Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Promises – Day 289 – 1 Corinthians 15:10 – I Have Worked Harder – Growing As Disciples
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NLT)
Working Hard
What will working hard accomplish? That all depends. That all depends on what? What working hard will accomplish depends on who I rely on. That is an interesting answer. That is the only answer that has come to me. Tell me what you mean, explain yourself. If I rely on myself and my own hard work, I will accomplish nothing. By myself, apart from you, I can do nothing. On my own, I cannot bear fruit for your kingdom or bring glory to your name. My own efforts will never bear fruit for all eternity. I could work myself to the bone, I could run myself ragged, I could use every bit of my energy and yet my efforts would amount to nothing without you. How do you know this to be true? Is the voice of your experience? Have you learned this by trial and air? Yes, this is the voice of my experience. Yes, I have learned this by trial and error. Yet, neither of these alone would have been enough to teach me the error of my ways. It is your word that says apart from you I can do nothing. I have done quite a bit of that. I have accomplished a lot of nothing. Then you have learned some very valuable lessons. I wish I had not been such a slow learner. At least you have learned. There is something that I do want you to hold on to. What’s that? Your desire to work hard in serving me is not a bad thing. It is a very good thing. My call on your life will require some very hard work on your part. It is my grace that has given you both the desire and ability to work hard in serving me. And now you know that you must rely on my grace and power to work in and through you to accomplish my purposes and fulfill my plans. Yes, I do. That is very good.
I want you to take hold of another thought. What’s that? Relying on me will not come easy. Relying on me will not seem natural. Learning to rely on me will also be very hard work. How so? You must work hard to keep your heart and mind and life focused on me, as you serve me. You must work hard on listening attentively to me. You must work hard on receiving my guidance and following my instruction. Will you work hard on relying on me as you work hard in serving me? Yes, I will. That will be very good.
Lord, I know the futility of working hard without relying on you. So, I know two things. I must rely on you completely as I give my full and best effort in serving you. Thank you, for your grace that is teaching me to do both. Use me to bear fruit for your kingdom. Amen
Key Question… What has God’s grace and power accomplished in and through you as have worked hard in serving Him?
Living It Out… Rely on the grace of God to accomplish His purposes and fulfill His plans as you work hard in serving Him.
Seeing It Happen… Have faith that the grace of God will help you to accomplish His purposes and fulfill His plans as you serve Him.
Get Ready To Share… Share with another person or your small group what God’s grace is accomplishing in and through you as you serve Him.
Prayer To Bless Others… May you rely on the grace and power of God as you work hard in serving Him.
For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:
Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.
Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.
By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved Copying not permitted www.GrowingAsDisciples.com
