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Here is a simple and undeniable truth: We need God.
From Scripture, here are just five reasons why.
1. We need God to bear fruit.
John 15:4-5 (NKJV) states: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
To produce fruit as in John 15:5, we must have a close relationship with God. It requires that we hear and obey God’s Word. It requires that we live our lives patterned after the life that Jesus lived here on earth.
2. We need God to know how to pray.
Romans 8:26 (NKJV) states: Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The challenges of life can be so hard that we do not even know how to pray. Or perhaps we need to know God’s Will but do not even know the words to pray. But God has made a way for us out of His love. As Romans 8:26 states, God has given us the Holy Spirit to make intercession for us. This means that the Holy Spirit prays both through us and for us. For this reason, we never have to worry about coming to God with our requests.
3. We need God for knowledge and understanding.
Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV) states: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
We all have some measure of knowledge and understanding. But yet Proverbs 3:5 tells us not to lean on it. There is a reason why. It is because no knowledge or understanding we have or can ever get from the world compares to God’s vast knowledge and understanding. God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is the only one who knows everything.
4. We need God for true joy.
Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) states: You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The pleasures of this world, things like wealth and our material possessions, may bring us joy. But this joy is only temporary. Knowing God and being in God’s presence is where true and lasting joy is experienced.
5. We need God to be righteous and holy.
John 14:6 states: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
No amount of striving to be good or to do good will ever make us righteous and holy. As John 14:6 tells us, Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Only in and through Jesus Christ are we in right standing before God. Jesus made it possible for us to stand before – to have access to – a holy and righteous God.
As believers, we must accept that we need God for far more reasons than the five listed above. So let us turn away from a dependence on self or on the world. Let us turn to God for everything we need. In God is life everlasting.
John 3:16 (NKJV) states: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Except where indicated, scripture references are from the American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation (DARBY), or King James Version (KJV) – all public domains.
