Jesus' illustration of the vine and the branches would be a good comparison of this principle. (John 15:4-5) It might say~"Remain in me and I will remain in you. No glove can do work by itself, it must remain with (in the control of) the Hand. Neither can you bear fruit (good work) unless you remain in me. I am the hand, you are the glove. If a man remains in me (willing to be used) and I in him, he will produce much work. (Abundant, miraculous, God sized works); apart from me, you (glove) can do nothing."
The glove can only become usable by laying aside its own strength, agenda, and pursuit of its own will. It is a voluntary action and decision involving an attitude of willingly trusting in God without having any clue what He will ask of you or how He will accomplish what He wants done. It means laying aside all attempts to figure out, understand, employ logic, common sense, or to add my own 2 cents worth to God's work. All I need to do is to be obedient out of the overflow of love I have for God-not from fear, guilt, coercion, duty or any other reason- just submit myself to His Hand knowing He will accomplish all that He wills.
Jesus also used an illustration in John 10:28-30. He gives eternal life-abundant, overflowing, super-natural life- like a hand in a glove gives it the ability to experience what is impossible on its own. Then he goes on with the illustration to say that no one can snatch them from His Hand or His Father's Hand. Jesus says, " I and the Father are one." Later He said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." Just like the hand in the glove, the Living Truth of the Father- His values, judgments, attributes, and Character indwelt Jesus. You can't see these things, but as Jesus submitted to the Father by abiding in His will, His own life exhibited the works that testified to this truth. This principle continues in the life of the Christian. Though we are imperfect where Jesus was perfect and sinless, God can still use us after we make the commitment to be His (salvation) and then choose daily to seek Him out and grow (sanctification) in the vertical love relationship and the horizontal "Love one another" relationships that He desires to develop in us and through us.
As we grow in spiritual maturity, we learn to recognize God's work and how to join Him. And when He wants to use us in a new way, we learn to recognize His call and follow Him in faith, based on the foundation of trust and the strong relationship of love and respect that has grown and developed as a result of a consistent and devoted walk with Him. A walk characterized by worship, study of the word, prayer, confession of sin, fellowship with other believers, service, and reaching out with God's love to the lost.
Jesus' illustration of the vine and the branches would be a good example of this principle. (John 15:4-5) It might say: "remain in me and I will remain in you. No glove can do work by itself, it must remain with (in the control of) the Hand. Neither can you bear fruit (good work) unless you remain in me. I am the hand, you are the glove. If a man remains in me (willing to be used) and I in him, he will produce much work. (Abundant, miraculous, God-sized works); apart from me you (glove) can do nothing."
The glove can only become usable by laying aside its own strength, agenda, and pursuit of its own will. It is a voluntary action and decision involving an attitude of willingly trusting in God without having any clue what He will ask of you or how He will accomplish what He wants done. It means laying aside all attempts to figure out, understand, employ logic or common sense, or to add my own two cents worth to God's work. All I need to do is to be obedient out of the overflow of love I have for God- not from fear, guilt, coercion, duty or any other reason- just submit myself to His Hand knowing He will accomplish all that He wills.
Jesus also used an illustration in John 10:28-30. He gives eternal life- abundant, overflowing, supernatural life- like a hand in a glove gives it the ability to experience what is impossible on its own. He then continues with another illustration that no one can snatch them from either His Hand or His Father's Hand. Jesus says, " I and the Father are one." Just like a hand in a glove, the Living Truth of The Father- His values, judgments, attributes, and Character indwelt Jesus. You can't see these things, but as Jesus submitted to the Father by abiding in His will, His life exhibited the works that testified to this truth. This principle continues in the life of the Christian. Though we are imperfect where Jesus was sinless and perfect, God can still use us after we make the commitment to be His (salvation) and then choose daily to seek Him out and grow (sanctification) in the vertical love relationship and the horizontal "love one another" relationships that He desires to develop in us and through us.
What Kind of Glove Are You?
TYPES OF GLOVES
Unusable Glove- a glove with no room in their life for God (unsaved and unrepentant)
Unwilling glove- a glove with a sealed up opening to keep God from transforming their life (one who accepts God's grace, but makes no commitment to grow in character. Needs to let go of the past and focus on the future)
Unsuitable glove- one whose life has not been changed and transformed enough to be usable. This can be because of immaturity or lack of surrender (unusable in its current condition, but in the case of new believers is under renovation for future use. Not 'suited' for service... yet.)
Dirty glove- one whose sin goes unrepented of and tries to serve, serving only as a bad example- may be serving with improper motivation or ulterior motives i.e. manipulation. (A stumbling block instead of a stepping stone)
Ill-fitting glove- one who makes some room for God, but has compartments and unsurrendered parts in their life. It's very uncomfortable, like some of the fingers are stuffed with something keeping the Hand out. (Immature faith, or hardened and unforgiving heart)
Stiff glove- one who is used to doing things one way and has difficulty trying new things. One who is inflexible, disobedient and unwilling to 'bend.' Can be caused by stubbornness, pride, ignorance, unwillingness to change, and hardness of heart. Often does more harm than good, brings discomfort instead of comfort. ("I'll do it my way." *Remember what God did to the disobedient Levites who mixed their own incense for the Tabernacle?)
Hungry glove- one who waits for the filling of the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and empower him to serve God's purpose. ("I'm waiting upon You, LORD...")
Ready glove- one who is empty of his own agenda, choosing to allow God to lead the way, being flexible and willing with the right attitude. ("Send me!")
Flexible glove- one who makes himself available to God and lays aside his own agenda in response to God's call. Willing to try new things in faith to meet a need. ("Whatever it takes!")
Armored glove- one who is covered by the protection of the 'armor of God' (ready to fight the good fight)
