According to the Gallup polls, over 81% of Americans are not satisfied with the government. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) over 1/3rd of U.S adults are obese. We look at statistics like these and most of us have no problem believing them. As soon as we read, “according to…” and see a source we deem as credible, we are quick to take them as facts.

Lately, God has been stirring the phrase “according to” in my heart and it beckoned a question: As quick as I am to accept the information from these “credible” sources when I read these statistics, how come I am apprehensive when it comes to receiving and accepting the information that the One and True credible Source reveals to me every day?

I look in His Word and I can’t deny that it’s filled with promises that can only come from Him and not our own doings. What if we stopped to consider Him as our True Source and that life according to Him is where true freedom is experienced? This world has conditioned us to put ourselves as the main objective. After all, it’s our life. It’s our decisions. It’s our failures. It’s our success. But how much different would it look if we took our eyes off of ourselves and lived according to a Way that took our self-sufficiency out of the way? Pretty counterintuitive huh?

When we come into a covenant with God, we are in essence stepping into a life that embraces a beautiful exchange. Our flesh dies to our ways and is given the opportunity to start living a life “according to” His ways and His promises. It’s when we catch that revelation that we understand why He says things to us like sowing into the flesh leads to death but sowing into the Spirit produces life (Romans 8:6). His Word is saturated with promises that reveal what life according to Him truly means. And when I came across these verses, I suddenly realized why my frustrations, condemnations, doubts, fears, insecurities, and pride would cloud my relationship with God. It was because I would revert to operating from my own self and negate the covenant — the beautiful exchange—that I had stepped into that told me I didn’t need to operate from myself. Why? Because…

• In my wretched state, I am made righteous according to His righteousness (Romans 3:21).
• In my weakness, I am revived and restored according to His strength (Psalm 119:18).
• In my lack, all my supplies will be met according to His riches and glory (Philippians 4:19)
• In my condemnation, I have received redemption through His blood according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7).
• In my state of anger, He has dealt with me according to His loving kindness (Psalm 119:154).
• In my lack of patience, He has spared me according to His timing (Isaiah 57:15).
• In my lack of understanding, He is always working out all things according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).
• In my desire to continuously do good to earn His love, He reminds me that we are called according to His grace and not my “good” works (2 Timothy 1:9).

It hit me like a ton of bricks — It was never about me. It is always about Him. I could go on but I think you see that when we are in Christ Jesus, we were never intended to operate from ourselves. Part of the reconciliation process back unto God is to strip us from the dependency we place on ourselves and turn it over completely to God so that we are operating through what He had already put in place — His Spirit within us.

The moment we find ourselves in struggle is when we forget this principle and lean on our own understanding — our own power and our own will, our own flesh, our own perspective, on our own wisdom. So we end up back to square one where we get overwhelmed. We get consumed. We feel unworthy. But God says it was never intended to be like that. He wants us and our lives to be lived according to Him because He knows more, sees more, loves more, forgives more, understands more, listens more and is the essence of more. And that’s what He wants — He wants us to live according to HIS more and not according to our lack. That is what it’s about. So why are we carrying the burden of our inadequacies when God has satisfied them already?

He holds more credibility than any scientific research combined and is guaranteed to yield a life of peace, joy, strength, wisdom, and fulfillment!

Peace, love, and blessings,
Yodit

Follow Yodit on Twitter or find her on Facebook. You’ll also catch her on the WITHIN Ministry website.