Can You Do It

Can You Do It
December 21, 2015

Philippians 4:13  "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

I can do everything through Christ who gives me the strength.  Oh what a wonderful, magnificent part of the Bible.  It you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably quoted this Scripture a time or two, chanting it even as a self pep talk.  We've all leaned on this verse at some time, believing the verse to be true, that we really CAN do all things through the strength found in Christ.  It is critical, though, if you are going to use this verse as a life quote, to make sure you are using it and understanding it correctly.  Can you REALLY do EVERYTHING?  I'm mean, the Bible uses the world "ALL" as if it is excluding nothing.  So can you really do everything through Him?

First we must understand who penned the words and why he said it.  It was written by the apostle Paul, and he said it to the Christians who were living in Philippi, trying to encourage them to live the life of a Christian through any and all circumstances.  He was telling them no matter what happens, he had to, and we must also, live as a Christian in every situation we find ourselves.  Specifically, Paul was talking about his ability to be content in times of plenty and content in times of trouble.  In fact, Paul never writes that he could do "ALL THINGS."  Paul said he could do, "ALL THIS."  Paul was being specific to his ability to maintain his Christianity in opposite physical and emotional scenarios.  Paul never said he could jump off a cliff and fly, which is obviously absurd, but the point must be made.  A Christian cannot decide what they want to do, then apply the verse to mean "ALL THINGS" to suit the preference.  This is a blatant misuse of Scripture, which has led many to believe inappropriately.

Before you get angry, first understand that the Lord's strength is full enough to equip you to truly accomplish anything He desires for your life.  This statement is true and is supported throughout all of Scripture.  But it must be noted that the Lord will not equip you and strengthen you if He has not first ordered it to happen.  Yes you can truly do it if the Lord has ordained it, but you don't get to decide what you get to do with the Lord's strength.  Paul DOES say you can be certain to draw on the strength of the Lord to help you in every circumstance you find yourself, but He does not say you get to manipulate the circumstances with the strength of Christ to bend it to your own will.  There is a difference between leaning on the Lord to get through difficulty and determining what you'd like your future to become.  You must first check your self, your pride, your agenda, your goals, and your desires at the door before you are allowed to quote this famous verse.  At no point can you quote it to speak into existence something that might actually be contrary to the Lord's will.

Your usage of this verse must be rooted in the foundation of the Lord's will for your life and the path you've ended up on if you've actually followed Him.  Using this verse must be tempered with what is written in James 4:15.  James says that you can pray and hope for a specific future outcome, knowing the Lord's will should be the only result.  So, you can quote the verse, if you actually quote it correctly, with the right words.  You must also intend the meaning the Lord ascribed to it.

Don't take my word for it; look it up: Romans 8:28, James 4:15

Birth

Birth

December 14, 2015

Matthew 1:18  "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. . ."

The story of the birth of Jesus usually starts the same, no mater who is telling the tale.  It almost always starts with, "Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph."  It begins with basically the inception of Jesus.  Whenever someone is recounting the story of a person's life, birth is usually a good place to start, especially with the introduction of the parents responsible for the deed.  I like how the book of Matthew starts with the story, however, it introduces the story by telling us how the Messiah came into the world.  There is a difference between being introduced to a child, a baby, compared to being introduced to the Messiah.  Matthew introduces the end from the beginning, by calling Him the Messiah he tells us who Jesus was before He was even born.  In fact, the point of Jesus being the Messiah actually tells us the story before the story.

There is a story that must be told before the birth of Jesus being the Messiah.  The story is the reason for the Messiah and what a Messiah accomplishes.  Everyone thinks the birth of Jesus starts with Mary and Joseph, except I would argue that the birth of Jesus starts with the birth of the world.  Remember the beginning of the Bible?  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  And then in the New Testament, the Bible says that Jesus was there in the beginning, at the inception of creation.  In is interesting how many thousands of years take place between the inception of the world, with Jesus present, and the inception of a baby, the human form of Jesus.  It tells us that birth was preceded by life.  The planning that went into the story of Jesus' birth, thousands of years of planning were apparently required.

Translate this planning into your own life for a moment.  Your life story started with your birth, and some would argue it started with the introduction of your parents.  I would argue that it started many years prior to that.  Birth was preceded by life, even yours.  Every birth is preceded by life, the life giving planning inspired by the Lord.  It took a tremendous amount of planning to bring your life about.  If the Lord took a tremendous amount of planning to bring your life to fruition, isn't it reasonable to think that He has a plan and intention for your life?  Every birth has an intention from the Lord.  This goes for the birth that gave you life and the events that are birthing in your life right now.  The Lord did not conceive of Jesus just to result in a still birth.  If the Lord has birthed something in your life, do you think He is intent on allowing it to be a still birth?  Birth was meant to be the start of something, not the end result of something.

The Lord had a plan when He brought your life about, just like He had a plan when He brought about Jesus as the son of Mary and Joseph.  The Lord is patient and relentless in the execution of His plans, setting them up even thousands of years in advance to bring about a birth.  And that birth isn't the beginning.  The beginning started so long ago.  If it feels like a birth for you, put it in perspective that it is the result of significant planning by the Lord and still not the end result.  There is so much more right after a birth, just like there was so much more that prepares for a birth.  Get excited, something is birthing.

Don't take my word for it; look it up: Gen 1:1, Is 43:19, Is 66:8-10, Matt 1, James 1:18

Bloody Glasses

Bloody Glasses

December 7, 2015
Ephesians 1:4  "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. . ."

There is something called rose colored glasses.  It is an idiom about the outlook someone has, which is more favorable in comparison to another person's point of view.  In fact, the outlook of having rose colored glasses is kind of offensive, suggesting the person's point of view is not grounded in reality.  Someone with rose colored glasses cannot see things the way that actually are, but in a rosy light.  This can actually be a good thing sometimes as it allows a person to be happier, not seeing the negative in a situation.  The down side is that the person can sometimes be taken advantage of or taken for a fool.  If I had to error on one side, I suppose I would like to have rose colored glasses in more situations.

Someone else has rose colored glasses.  It is the Lord.  His glasses are more like blood colored glasses, though.  It is the only way He can look at you and me, in the midst of our sin, and not wipe us off the face of the earth.  Our sins make us look despicable, literally, but the Lord looks at us through blood colored glasses.  Paul writes in Ephesians that the Lord looks at us as blameless.  This is not to say the Lord can't blame us for our actions, because He can.  This is saying that when the Lord looks at us, He is seeing first the redemption Jesus paid for with His own blood.  The blood of Jesus is a filter that the Lord looks through in order to see us as Holy and Blameless in His sight.

In verse four of the first chapter of Ephesians, Scripture says the Lord chose us to be blameless in His sight.  But there is no way we can be blameless unless something wipes away our sins.  That redemption is spelled out in the verses following the fourth verse, through to the explanation of how it happens.  In verse seven, Paul writes that we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus, which is only due to the graciousness of God.  The Lord looks at us through blood colored glasses because He was full of grace before we were even born.  He knew we'd be full of sin and knew there would be no way He could look upon us as blameless unless He also made a way to see us in that light.

If this is how the Lord looks at us, then we need to cut ourselves a little slack.  We think that because we can't actually be perfect then the Lord could never possibly look at us that way.  Surprising enough, the Lord doesn't submit to our line of thinking.  Right now, if you've accepted the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, then you are perfectly blameless.  The Lord does not see your wrongs, in fact He has no more record of them.  They are removed from His memory and He can see you in a very favorable light.  The Lord has the enviable blood colored glasses and He is looking through them right now.

Don't take my word for it; look it up: 1 Cor 13:5, Eph 1, 1 John 4:8