Living In God’s Strength

Q

Would you please explain exactly what it means to live our lives in God’s strength? If everything at the Bema Seat Judgment is burned up as if it never existed if it was done in human strength, and only actions done in His strength are recognized, how far do you take this? After all, we awake every morning and arise in His strength. If it wasn’t for God, we would stop breathing! What exactly does in His strength mean on a practical level?

A

Jesus said if we remain in Him we will bear much fruit, but apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). He didn’t mean that we literally can’t do anything, He meant we can do nothing of value to the Kingdom. In other words, we can’t produce any fruit.

When we’re living in God’s will we’re automatically recipients of His strength to accomplish His will and will bear much fruit. As a practical matter, we live in His will by applying Romans 12:1-2 in our lives. We put aside all our plans and dreams and yield our life to Him to do with as He pleases. But don’t get the idea that this means living a life of deprivation and hardship. John 10:10 says He came so we can have life and have it abundantly. Other promises confirm this.

Most believers don’t live their lives in His will, but many of them appear to be successful at what they do. Jesus said the things they accomplish are like unfruitful branches that are cut off and burned in the fire. They have no value to the Kingdom, no matter how impressive what they appear to be on Earth.