Russian Ruse
Theme for this Week: Object of Trust
Bryan Chapell
Wednesday, December 19, 2001
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: He prepares me for battle, he strengthens me to draw a bow of bronze (Psalm 18:34).
Bonus Reading: Psalm 18:1-3, 29-40
During the 1980 Olympic games, Soviet coaches tricked their super-heavyweight weightlifter. They told Sultan Rachmanov the weight he was lifting on his final lift was 968 pounds, a weight he'd lifted before in practice and knew he could handle. However, in fact, the coaches had instructed Olympic officials to put 970 pounds on the bar.
This was a world-record weight that the athlete had never been able to hoist before. Rachmanov stepped to the barand lifted it. Believing that he could do the task, he did it.
There is power in believing that we are able, and we know that we are able to please God because His Word says so. We don't gain this ability to please God by some trick, but by the work of His Spirit in us.
Satan would love for us to believe we can do nothing. He wants to paralyze us with self-doubt and past shame. In contrast, God has filled us with His Spirit of power and cleansed us with the blood of His Son. He tells us in His Word that we are able to please Him.
Our lives can be a joy to Him. Our service can build His kingdom. He says so.
Bryan Chapell in The Wonder of It All My Response:
I can go about God's business with confidence because .
Thought to Apply:
It is not our trust that keeps us, but the God in whom we trust who keeps us.
Oswald Chambers (British teacher, chaplain, 20th century)
Adapted from: The Wonder of It All (Crossway, 1999).
For your convenience, The Wonder of It All is available in the ChristianityToday.com bookstore.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
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Sovereign Lord, help me to grasp how inferior the finest human resources are to Your infinite wisdom and power.
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