Devotionals on Ability

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• A lot is made of Paul. 'What a great man Paul was naturally, what intellect he had, what training, what tremendous abilities!' That may all be true, but ask Paul what value it was to him when he was right up against a spiritual situation.

• Biblical Faith Biblical faith is a confident trust in God’s character, ability, promises, and word.
• Confident Trust Biblical faith is a confident trust in God’s character, ability, promises, and word.

• We may secretly pride ourselves on our ability to minister, or on our efficient service, and reap nothing but frustration.

• A force or influence does not have reasoning ability – nor make choices or decisions.

• Father’s Promise Our eternal security is not based on our own abilities but founded on God alone. The salvation of all the redeemed is established on the Father’s promise.

• Great Divide The necklace of pride that chokes man’s thinking and darkens man’s mind emanates from a heart that has confidence in its own abilities to meet the righteous criteria that is laid out by the Father – a confidence in his own abilities and based on human merit.

• Biblical faith has confidence in God’s character, His Word, His ability, and promises.

• Whether we recognize it or not, these difficulties and troubles which come to us are to train us for something and to develop in us the spirit of sonship; that is, to develop spiritual intelligence and spiritual ability in us. -T.

• We are counseled to depend upon the Spirit, but in practice dependence is really on human wisdom, ability, personality and programs.

• Such a man also has first-hand knowledge of the loving care of the Chief Shepherd, and His ability to heal one who has come humbly to trust in Him and Him alone. Therefore, he does not easily despair of others, but looks beyond sinfulness, wilfulness, and stupidity, to the might of unchanging love.

• Not only an objective truth, but a subjective power, and it is a great day when the slightest fragment of known truth becomes a vital personal experience in its working ability.

• We are not to rely on our self; our abilities or intelligence; our knowledge or mind.

• All my ability to act for the Lord Jesus here depends on my conscious identification with Him where He is, not where He was for me; though as I receive power from Him I walk here even as He walked; His life is manifested in me. -J.B.S.

• God’s Ability Can you not trust Him to complete what He started before the ages began?

• Humanities Model It is impossible to reach God’s standards in our own fleshy ability, for without me ye can do nothing John 15:5. But the example of the perfect walk, demonstrated by Christ, is achievable, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

• God’s intention was that man would fulfil the righteous requirements of the Law in dependence upon Him – rather than relying on his own abilities, strength, or wisdom.
• Man’s Inability And when we attempt in our own strength to meet our own needs or try to reach God’s standard, through self-confidence in our own abilities, we will also fail.

• The ability to trust is within the capacity of us all..
• But even one experience of disloyalty or worse can shatter the ability to trust..as protective barriers are erected and defensive strategies established– so that there is no possibility that 'another' will let us down.

• Righteous Requirements Christ’s demands are indeed impossible and far exceed man’s natural abilities.

• The Lord ability to crowd vast ranges into small phrases is amazing.

• Any aspect of life or conduct which is undertaken in dependence on the energy and ability of the flesh is, to that extent, purely legal in character, whether it be the whole revealed will of God, the actual written commandments, or the exhortations of grace.

•   To be willing to accept crucifixion with Christ, to leave all yourself, your plans and your longings, your abilities and your possessions, all of them at the Cross, so that you only trust and love and live for the Lord Jesus, hurts a great deal.

• Its presumptuous claim to be a sufficient source of wisdom and ability has to be exposed in its big lie.

• Natural Man Our natural abilities and developed personalities mean nothing.

• Content in the things that subject me to the extremity of pressure on behalf of Christ..  for when I am weak – then I am filled with His ability and His power, as I rest In Him, and as He works through me.

• Filled With The Spirit They were all baptised in the Spirit and then everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them His ability. What a day of gladness that must have been for those that were present on that day. What a time of rejoicing it is for all who are empowered by the same Holy Spirit.

• Such a man also has a firsthand knowledge of the loving care of the Chief Shepherd, and His ability to heal one who has come humbly to trust Him and Him alone.

• It is in this school that we acquire the ability to comfort others; so that our personal affliction or personal comfort work unto the same end, even the profit of others for we are their servants for Jesus’ sake.” -J.L.H. 221

• As sinners we do not have the ability not to sin because sin is a part of who we are.

• His ability to deal with the situation is because He is no longer involved in the situation.

• and by the power of my own abilities and the wisdom of my own capacities – I am bankrupt.

• And when a deeper planting comes, remember it is the roots being driven downwards, and the issue is going to be most surely endurance, stability, and ability to stand; but, oh, there is going to be greater fruitfulness.

• We cannot do good to others save at a cost to ourselves, and our afflictions are the price we pay for our ability to sympathize.

• When men or women are called by God into some piece of Divine ministry and, in the face of the demand, are conscious to the last degree that they have no ability, no resource, no power to fulfill that ministry, that in themselves the thing is utterly impossible, that for them to essay to do it would be the utmost folly and absurdity when in such circumstances they recognize that they have a living Christ in whom are resources more than enough to meet that demand... and by faith lay hold of Him and go forward into the ministry with that consciousness... that is spirituality; and that is practical, tremendously practical.

• You must abide in Christ in heaven before you can descend with heavenly ability to act for Him down here.

• I not only took you as a sinner, but I took you as being all that you are by nature; your good as well as your bad; your abilities as well as your disabilities; yes, every resource of yours.

• the man who was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, whose knowledge surpassed all others – a man who concerning the righteousness  (which is of the law) was blameless… this man of great intellect, knowledge, zeal, and ability cried in his final years when he realized Who was the common denominator: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death – that I may know HIM.

• To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one – to each according to his ability.

• Cross to Carry Great faith is not so much seen in the ability to do. Great faith is exhibited in the willingness to suffer with patient endurance. To have a God of compassion and empathy we need to have a suffering Saviour, Who in all points was tested like as we are, Yet without sin, for Who but the heart of Him could understand the suffering we choose to bear.

• The glory of Jesus Christ which He had with the Father before the world was, the glory of the Son is that; that He has this sole Divine prerogative, right, power and ability to bring Light.

• Many sermons are clever and full of mental ability, but they are starvation to the spirit.

• The key to everything with God is Life.... We must realize that Christ's ascendancy, supremacy, power, ability and all that goes with Headship, is in terms of His prerogative of Life.

• Many also seek to carry out His commands through their own will and ability..  but we can never become like Him through endeavour, imitation, or self-effort.

• When I took you, I not only took you as the sinner that you might regard yourself to be, but I took you as being all that you are by nature; your good (?) as your bad; your abilities as well as your disabilities; yes, every resource of yours.

• Thus, a rich knowledge of the Scriptures, an accurate technical grasp of Christian doctrine, a doing of Christian work by all the resources of men's natural wisdom or ability, a clever manipulation and interesting presentation of Bible content and themes, may get not one whit beyond the natural life of men, and still remain within the realm of spiritual death.

• Because it is not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit; and to show that there are powers, energies, abilities for His own which transcend all the greatest powers and abilities of this world.

• I have the ability and choice to muster my person to concentrate on God or to focus on me, but only concentration on Him will result in a willing transformation of my soul – while concentration on my will results in self-will over-riding the Spirit’s will.

• The Lord would teach us and this is the lesson that my heart is bent upon learning, and that I would urge upon you to make your quest also that the ground of assurance is not in our having decided for Christ, nor that we persist in the Christian life, nor that we feel strong, nor that we have certain ability as Christians and are able to do this or that.

• To each servant the Lord has given gifts, talents, abilities, jobs,  for it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants, and He entrusted to them his property.
• All spiritual gifts, however, have been given with infinite care by the Spirit of God. All talents have been carefully chosen by Him to match each servant’s personal potential. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

• Tough Lessons But Saul of Tarsus met Jesus and had to be taught some of life’s toughest lessons. He learned that his own wisdom; knowledge; charisma and ability counted as nothing. He learned about faith: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1Cor.2:5.

• Do we simply trust God at His Word or are we trusting in our own abilities?

• God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1Cor 10:31

• No two life-journeys are the same for we all face our own particular problems, disappointments, and challenges, and we are all equipped with our own unique God-given abilities, gifts, and graces.

• Paul was a man who was learning that he could not trust in his own ability and cleverness.

• May we never doubt the supernatural ability of our great and awesome God, and trust Him in every area of life so that we too may become spiritually fruitful for His sake and produce fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred-fold.

• Christ is fully God and fully Man, uniting holy deity with perfect humanity; and fruitfulness in the life of a believer results from the very life of the Son being reproduced within the life of the Christian.Throughout His earthly life, Jesus did not rely on His attributes of deity nor His human abilities to live His life, but He set an example of how every born-again child of God must live if his life is to be fruitful and glorify the Father.

• The moment they sinned they received a conscience, causing them to know what was good without the ability to do good, and to recognise evil without the capacity to avoid it - Oh!

• Only His protective hand can shelter us from the storms of life and not our own limited, human abilities.
• It is the strength of the Lord Jesus Who sustains those who do not rely upon their own abilities.

• In Hebrews, we read that Sarah received the ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered God was faithful Who had promised she would be the mother of multitudes.
• By faith, Sarah received the ability to conceive, beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful Who had made the promise.

• The deeds undertaken by 'the old man' (the old sin nature - our human ability), which we received from the first 'terrestrial' creation, when we were born of Adam, can produce nothing of value, just wood, hay, and stubble.
• We are to live, and work, and be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might, not in the strength and power of our own, fleshly, human abilities.

• All power has been given to Him by the Father and so He can, with absolute authority, declare His ability to save to the uttermost, all that trust in His name.

• Like Adam, we have knowledge of what is evil, but no ability to avoid it and do something good.

• This meant that Adam knew what was good without the power to do it, and knew what was evil without the ability to avoid it.

• This is not a strength that is manufactured by one's own effort or developed through one's cognitive abilities or physical adeptness.

• Keeping laws or rituals, whether self-imposed or insisted upon by a denomination or organisation, inflates the ego, for our sufficiency is dependent on my abilities and what I do.
• However, the gospel of grace nurtures humility, for it admits one's own inabilities and insufficiencies and depends completely on God and His abilities and sufficiency: For we are not competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence and sufficiency comes from God.
• Our own ability is always insufficient for the task and so we have to rely on God's abilities, for our sufficiency is from Him alone.

• We are not only cautioned of the dangers of putting our reliance on other people, but also of trusting in ourselves and our own abilities.

• How wise, therefore, to use our rational thought and God-given free-will to plan wisely, to the best of our ability, while recognising that while God may permit our plan to move forward, He may overrule it or even advance it further.

• This is a godly principle of faith – that when we abide in Christ during the inevitable disasters that flood our lives, faith increases, trust is amplified, hope is expanded, and our love of Jesus reaches even greater heights, as we grow in grace and in a knowledge of Him.Oh, such life victory has nothing to do with our own great strength, intellectual ability, or healthy bank balance, for of ourselves we would be overwhelmed by all these things rather than becoming a conqueror through Christ.

• Neither Jew nor Greek have the ability, credentials, or capability to save themselves, for God alone has the capacity to save fallen man.

• There were times when Titus journeyed with Paul and Barnabas on their missionary travels, and his responsibility in Crete demonstrates Paul's confidence in his ability.He even accompanied them to the Jerusalem Council, where it was agreed that Gentiles, like Titus, did not have to do be circumcised or adopt Jewish practices following their conversion – because Jew and Gentile alike, were part of the One New Man.

• Like all of fallen humanity, they were sinners, at enmity with God, knowing what was right without the ability to do what was good and knowing what was evil, without the capacity to avoid it.

• Like Abraham, we are to have confidence in His power and His faithfulness to carry out all that He has purposed and all that He has promised, which means that we do not rely on our own understanding or abilities, our merit or righteousness, but rest on the veracity of His Word.
• There is a false righteousness that we think we can try to achieve in our own strength and through our own abilities and strength until we discover that there are none that are righteous, and the things that we consider to be virtuous and good, are like filthy rags in the eyes of God Who alone is righteousness.

• It is not an empty hope, but an ability to keep trusting the Lord in a situation that others have rendered as hopeless.

• Her beautiful relationship with the Lord had been severed, and she discovered a shocking reality; she had the knowledge of evil without the ability to avoid it and the knowledge of good without the ability to do it.

• Love describes the character of God, for God is love, and when the love of God permeates a soul, no anxious thoughts can overwhelm the love of God within, for the one who fears is not perfected in love - their ability to love others has not reached the fulness of love.

• Although Paul was the first to point out, elsewhere in scripture, that a workman is worthy of his hire, we discover that he used his tent-making abilities to provide for his basic needs during much of his own ministry.

• We are to live by trusting in Jesus and not by trusting in our own abilities.

• And yet like his Creator, man was given the ability to communicate through speech, the power to reason with his mind, the free will to make wise choices, the capacity to work, and the privilege to express his inner feeling through a variety of God-given emotions.

• We do this by trusting God to work His perfect will in and through our lives, and not by trying to live a good life or trusting in ourselves and our own abilities.

• Although there are many more qualities that Paul lists in later verses connected with a man's spiritual maturity, his reputation in the community, his behaviour at home, his relationship with his family, and his ability to act with self-restraint whether alone or in company, this verse deals specifically with the important issues of a man's moral attitude, ethical behaviour, and spiritual maturity.

• Jesus, the God-Man, was given life within Himself, (a Life-Giving Spirit), the authority to judge His kinsfolk, (fallen humanity), and the ability to give life to all who would believe on His name.

• All Scripture has been written for our learning, but the New Testament epistles give specific guidance and instruction on living the Christian life in this Church dispensation.God has given us all we need for life and godliness, and we have been given the holy Scriptures which provide clear teaching on how to walk in spirit and truth and why we should abide in Christ and He in us.We have the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead us in the way we should go, Who has promised to lead and guide in all things... and we have Christ's assurance that His grace is sufficient for every eventuality we may face – for when we are weak in our own abilities, we have His precious promise that His strength will enable us to stand fast in the evil day.The instructions earlier in the epistle of James, cover a wide range of topics that enable the believer to live a life that is honouring to the Lord.

• David proved that the Lord our God is a faithful God, Who will not let us be tried beyond our ability to endure, but will also provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure life's problems and pain, and we have all been given that same wonderful promise.

• The Lord knows His people, but His people must know their Lord and trust in the power of His might, by faith – so they can say in full assurance, The Lord is my strength I will not trust in my own abilities; the Lord is my strength and I will trust in Him.The Lord not only gives us His strength in time of need, but He also blesses His people with peace.

• It is futile to try to follow Christ based on our own merit, abilities, or achievements.
• Our confidence must never rest in ourselves or our abilities.

• No doubt he had heard about Christ's ability to heal the sick and had an assurance, in his heart, that Jesus was able to make him clean.

• Instead of walking with his Creator in the cool of the evening and enjoying fellowship with the Lord, Adam hid himself from the face of God because he was afraid and ashamed - and his God-focused heart was replaced with a self-centered soul which relied on his own fleshly abilities, instead of depending on the Lord's almighty provision.
• Do we place our hope in our personal abilities, the achievements of man, the works of the flesh, or ungodly alliances?

• The Pharisees had become so frustrated with the adulation that the Lord Jesus received from the crowds because of His supernatural abilities and Messianic claims, that they threatened to excommunicate from the synagogue, any person who was prepared to legitimise Christ's gifts of healing or consider His Messianic claims to be authentic.

• He does not rely on his own strength and innate abilities, but places his trust in the Lord and is confident that God's Word would come to pass.

• Spiritual gifts or spiritual abilities are given to all who have confessed Christ as Saviour and have been indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
• Indeed, it is the Spirit Himself, Who gives each one of us the spiritual gifts or abilities He has chosen for us.
• We are to use our spiritual abilities, according to the proportion of our faith.

• Jesus had sent His twelve apostles out with a special commission to preach repentance to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and had given them apostolic authority and divine ability to: Drive out many demons, anoint many sick people with oil, and heal them.

• We should not trust in our own abilities nor should we rely on our personal bank balance.
• Throughout Scripture, we are reminded to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not to rely on our own knowledge, abilities, accumulated wealth, or understanding... and how frequently we are implored to cast all our cares and concerns upon Him, knowing that He cares for us, provides for us, defends us, and upholds us.

• Not only did they question God's power to heal in their own hesitant hearts, but undermined the faith of this anguished man causing him to doubt Christ's ability to heal.
• It was not Christ's ability to heal that was in question, for He created all things and by Him all things hold together.
• Faith sets no limit on God's ability, for the one who is ready and willing to trust Him in all things, submit to His will, and not permit mountainous problems or seemingly impossible situations to adversely influence their faith in God's ability, is the one who will witness great things in their life.
• Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and His ability to heal the broken-hearted, cast out demons, set the captive free, make the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak, has never diminished over time.

• But he also needed to place his trust in the Lord's promises and not in his own merit and abilities.

• Although miraculously redeemed from Egypt, Israel doubted God's ability to bring them into the Promised Land, and unbelief caused them to miss the many blessing God planned for them.

• We are to be strong in the mighty power of Lord and not to rely on our own limited abilities.

• The grace of God is not an invention to be created out of man's intellectual skill, technological expertise, creative ability, or artistic imagination.

• We are not to rely on our own human abilities, actions, intuition, and strength, but only do those things that we hear from Him.

• No one had the character, credentials, authority, or ability to open the scroll which would dictate the course of creation and affect the lives of every created being.

• Paul urges us to live a holy life, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, to be separated from the world, to be transformed into the likeness of Christ through the renewing of our minds, and to use the gifts, talents, abilities, and works (which God has foreordained that we should do), wisely, diligently, cheerfully, and in an attitude of love.

• He continued to teach His slow-learning followers that only by God's grace is salvation received, and reminded them that entrance into His Kingdom is impossible by man's merit, man's strength, man's abilities, man's wisdom, man's righteousness - yet He taught them that with God all things are possible - with God salvation and entrance into the Kingdom IS possible.

• This parable reminds us of a truth that all believers would do well to recognise, which is the Holy Spirit equips us all with gifts, talents, abilities, and works which God has foreordained that we should do.
• The more we make use of the gifts, talents, abilities, and works which GOD has prepared for us to do (works carried out in our new man-in-Christ and not by our old sin nature), the more they will increase and enlarge, and the more they will overflow in abundance.

• This has nothing to do with our own abilities or merit, but comes only from the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Who lives in each one, because He was prepared to be made sin for us.

• As spiritual beings with a God-given ability to 'judge all things' Paul expands this truth: He who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. As Spirit-directed beings, no one has the authority to judge our spirituality, even though they may criticise and mock us. 

• Paul was a man who recognised his utter dependence upon the Lord and the futility of attempting to work the works of God in his own strength, knowledge, education, acumen, and abilities.

• The faith of the disciples should have been rooted and grounded on the Person of Christ, but instead, they were relying on themselves and their own abilities instead of Christ's strength.
• It is not pumping up faith in our own faith and abilities.

• It is linked with abiding in Christ and resting in His sufficient strength, rather than trusting in our own insufficient abilities.

• Joshua had to come to understand that the battle did not depend on his own skill and abilities - victory belongs to the Lord.
• Joshua had to realise that Israel's success in conquering the land did not depend on his own fighting skills or leadership abilities, but on God's precious promise to sustain them in the battle and to guide his servant in the way he should go.

• To each one He gives abilities to function in different ways, for the benefit of the whole Body.

• The heights and depths of His creative abilities and the mysterious purpose behind His creation can never be fathomed by the mere mind of man, nor his intellectual scrutiny.

• However, the cup-bearer suddenly recalled Joseph's ability to interpret dreams during his time in prison, and so Pharoah ordered Joseph to be brought to him from the dungeon.

• It was not because of Ezra's distinguished ancestry, nor because of his excellent literary skill that God chose him to bring his straying nation back to Himself - although He used his gifts and abilities in the task. God used Ezra because he was a man who set his heart to study the law of the LORD. Ezra set his heart to practice it and to teach it to the people of God.

• Man's sin infected our very nature causing us to know what was evil without the capacity to avoid it, and knowing what was good without the ability to do it.

• Man was born into this mortal realm knowing good without the power to do it, and knowing evil without the ability to avoid it.

• Despite God's faithfulness to them in bringing them out of Egyptian slavery and the promises He gave them, ten of the spies were filled with fear and said that it was far beyond their ability to defeat the terrible enemies in Canaan.

• This insignificant little verse is a glorious example of Christ's victory over evil and His omnipotent ability to bring triumph from terrors and tragedies.

• Whether the attitude of these believers was a total indifference to Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, a general disinterest in getting to know the Lord Jesus and the power of His Resurrection, or simply a lukewarm spirituality due to a carnal, self-inflated ego and self-satisfaction in their own abilities, these believers were the group that disgusted the Lord Jesus more than any other Church that is listed in the book of Revelation.

• But He was quick to point out that their joy should not be focused on the gifts, abilities, honour, and acclaim, that God had graciously bestowed on them - but rather, that they should rejoice that their names were written in the Book of Life.
• It is not the gifts and abilities we have received from the Father that should have our rapt attention.

• When Adam disobeyed the Lord and ate of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he was endowed with an understanding of what was good - without the ability to do good.

• Our physical abilities, human wisdom, and mental capacities, are of no account before the omniscient power of our holy and just God.
• So when Paul first arrived in Corinth to preach the Word, he didn't dazzle them with superiority of speech or amaze them with his articulate abilities.
• To emphases how worthless worldly wisdom is, Paul... who was so highly accomplished in every aspect of human wisdom and knowledge, did not come in the power of his own academic abilities and articulate excellence.

• Praise God that this truth is confirmed over and again in Scripture: Our initial salvation did not depend on our abilities.

• Any misgivings we have in God's power to help or any doubts that arise, concerning His ability to save and defend us, stem from a pride in our own abilities and a lack of understanding of His generous character, faithful love, and gracious goodness.

• His prayer not only dealt with the practical issue of providing sufficient water for his caravan of thirsty camels, but it also demonstrated his desire to fulfil his master's wishes to the best of his ability, and to honour the Lord God in his important quest.

• Although we are all individual people and have diverse backgrounds, different experiences, varying gifts, unique abilities, and individual characteristics, we are all ONE in Christ.

• Irrespective of marriage or singleness, age or abilities, freedom or slavery, or any other situation in which we find ourselves, we have a high and heavenly mission, and nothing should deflect us from that singular goal, our heavenly calling.

• When David sought to depend on his own ingenuity and might, he discovered the inadequacy of his own abilities and energy, for David knew in his heart that salvation belongs to the Lord alone and that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.

• The story of Job makes it clear that God places limits on Satan's ability to kill and to maim.

• Although He was fully God and was well within His right and ability to turn stones to bread, to do so would have been to act independently of God.

• We are to clothe ourselves in Christ, for through Him we have the ability to cast down men's high-minded murmuring against God... to lay waste the imagination of man, and put to naught everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of the truth.

• His strength is made perfect in our weakness, for when we are weak in our own abilities then we become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

• The Law itself may have been perfect, but man's ability to keep the Law fell far short of the flawless standard of excellence that God requires from all who would seek to please Him and enjoy fellowship with Himself.

• Christ's love is far beyond our fallen human ability to achieve in our own imperfect nature.

• The inner witness of man’s God-given conscience ensured that man knew what was wicked and evil, without the ability to resist it.

• The freedom He gives every born-again child of God is EITHER, an opportunity to choose to remain Christ's bond-servant, out of love for all that He has done for us, and to be protected by His mighty power to save, as we face life's ongoing difficulties and dangers... OR we are left free, to wander through the wilderness of life relying on our own abilities and our own power instead of His supernatural ability and all-powerful strength to keep and to save.

• Paul had learned that living a spiritual life and maturing in the Christian faith, did not depend on his own ability, wisdom, intelligence, or efforts, but on the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, working in him and living through him.

• How tempting it can be, to start to rely on our own abilities and resources, in preference to trusting the Lord and depending upon His provision.

• Peter had come to understand that seeking to serve the Lord in his own human ability would result in failure every time, but he came to this understanding when his faith was tested, for in his own strength he could only deny the Lord.

• The Bereans were commended for this noble-minded trait in their character, for the more you gaze at the mirror of God's truth, the greater will be your ability to discriminate between the true gospel and a perverted reflection.

• God is well able to equip His chosen vessel with the qualification and abilities needed to fulfil His heavenly instructions - for His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

• He had confidence in his own abilities and was proud of his heritage.

• The natural man is wise in his own understanding but rejects the message of the Cross as foolishness The natural man proudly glories in his own abilities, intellect, education, skills, philosophies and wisdom, and yet the natural man is a fool in the sight of God Who labels his flawed intellect, godless world-view, selfish pride, and human philosophies, as foolish folly.

• And when He is the centre of our lives, we look to HIM and HIS power and abilities rather than our own inabilities... as we know that His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in our dependent reliance upon HIM.

• But when things went well, and they were prosperous and enjoying the fruit of the land they forgot Him, ignored His word, and started to trust in their own strength and abilities.
• Like Israel, we can also be forgetful and foolish, rebellious and ignorant, disobedient and petulant, confident on our own abilities instead of trusting in His sufficient strength.

• Paul tells his readers that he was pressed out of measure and attacked by the enemy of our souls, insomuch that he, despaired even of life! He was tossed about by every possible difficulty and danger, but Paul learned a valuable lesson... that he must not trust in his own abilities but only in God.

• As believers, we are not left on our own to forge through our Christian life blindly, depending on our own personal potential, business acumen, innate abilities, or educational excellence, for to do so would cause us to become shipwrecked: Without Me, ye can do nothing.

• It was faith in Christ and utter dependence on God for which the Lord Jesus prayed and which did indeed stand the test of time, as ultimately Peter's foolish trust in his own limited abilities and confidence in his own human strength, was replaced with an unshakable faith in His Lord and Saviour.

• Nor does it rest on a man's ability to book speakers, carry out building repairs, contribute financially to the upkeep of the church building, unblock toilets, or keep the car park tidy.

• Sometimes the prayers we pray exceed our expectation of God's ability or willingness to answer!

• But it is the all-encompassing grace of God that is so treasured by believers, for having made peace with God we are enabled to receive the peace of God in our hearts and the ability to grow in grace and in a knowledge of our Saviour, Jesus Christ: For the grace of God has appeared, instructing us, guiding us, teaching us, and conforming us, day by day, into the likeness of Christ.

• But how often like the disciples we doubt the power, ability, wisdom, and knowledge of the Lord.
• We long to trust in His love and ability and desire to believe the truth of His Word, but unbelief casts its icy shadow over our fainting heart.
• May we repent of any pride or neglect that has caused us to doubt the power, ability, wisdom, knowledge, or truth of Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom dwells all the treasures of God's wisdom, knowledge, strength, and grace.

• But rather than trusting God to carry out His stated will and purpose in His own time and in His own way, Rebekah and Jacob demonstrated a lack of faith in God's ability to fulfil His Word, which exposed some of their own serious character flaws.

• Paul had learned that the secret of being content in all things, was to trust in the Lord with all his heart, not rely on his own abilities, nor the reasoning of other people, but to rejoice in the Lord - always.

• It was a place where credibility was founded on one's academic ability, educational prowess, intellectual stature, and oratory skills.
• How important that our faith is not based on human wisdom, academic ability, educational prowess, intellectual stature, and oratory skills, but on the truth of God's Word and in His mighty power.

• Some trust in their education, their personality, their artistic abilities, or performing lots of good works..
• Every person we know and each security in which we place our trust, will one day let us down - including reliance on our own strength and abilities.

• The sovereignty of the Lord is not diminished because of man's God-given ability to make his own, free-will choices.

• with no ability to correct their conduct or compensate for their sin.

• There are many that attempt to make it into the kingdom through their own ability, education, good works, bank balance, and religiosity.

• Despite doubting his own ability to speak and showing concern about his age, Jeremiah had a calling on his life which was given to him by divine revelation.

• Every born-again child of God is a member of the body of Christ and each have their own God-appointed gifts and abilities... so that they are enabled to carry out the roles and responsibilities for which each has been called.

• We have no supernatural ability to read men's minds and so He gave us a bona fide indicator of the state of a man's heart.

• Having created man in His own image and likeness on the sixth day, with a intellect, emotions, a moral nature, the ability to communicate, and a free-will to make wise choices: God blessed them, and gave His first set of instruction to Adam and Eve, commanding them to be fruitful and multiply, and spread out across the globe, filling the earth with their offspring.

• It is like the razor-sharp blade of a double-edged sword, with the ability to cut into the deepest recesses of all that is spiritual and divide it from that which is soulical.
• So penetratingly piercing is the Word of God, that it has the ability to separate the soul of man from the born-again spirit, just as the butcher's razor-sharp blade slices the joint of meat from the marrow-bone.

• May we never forget that the work God gives us to do is not dependent on our abilities, expertise, education, or personality, although He may choose to use them. We are not required to equip ourselves for the task ahead.

• Too soon, she discovered she had been tricked, and realised that she knew what was good without the ability to do good, and she knew what was evil without the ability to avoid it.

• The spiritual believer feeds on the Word of God by faith with thanksgiving, and submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit, knowing that: In myself I can do nothing, but in Christ I can do all things, for we live by the faith of the Son of God and not by faith in our own abilities.
• We proudly have faith in our own abilities instead of trusting the indwelling Holy Spirit and humbly admitting that of ourselves we can do no good thing.

• Each believer is sovereignly empowered with one or more unique gifts or abilities by the Holy Spirit.

• Although we are instructed to resist him, we do not have the strength and ability within ourselves to withstand him.

• However, his ability is restricted, for Satan is unable to do anything to us without God's permission, for the Lord places certain limitations on the evil he is permitted to perform.