Page 16 - Christ in You - The Hope of Glory

granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.

At the age of forty Moses was at the height of all his natural powers. He had the best
education the world could offer. He was a man of power in words and deeds. He discerned
that he had been created for a purpose, and the purpose was to deliver his people from the
bondage of Egypt. Moses supposed that his people would recognize his ability and call, but
they did not recognize it. Using his own power, Moses struck down a lone Egyptian, but he
did not free a single Israelite.
Moses at forty is like the majority of mankind. They look to their natural abilities to
accomplish every goal and desire. This self-sufficiency causes men to be independent of
God. Feeling adequate in themselves to accomplish the purpose of their heart, even a God-
given destiny, they do not wait upon God to direct their steps, nor do they look to God to
bring it to pass. The result always falls short of the will and pleasure of God.
In order for a man to truly accomplish the will and pleasure of the Father, the man
must be broken. He must come to place no confidence in the flesh. He must see himself as
totally inadequate to do anything for God in his natural abilities. He must understand that
only God can truly accomplish His desires, and He requires nothing from man other than
complete surrender and obedience. Moses had to come to a place where his pride in his own
attributes and abilities was shattered. His rejection by his people at the age of forty was the
beginning of this breaking process. The work was continued through the next forty years
in the wilderness as Moses tended his father-in-law’s sheep in the land of Midian.
What a breaking this was for one such as Moses. It was the equivalent of a man with
a doctorate’s degree from Harvard, who had been a mover and shaker in the corporate
world, being sent to a small, backwoods community to flip burgers, scrub toilets, mop floors
and wash dishes for forty years. During this period of Moses’ life he was completely emptied
of all his former self-confidence. He came to know in a deep way that he had nothing to
offer God. He was no prize catch that God should glory in.
How foolish are Christians today who boast of some learned, talented, or wealthy man
who has come to Christ, or who has joined their church? They brag that they will now be
able to accomplish so much for God because a man of stature has come to Christ. In truth,
the opposite is true. Until the man is broken he will never be of any use to God. He must not
look at his own abilities as being of any value to God.

Psalms 147:10
[Yahweh] does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in
the legs of a man.

I Corinthians 1:26-29
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame
the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God
has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no
man should boast before God.

What do we have that God has not given to us? What do we have that God needs? The
answer to both questions is the same. NOTHING! Does the Almighty Who created man