"God Works in Weakness"

"Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob." (Psalms 44:4) I try, I fail, I surrender, I get delivered, and then I try again; sound like anyone that you know? I really like that the name "Jacob" is used instead of Israel, because Jacob means heel holder or supplanter, the layer of snares; although the name is used a lot in the poetic sense, it best describes what kind of transformation that we must make, because it was God that changed Jacob to Israel, Israel meaning governed by God. That was also in a time before Israel had a king, which was before they wanted to be like all the other nations, and have someone that they could parade out to represent them. If you think about it, they were trading the strength of God for the strength of a man, which is primarily the same condition we find ourselves in, over and over again. Any time that we see any of these pastors of these mega churches go down in flames, they have failed because they put confidence in their own strength, instead of knowing how weak they really are. When we know that we are weak, then God commands deliverance for us; yet, if we think that we are strong, then watch out, because even though we may still get delivered, our deliverance will come by great price of our pride... "Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." (James 4:5-10)