{"id":90706,"date":"2021-03-11T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T22:18:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T02:18:26","slug":"practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Depending on God is basic to the\nChristian life. We trust in, or depend on, God for our salvation (<strong>Ephesians 2:8\u20139<\/strong>).\nWe depend on God for wisdom (<strong>James 1:5<\/strong>). In fact, we depend on God for\neverything (<strong>Psalm\n104:27<\/strong>) and in everything (<strong>Proverbs 3:5\u20136<\/strong>). The psalmist teaches the Lord\u2019s\nreliability with the three-fold description \u201c<strong>the LORD is my rock, my fortress and my\ndeliverer<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>Psalm 18:2<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Depending on God alone does not mean we\nact foolishly. Jesus did not need to jump off the pinnacle of the temple to\n\u201cprove\u201d that He depended on God (<strong>Matthew 4:5\u20137<\/strong>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There is a difference between trusting\nGod and putting God to the test. Depending on God alone doesn\u2019t mean we\ndispense with God\u2019s gifts. For example, a person with strep throat may refuse\nto go to the doctor, saying (hoarsely), \u201cI am going to depend on God alone to\nheal me.\u201d Or a person driving a car may close her eyes and release the steering\nwheel, saying, \u201cI am going to depend on God alone to drive me home.\u201d These\nactions would be foolish. God has provided us with doctors and medicines to\nhelp heal us. He has given us the wits to steer a car. We can still depend on\nGod as we visit the doctor, knowing that all healing ultimately comes from God;\nand we can still depend on God as we drive, knowing that all safety ultimately\ncomes from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">We depend on God all the time, and\nthere are times we can do nothing else. The Lord gives us the faith we need to\nmake it through those times. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego couldn\u2019t sway the\nwill of the king, and they couldn\u2019t lessen the intensity of the burning fiery\nfurnace. They only knew that they could not bow down to a false god. They were\nthrown into the fire depending on God alone for the outcome (<strong>Daniel 3<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Here are some practical ways to depend\non God alone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>1)<\/strong> <strong>Pray.<\/strong>\nPrayer is, among other things, an acknowledgment of God\u2019s power, promises, and\nprovision. When you pray, you show our dependence on God. The biblical command\nis to \u201c<strong>present\nyour requests to God<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>Philippians 4:6<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>2)<\/strong> <strong>Honor\nthe Bible.<\/strong> The Word of God has information, instructions, examples and\npromises for New Testament believers. Read from the Bible every day. Check\neverything against the truth of the Word (<strong>Acts 17:11<\/strong>). And when there is a conflict between\nwhat the Bible says and what anyone else says, go with the Bible. \u201c<strong>I will listen to\nwhat God the LORD says<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>Psalm 85:8<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>3)<\/strong> <strong>Do\nright.<\/strong> At all times, in all situations, do what you know is right and leave\nthe results with God. Jocebed did right by saving her baby, Moses (<strong>Exodus 2:1\u201310<\/strong>).\nDaniel did right by defying the king and praying to the Lord (<strong>Daniel 6<\/strong>).\nDavid did right by standing up to Goliath (<strong>1 Samuel 17<\/strong>). In each case, their dependence on\nGod alone was rewarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>4) Be a living sacrifice.<\/strong>\n<strong>Romans 12:1<\/strong>\nsays to offer up your body as a \u201c<strong>living sacrifice<\/strong>\u201d to God. Acceptable sacrifices\nare purified from sin and dedicated to God. When you become a living sacrifice,\nyou live for the Lord. You cease fighting for your own rights and give up trusting\nin your own strength. As you learn to become a living sacrifice for God, you\nwill discover the truth that, \u201c<strong>when I am weak, then I am strong<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>2 Corinthians 12:10<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>5) Abide in Christ.<\/strong> The\nChristian life is not a now-and-then rendezvous with God. It is making God your\ndwelling place, living with Him. Jesus put it this way: \u201c<strong>Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No\nbranch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you\nbear fruit unless you remain in me<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>John 15:4<\/strong>). Depend on Christ as a\nfruit-laden branch depends on the grapevine. The branch attached to the vine is\nfulfilling its purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>6) Refuse to worry.<\/strong> God\ncares for His children, even more than the grass that He clothes with flowers\nand the birds that He daily feeds. Yes, you have needs, but \u201c<strong>your heavenly\nFather knows<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>Matthew 6:32<\/strong>). Learn to \u201c<strong>cast all your anxiety on him because he cares\nfor you<\/strong>\u201d (<strong>1 Peter 5:7<\/strong>). Keeping some of the anxiety on\nyourself is to doubt God\u2019s care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">One day, the disciples asked Jesus who\nwas the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus answered with an illustration:\n\u201c<strong>He called a\nlittle child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: \u2018Truly I\ntell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never\nenter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of\nthis child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven<\/strong>\u2019\u201d (<strong>Matthew 18:2\u20134<\/strong>).\nOne quality of children is that they are dependent on others for their\nwell-being. God\u2019s children should share that quality of depending on their\nloving Heavenly Father for everything they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Lamentations 3:22\u201323<\/strong> says, \u201c<strong>Because of the Lord\u2019s great love we are not consumed, for his\ncompassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.<\/strong>\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp; Above all things, God loves for us to\ndemonstrate faith (<strong>Hebrews 11:6<\/strong>). Faith is trusting in the character\nof God before we see how He is going to work things out even when we don\u2019t\nunderstand the circumstances that seem so contradictory.&nbsp; We can trust that God\u2019s plan for us will\nprevail (<strong>Proverbs\n19:21<\/strong>). Again, as a child trusts a loving father, we can trust our\nheavenly Father to always do what is right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Depending on God is basic to the Christian life. We trust in, or depend on, God for our salvation (Ephesians 2:8\u20139). We depend on God for wisdom (James 1:5). In fact, we depend on God for everything (Psalm 104:27) and in everything (Proverbs 3:5\u20136). The psalmist teaches the Lord\u2019s reliability with the three-fold description \u201cthe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Depending on God is basic to the Christian life. We trust in, or depend on, God for our salvation (Ephesians 2:8\u20139). We depend on God for wisdom (James 1:5). In fact, we depend on God for everything (Psalm 104:27) and in everything (Proverbs 3:5\u20136). The psalmist teaches the Lord\u2019s reliability with the three-fold description \u201cthe [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-11T18:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-07T02:18:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\"},\"headline\":\"Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-11T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-07T02:18:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/\"},\"wordCount\":925,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/\",\"name\":\"Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone - Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-11T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-07T02:18:26+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/practical-ways-to-depend-on-god-alone\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"width\":514,\"height\":259,\"caption\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\",\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone - Grace Evangelical Free Church","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Practical Ways to Depend on God Alone - Grace Evangelical Free Church","og_description":"Depending on God is basic to the Christian life. 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