Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)

*Dependence and God’s Love is part three in the series DEPENDENCE, and holds the greatest value when read in sequence. You can start at the beginning here.*

We’ll begin considering dependence and its relation to God’s love with

:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)

Often, we imagine that the word “so” here means “a lot”. However, renowned Greek scholar William Mounce educates, “But did you know

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Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)

*Dependence and the Gospel is part two in the series DEPENDENCE, and holds the greatest value when read in sequence. You can start at the beginning here.*

To rightly begin understanding the Gospel, one must rightly understand dependence. Though it may seem a basic word with far from weighty theological value, dependence is of profound importance to every believer. The Gospel is the beautiful reality of God’s grace returned for man’s rebellion, and it articulates the joy every person may have in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Justin Holcomb explains well that, “Our first parents in the garden substituted themselves for God, and, at the cross, Jesus reversed that substitution, substituting himself for sinners (1 Corinthians 15:45-48).”

My folly had

Read moreDependence and the Gospel

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
(Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)

*Part one in the DEPENDENCE series of devotionals*

I had a spinal fusion surgery a couple years ago. I broke a vertebrae without knowing it, and it lay undetected for six years. After the surgery, an unexpected thing happened; I wasn’t simply healed in my flesh, but God also sewed together a wound long lived in my spirit. Reflecting on my physical wounds, I found strong similarities with spiritual wounds and this experience became like a parable to me.

For years, I was physically broken in a way that I could not possibly fix on my own, and I didn’t even realize it. A state of brokenness is something that also can

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