BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Commander Kellie’s Corner The Mightiest Strength "This is my gift to You, Jesus. I give You ME! My life, my thoughts, 24/7, every beat of my heart, my skill, my talent, my good and my bad, my strengths and my weaknesses, I give to You now." Giving ourselves to Jesus is the highest act of worship to Him. It’s when we give Him everything that we begin to RECEIVE everything we need from Him! Lord, my strengths and my weaknesses, I give to You now. With Jesus, when you give Him yours, He’ll give you His. As you make your gift to Him today, He will give you His strength in return. Superkid, your strength is not enough. Psalm 33:17 in "The Passion Translation" says, “Human strength and the weapons of man are false hopes for victory; they may seem mighty but they will always disappoint.” When you don’t give Jesus your strength, you have to rely on your own. That may not be enough when you’re faced with a challenge, a test, a problem to be solved or a job that must be done. Jesus taught His disciples to rely on the Father. He corrected Peter for relying on his own strength and challenged him to live differently. Let’s look at Jesus’ last moments with His disciples and His capture in the Garden of Gethsemane before going to the cross. When Jesus told the disciples He was going to die, Peter argued with Him. Preparing them for what was coming, Jesus told them that they would all desert Him (Matthew 26:31-35). Peter burst out with confidence in his own strength, “Even if all the rest lose their faith and fall away, I will still be beside you, Jesus!” “‘Are you sure, Peter?’ Jesus said. ‘In fact, before the rooster crows a few hours from now, you will have denied me three times.’” Jesus knew Peter would deny Him. But Peter continued to argue with Him. “I absolutely will never deny you, even if I have to die with you!” Jesus reminded them of how He had taken care of them when He sent them out. Instead of trusting Him as they had then, now they were glad they had two swords! Their swords made them feel strong and ready for battle. Jesus wanted them to do battle a different way. He asked them to pray with Him. “He told the apostles, ‘Keep praying for strength to be spared from the severe test of your faith that is about to come’” (Luke 22:35-40). What if Peter had done that? Jesus told them to pray for strength so they’d be spared from the test of their faith that was coming. Peter fell asleep. He thought he was stronger than the rest and besides, he had a sword! This is how our strength can fool us into not leaning on the Lord. They were shocked when their friend Judas led the guards to arrest Jesus. Peter reacted and used his sword to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant Malchus. Jesus said, “No more!” Then he touched Malchus’ ear and healed it. Then Jesus went with the guards. (See verses 50-54.) Peter was shocked! Then he followed at a distance to the high priest’s home, and joined some people around a nearby fire so he could watch. When people began to recognize him as being with Jesus, instead of being strong as he had planned, he denied Jesus three times just like Jesus said he would. Imagine how Peter felt when at the very moment of his third denial, Jesus turned and looked at him. Every word of Jesus’ warning came rushing back. Peter left the courtyard weeping. By trusting in his own strength, Peter chose to ignore Jesus’ attempts to help him be strong. Jesus knew it would happen, but He also knew Peter would learn better. In Luke 22:32 Jesus prayed for him: “But I have prayed for you, Peter, that you would stay faithful to me no matter what comes. Remember this: after you have turned back to me and have been restored, make it your life mission to strengthen the faith of your brothers.” Jesus’ prayer for Peter came true! He strengthens our faith to trust Jesus even today when we read the Bible. Paul also wrote a lot about being strong in weakness. You and I can learn from them both. Jesus knows that if we trust in our own strength, we will not always be strong enough to overcome the challenges that come. What about when we fail? Psalm 73:26 says, “Lord, so many times I fail; I fall into disgrace. But when I trust in you, I have a strong and glorious presence protecting and anointing me. Forever you’re all I need!” We must give Jesus our weaknesses. We sing, “We are weak, but He is strong,” yet in our weakness it is easy to forget to lean into Him. Instead, we struggle, feel frustrated or look to other things (like Peter’s sword) for strength. Psalm 33:18-20 says, “The eyes of the Lord are upon even the weakest worshipers who love him—those who wait in hope and expectation for the strong, steady love of God. God will deliver them from death.... The Lord alone is our radiant hope and we trust in him with all our hearts. His wrap-around presence will strengthen us.” Superkids, let’s invite His all-around Presence to take our strengths and weaknesses. Let’s RECEIVE Jesus’ words to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 as ours, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” Paul says when he is weak, he really gets to know the power and strength of Jesus, so weakness doesn’t bother him. He becomes stronger every time he takes Jesus’ strength as his! “For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power” (verse 10). Our lives can be a doorway for the Lord to show His power and glory to others. So let’s be LOUD AND BOLD with the emphasis on NOW: This is my gift to You, Jesus. I give You ME! My life, my thoughts, 24/7, every beat of my heart, my skill, my talent, my good and my bad, my STRENGTHS and my WEAKNESSES, I give to You NOW! I’m all in with you, Commander Kellie♥ Kellie Copeland is responsible for Covenant Partner Relations at Kenneth Copeland Ministries and is the developer of the Superkid Academy curriculum. Through her ministry and as “Commander Kellie,” she fulfills the mission of drawing people of all ages into a personal, growing and powerful relationship with Jesus Christ.

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