💪 Psalm 73:26 | Strength = Submission
PLUS: Jesus as the model & community spotlight
Kieran Lenahan
May 16, 2024
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Happy Thursday!
If you missed any of this week’s emails, you can click here (and scroll down after clicking).
📧 In today’s email…
✝️ The paradox of strength
🛣️ What to do at the fork in the road
🔦 Community spotlight!
🧠 Memorize
see if you know what words go in the blanks
__ _____ ___ __ heart ___ ____,
but ___ __ ___ ________ of __ _____ and __ _______ forever.
Psalm 73:26
(Answer key below. You can also use our free web app to memorize in your favorite translation. Set up instructions are linked at the bottom of this email.)
The Paradox of Strength ✝️
All throughout Scripture, we see a theme:
that true strength and power is not found in self, but rather in submission to God.
Some examples:
Here, James directs believers to submit to God and resist the devil.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
On Tuesday, I shared this from 2 Corinthians 12:9:
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
To the world, this looks like a paradox - something that doesn’t make sense on the surface.
But in the Kingdom, this is how it works:
Strength = Weakness
Power = Submission
Power and strength are found in weakness and submission
Think about the very start of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew 4.
Immediately after being baptized and receiving his identity from the Father —
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
— Jesus is “led by the Spirit” into a situation where He fasts - which is a practice of intentionally bringing himself to a point where his flesh would fail.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
When Jesus’ flesh is failing, the enemy comes to him and tests him 3 times.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
All three of the enemy’s tests appeal to the legitimate power that Jesus had as the Son of God to overcome the failing of his flesh.
But each time, we see Jesus (weak in the flesh through fasting) choose submission.
That is the heart of our memory verse this week (and what James says in James 4:7).
Practice: Choose God at the Fork in the Road 🤔
When our flesh and our hearts fail, we come to a fork in the road.
We are presented with a choice:
Run to God to be our strength, refuge and rock, OR
To give into the enemy’s plot and choose something other than God to run to
Picture this when you come to the end of yourself, when your heart and flesh are failing.
And my guess is that the times that you choose God?
Those are probably the times you feel most alive and in step with the Spirit!
In those moments, you can take Jesus’ words — as he was about to head to the cross to die a gruesome death — as your own:
41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
Praise God that Jesus chose submission to the Father’s will when he was at the fork in the road 🙏
Practice: Look for the Fork 🛣️
As you go about your next few days, look out for moments when you face a fork in the road: a choice between running towards God or running towards something else.
Say a prayer in that moment and ask God to give you the strength to choose Him!
🗣️ Bonus: Share the “fork in the road” concept with someone today and encourage them to choose God!
Community spotlight 🔦
Shout-outs 📣
Shout out to Linda and Claudia for sharing Malachi Daily with friends!
HUGE thank you’s to M. Brown, Jason S and one anonymous subscriber for choosing to pay-it-forward so we can help more people memorize and learn about God’s Word!
Community Feedback ❤️
Love it!! Thank you for letting the Word speak for itself, with the historical background as an added bonus!
Rita
Until three weeks ago, I couldn't memorize ANYTHING but I've memorized three verses! I can recite all three out loud from memory.
I thank God for this and all of you for being ambassadors.
P
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Answer key ✅
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26
Have a blessed Thursday ✌️
Best,
Kieran & Isaac
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