Quote for the Day
“…the Son can do nothing by himself…”
Today's Prayer
This week ask your spouse to pray for you. Ask them to pray that you will see God’s will and God’s power, and that you will allow the flesh to be put aside and yielded to God.
John 5:16-30
John 5:16-30 (NIV)16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Message
In this passage we see the power of the Son and the relationship between the Father and the Son. The simple story we have looked at over the last few weeks has been the religious rulers and their reaction to the miracle of Jesus. We finally see their real concern: Jesus was calling Himself equal with the Father, and this they could not understand or put up with. The real message though is a bit further in the passage. In verse 19 Jesus says, “…the Son can do nothing by himself,” and then verse 30 expresses the amazing summary of their relationship, “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” This is most important for us to see. Jesus relied ONLY on the Father to do the Father’s will and NEVER sought to please Himself, only to please the Father. We too are in the same position; we are to do NOTHING outside of what the Father (through His Son and Holy Spirit) empowers us to do. It is never the flesh that will please the Father, only the power of Christ alone. So when we seek to please ourselves, we use the flesh, and what is achieved is not of God but of ourselves. When we allow Christ to work in, through, and with us, we have the power of the Father, giving glory to the Father.Read these verses each day this week, and ask the Father to reveal HIS will to you and then allow HIS power to accomplish it through you.