Letting God Be All He Says He Is
Stop striving to open what trust will open automatically. His life is ready to flow.
📚 Devotional Credit:
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
📸 Photo Credit:
Image from Unsplash
In this entry, Oswald Chambers doesn’t ask us to try harder—he actually warns us against trying at all. His piercing question is simple: Are you still relying on something besides God? It may not be as blatant as saying, “I’ve got this,” but even subtle trust in self, circumstance, or “natural virtues” reveals a lingering independence that blocks us from experiencing the full flow of Christ’s indwelling life.
The real issue isn’t whether we can serve the Lord. Joshua told Israel they couldn’t, and Chambers echoes the same: we can’t—not in our own strength. But the call is not to self-effort; it’s to surrender. The moment we stop trying to become holy and instead yield to the One who is holy, His power begins to manifest through us.
Chambers also confronts the thought many believers have in quiet moments: “Surely God didn’t mean me… I’m too weak, too broken.” But that weakness? It’s exactly what makes you usable. The stronger your self-confidence, the more resistant you are to full dependence on Christ. When we stop arguing with grace and start believing that God means every word He says, then His mighty works are no longer hindered by our unbelief.
The heart of today’s message is this: God can live His holy life through you—if you stop trying to and simply let Him. That’s not passive neglect; it’s active yielding.
📓 Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture:
Beloved, I never asked you to live the Christian life on your own. I never asked you to perform holiness, produce it, or pretend you have it figured out. I asked you to believe—truly believe—that My life is now your life. You died, and your life is hidden with Me in God.
What you think disqualifies you is what opens you most to Me. Your weakness draws My strength. Your inability makes room for My sufficiency. When you stop measuring your worth by your readiness and instead rest in My indwelling presence, you begin to taste the very life I’ve always intended to live through you.
Don't resist the probing of My Spirit. When I touch a place in you where reliance still rests on self, it is not to shame you—it is to free you. I delight in those who stop justifying their limits and start trusting My limitless love.
You say, “But I can’t”—and you’re right. But I say, “I can”—and I live in you. Let Me be to you all that I have promised to be. Stop filtering My Word through your experience, and start filtering your experience through My Word. You are not meant to be the source—you are the vessel. I will fill, I will overflow, I will supply all that pertains to life and godliness, because I already have. Will you believe?
Scripture References: Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:6–14; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10; Colossians 3:3–4; John 15:4–5; 2 Peter 1:3; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 3:12, 19; Mark 6:5–6; Matthew 8:13; John 6:29; Romans 4:20–21; Isaiah 30:15
🌾 Real-Life Analogy:
Imagine standing in front of an automatic sliding door at a grocery store. If you resist, trying to pry it open yourself, it won’t budge—it wasn’t designed that way. But as soon as you stop trying and take one step forward, the door opens, responding to your presence.
It’s like that with the life of Christ within us. The more we strive to do the spiritual work ourselves, the more we block what’s already been prepared for us. But when we simply walk forward in trust—believing that Christ in us will express His life—the doors open.
As you begin today, think of one area where you’ve been trying to “live holy” in your own effort—maybe in a conversation you’re dreading or a personal weakness you wish would go away. Pause, and whisper in your heart: “Lord, I yield this to You. I trust You to be in me what I cannot be.” Then take that next step, not by your strength, but in His sufficiency.
🙏 Prayer of Confidence:
Father, thank You that You never asked me to live for You—but to let You live through me. You have already given me all that I need for life and godliness in Christ. I rest in Your provision. I trust that where I see weakness, You overflow with grace. Where I once relied on myself, I now rely on You.
I delight in knowing that my adequacy is not measured by my effort but by Your indwelling life. You are faithful to complete what You began. Today, I walk forward not to prove anything, but to express the life already planted within me by Your Spirit. You are enough—and You are mine.