fix a little bit here and tweak something over there and then I will be like Him. I can't do it. But Jesus told us how God wants to bring this about in our lives. He told us that He is the vine and we are the branches. The vine gives life to the branches. The branches die on their own. But when we are connected continually to Jesus, His fruit is what comes out. The character of Jesus is what comes out of us when we stay connected with the vine. When we disconnect from the vine our fruit becomes rotten. We can't bear fruit apart from Jesus. We can't have Jesus' character apart from Him.

Relying on God

I firmly believe that God uses our circumstances and trials in life to bring us to a place where we rely only on Him. In the beginning of the summer I began to ask God to move in my life. And He has answered that prayer time and time again over the last few months. He has brought to my attention areas that I need to change. He has allowed things to happen around me that make it so I can only rely on Him. I can't rely on myself because what He has asked me to do is far beyond my abilities. I don't have the strength or talents to do this on my own. But through yielding to God's will and allowing Him to work through me is how He is getting things done. I tell God quite often that I can't do this (whatever this is at the time) but He can through me and I ask Him to do it. And He does. He meets me and works through my weaknesses and my strengths to move. This week, ask God to work through your situation and see how He does it for you.