Independence Is Impossible With Judah Lupisella

Scriptures: Philippians 2:13, 1 Peter 4:19, Proverbs 3:5-7

Day One 

Independence is impossible to attain. It simply doesn’t exist. 

One afternoon, a young lady implied to me that Christians are weak for needing something to depend on—yet that same lady who thought it was weak to depend on God depended on her mother’s breast milk to keep her fed as an infant. That same lady depended on her parents to teach her how to speak, eat, use the restroom properly, and so on. In fact, that same lady was a college student when she told me this, depending on college professors and textbooks to teach her accurate information. She was mocking the idea of dependence on God, though all she’s ever known is dependence. It’s quite ironic! 

Can you relate?

Scriptures: Genesis 1:26-29, Genesis 3:1-11, Genesis 3:17-19

Day Two 

The desire to become independent and self-made is rooted in pride and insecurity. The flesh desires to receive praise and “prove itself” when, in all reality, we could not have succeeded in anything if God had not let us continue to breathe. 

Being independent is unattainable because you’re always depending on something: water to hydrate you, food to nourish you, and God to keep everything in the universe from spontaneously combusting. I definitely took the extreme route on that last one, but it’s true! Therefore, we realize it’s not about being independent—we were createdto be dependent. 

From our greatest ancestors, Adam and Eve, dependence on God began—until, of course, they thought they knew better than God and wanted to become “independent.” This desire ultimately led them to eat the forbidden fruit. Look how well that turned out for them, and look at the sin and brokenness we have in our world and still experience as a result of their pride—thinking they knew better than God. 

This reminded me of a quote I read earlier today: 

We often speak of a man who’s done this successfully as a ”self-made man.” The appellation is usually spoken with a sense of admiration, but really it should be said in the same tones we might use of the dearly departed, or of a man who recently lost an arm—with sadness and regret. What the term really means is ”an orphaned man who figured how to master some part of life on his own.”

Scriptures: Philippians 2:13, Matthew 7:17-29

Day Three 

So now that you know that you’re always dependent, what matters is who and what you depend on. 

Those who depend on the things of this world, in anything but in Christ, are like a person who builds the foundation of their house on sand. Whereas those who depend on Christ, relying on His Word and presence to sustain them, are like someone who builds the foundation of their house on the rock. When the storms come, the foundations are tested. The house built on rock will stand, while the house built on sand will crumble. 

When the storms of life come, your foundation will be tested. The beach house always appears more glamorous and fun, just like the sins of the world do, but when a hurricane comes, the beach houses get hit the worst, and they’re not so beautiful in the end. Are you depending on the Rock—Christ—to be your firm foundation? Or are you depending on the sand of the world? The storms of life will still come regardless of what you choose. However, your decision determines if you’ll stand through the storm or fall apart. 

You must come to the full realization that you can do absolutely nothing without Christ. You must become free from the idea that you can be independent and do anything independently. You may think you can, but it’s not true. You cannot do or understand anything without God. 

So when you do something honorable in man’s eyes, give God the deserved glory because it’s really Christ working within you. 

Let’s get to where we realize that we are nothing, and He is everything. We are sons and daughters; He is Our Father, and we live to bring Him glory.