Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

I want to run and win a marathon.  I am 66 years old.  I have sciatica so standing or walking can be painful.  I know that marathons are run by healthy young people, but if I claim Philippians 4:13 I can win that marathon.  Yeah!  Right!

I could practice my heart out and have complete faith in that verse, but I would still not win any marathons.  Why is that?  Why is it we can not claim this verse and do great things in our lives?  A Christian could claim this verse to become President.  A person could claim this verse to win a game.  Someone could have complete faith in this verse and become the greatest person ever in his or her own field.  So why doesn't it work?  Doesn't God keep His promises?

"I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.  Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:12-13

Paul is not saying we can do all things.  He is talking about accomplishing his mission in all circumstances.  As an Apostle, Paul was spreading the gospel whether he was hungry or not; whether he had much or in need.  No matter the circumstances he was content because he knew that He could do anything when Christ was in it and fulfilled his needs.

This is not a genie verse.  Say Philippians 4:13 three times and POOF you can do anything.  But it is a promise that when God gives you a mission, no matter how difficult it is or how inept you might feel yourself to be, He will provide all your needs to accomplish that task. 

God will never call you to a ministry and then leave you alone to accomplish it.  He will strengthen you with all you need to follow His will.

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Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

I just read a post from a friend of mine on Facebook.  She lost $20 which she had put in her pocket and then it was simply gone.  She was irritated at her foolishness for losing the money and things were financially tight at the moment. She retraced her steps.  She hunted high and low. She searched hard for that lost money but she found nothing.

Later a still small voice spoke to her, "Remember.  Remember the times you were in need and the right thing came along at the perfect time?"  She saw that God had always provided for her in the past and He was not going to stop now.  He had blessed her time and time again, but this one time something was lost instead of given.  Did that mean God had now stopped blessing her?  Of course not.

That money was not hers but God to use as He saw fit.  Perhaps there was someone out there whose need was far greater than hers.  That $20 was someone else's gain.  Perhaps it was found on that day. Perhaps a month from now it will be found in the melting snow, but it will be found at just the right time, by just the right person, to fulfill their need and show them that God has a plan for their life, and He will prosper them.  He gives to them more than $20 but also hope and a future.

"...The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;  Blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21b

Rapture is This Sunday!!

An Angel of the LORD comes down to you (yes a real angel and not a demon disguised as an angel) and tells you, "Do not be afraid.  I have come to tell you that this Sunday Jesus Christ the bridegroom and lover of your soul will come to rapture you and all believers to Heaven.  Prepare for your Rapture."

What do you do?  Stop a moment and think about what kind of preparations you would take if you knew that you only had a few precious days to be ready for the return of Christ.  Before going on with reading, think a minute about what actions in your life you would take.

Is there someone, perhaps a friend or relative, you need to reconcile with?  Do you have someone in your life whom you really enjoy their friendship but you are afraid to tell them about their need for salvation found only in Jesus Christ?  Do you have a hidden sin you need to repent of?

The time is short.  God commands us to be ready.  We are commanded to tell others about Jesus.  We are told to reconcile our relationships.  God demands that our lives be holy, righteous and pure.

"It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,"  Titus 2:12-13

Is Rapture this Sunday?  Maybe.  Do you want to take the chance that it isn't?

Photo Credit: Second Coming Jesus 02 by Waiting For The Word

God Promises Joy!

God is a wonderful God!  He delights in blessing His Children. One of the great promises of God is that you will find delight and joy in Him.

"Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:  "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!" Psalm 118:15

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior?  Then victory is yours!  You can rejoice with great joy because not only have you gained salvation and eternal life, but victory throughout your life because God is now in the battle with you. You and God will rejoice together in victory.

Are times tough? Are you going through some trials in your life?  Habakkuk talks about how even though he has nothing and everything looks bleak, he will rejoice.

"yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights."  
Habakkuk 3:18-19

Life can be a hard road to travel, but God is with us and we can rejoice because He gives us strength when we are weak.  And God gives us the stable and firm footing of His Word whether that road is an easy grassy one or a rocky dangerous trail.  We can rejoice in troubled times because that is when we will see God working in our lives.

The key to obtaining the Joy of the LORD is found in trusting Him.

"The righteous will rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in Him;  All the upright in heart will glory in Him!"  Psalm 64:10

The righteous, those who have trusted in God for their salvation, take refuge in Him!  We are to depend upon Jesus Christ to provide all that we need; from salvation to blessings of clothes, a job, food, a home, and every little or big need we find.  Take joy for we are under His care

Joy is found by resting in the arms of Jesus.

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Islam is a Lie and Allah is a False God.

There is only one God and Allah is not Him.  Mohammad was a false prophet led by Satan to create an abomination of a religion that has deceived 2 Billion people in the world.  The Muslim people are not to blame.  They are deceived by the lies perpetrated by Satan, using Mohammad to war against God.

We must love and reach out to the Muslims.  They are not the enemy.  This is a spiritual battle for the hearts and souls of people.  Never hate them.  Never get angry with them.  Pray that God will open their eyes to the truth of God and to the lies of Islam.  They need us to stand up and speak the truth, otherwise, they will never see the deception they have fallen into.

The real villain is Satan.  He created a religion where lying, cheating, stealing, raping, enslaving, and killing are not only accepted but encouraged against all who do not accept Islam.  Hatred and anger against Jews and Christians are seen as natural and appropriate.  Islam is a creation of the father of lies.

"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."  John 8:44

There is only one God and one LORD.  YHWH!  He is truth and love.  He desires for all to come to Him and live.  He is all-powerful, but tender to those who suffer.  He is all-knowing, but will never remind the repentant how evil they have been.  He is omnipresent but still allows you free will to do as you will. Proverbs 6: 16-19 says He hates a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet swift to run to mischief, a false witness and people who create discord.  All that Islam teaches, God hates.

We must stand up as a true witness for God.  We must or else the lives and souls of the Muslims will be lost.  Are you afraid of what others might say if you should speak against Islam?  Do you fear personal harm from the Muslims? 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love and of a sound mind."

The last words of Jesus while in this world was the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28: 16-20.
He commanded us to go and make disciples of all the nations.  All nations means even to those who hate you.  It means to tell the truth to those nations who are deceived by Satan.  It means to stand up for Christ even when others persecute and kill you.

To do otherwise is to bow to the desires of Satan.

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I Belong to Jesus.

I am His.  I do not belong to myself anymore.  In the Song of Solomon, the bride says of the bridegroom, "Ani Lo." or "I am His."  We are the bride of Christ and our relationship with Him should be summed up with, "I am His."

We, who belong to Jesus, are living in the most wonderful relationship possible.  He bought us with his blood.  We no longer have the right to our lives because our lives are now totally in the hands of God.  Sin and temptation have no right to us. We do not even have the right to give ourselves over to sin.

God also has taken the responsibility for our lives.  We no longer should worry because our lives no longer belong to us but to God.  He commands us in 1 Peter 5:7 to cast all our worries and anxieties on Him.  Our Burdens now belong to Jesus and not to us.  Everyone who will simply trust in Jesus Christ is now free.

Do you get offended?  Do people ever persecute you?  Are you made fun of?  God created you and knows you intimately.  When you belong to Jesus, those who come against you are now coming against God instead.  Do not be offended by people, because you belong to Jesus Christ, your bridegroom.  He will stand with you in all the trials the enemy throws at you.  In the end, God says "Revenge is mine"  Can you think of a greater punishment for those poor people who harass you than the wrath of God?"

I am His because I love Him.  I gave myself to Jesus because I wanted too. I wanted to give the love of my soul everything.  I do not want to hold anything back from him.  It is a joy to give of myself to my Lord Jesus.  What I receive in return is worth more than a thousand lifetimes.

"For in Him we live and move and exist,..." Acts 17:28a

Photo Credit: "The LORD is to be Praised!" by Art4The GlryOfGod by Sharon

The Flesh vs The Spirit

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

We live in a world of the flesh.  It is understandable why we see material victories as good.  Anytime we can defeat disease, pain, suffering, hunger, homelessness, poverty, and hundreds of other trials people are going through, it is seen as a victory.

This is normal but is it a victory spiritually?  I have seen many times when a person goes through a trial in their life, that they seek God because they have nowhere else to go.  The trial might be a result of their own foolishness, the selfish work of others or a natural disaster, but in all these trials God uses it for a spiritual victory in the person's life.

Our struggle in the world for comfort, safety, and survival, is good.  God created us that way, but there is also a spiritual side to our struggles.  Satan wants to destroy you and so does the world.  In the world, it is the strong who survive.  God, however, wants you to have an eternal victory which will help you to know and grow in your relationship with God.

Always pray for people who are going through a trial, but remember that God might be allowing that trial to occur so that they might learn a spiritual lesson and come to depend on Him.  It is in the trials that the spirit of man grows.  Perhaps God wants you to pray for them to learn from the trial so that it will end quickly.

A weightlifter works with heavy weights to build up his body.  It is the resistance of those weights which strain his muscles and cause them to grow stronger.  In our lives, it is the trials which cause our spiritual muscles to strain and grow stronger.  It is not always easy but spiritual growth comes through spiritual sweat.

Photo Credit: 50 Years old! by Andrew Blight