My Church Has Weakened Me
He doesn’t push from behind or shout from above—He leads from within.
E. Stanley Jones challenges a common misconception about spiritual strength. He addresses the way some church environments, while well-meaning, actually disempower believers by over-regulating their lives—telling them what to do, what to think, even what to read—without nurturing spiritual discernment or intimacy with Christ. In doing so, these churches unintentionally create obedient but spiritually weak individuals.
Jones contrasts this externalized form of religion with the true dynamic of the Christian faith: Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christianity is not just about abiding in Christ, but also about Christ abiding in us—not casually, but creatively. His life within is not merely moral influence but active empowerment—redeeming us not only from sin but also from ineffectiveness and weakness.
He warns against the imbalance of focusing only on one side of this abiding relationship. If we merely abide in Him, we may become overly passive, dependent without initiative. If we only emphasize Him abiding in us without yielding to His Lordship, we become self-centered, mistaking inner impressions for divine leading. Both aspects are necessary: the surrender to His Lordship (we in Him) and the inward empowerment (He in us).
This "double abiding" produces fruitfulness, strength, clarity, and freedom—not control. Christ is not over us with rules or far off with demands, but within us to animate our personality and restore it to its God-designed capacity.
Personalized Journal Entry – in the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
You are no longer your own—I dwell in you. The life you now live, you live by faith in Me, the One who gave Himself for you. I have made you a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.
You were crucified with Christ, and now it is I who live in you. You have My mind, and I awaken your thoughts toward what is true and lovely and of good report. You are not led by a law written on stone, but by My law written on your heart.
Your body is a temple not just visited but inhabited by Me. I do not come and go—I have made My home in you. I do not dominate you from the outside but empower you from within. I stir your will toward good works, and I cause you to will and to do according to the Father’s good pleasure.
You are not meant to be passive, waiting for signs. Nor are you to act from your flesh, relying on your insight. I am your Counselor and your Guide. As you abide in Christ and He in you, you bear much fruit—not because you strive, but because you trust.
In your weakness, I reveal My strength. In your questions, I offer My wisdom. In your weariness, I refresh you—not from afar, but from within. I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.
So walk freely—go forward boldly. You are not a servant on the outside looking in; you are a son, a daughter, with My life flowing through your veins. You are no longer under external control but under divine indwelling. You have My Spirit, and you know My voice. Stay in step with Me.
—Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:9,14; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Hebrews 10:16; John 15:5
My Prayer of Trust
Father, I rest in the wonder of Your Son not only being my refuge but my resident King. You have not asked me to live out this life by imitation or regulation, but by union. You have placed Christ in me—not to suppress my personality but to enliven it. I trust Your Spirit to express His life through mine with clarity, power, and joy.
I rejoice that I am not left with only commands to follow, but with Your very life to live through me. No more spiritual passivity. No more self-centered activity. Only the easy yoke of abiding, where Your Lordship leads and Your life flows.
I praise You that I lack nothing today—not insight, not initiative, not the energy to follow—because Christ in me is enough for every step. I do not wait for strength. I do not ask for direction. I walk confidently, knowing You abide within, ready to live.
Devotional Credit:
Insights from In Christ by E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit:
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