I may sound a little nasally this morning.
The pollen count is up.
The grass grows.
AND it needs cut.
SPEAKING OF GRASS
Did you ever notice there are things that hide in the grass?
In his ‘Parable of the Acorn’ Lyman Abbot wrote,
I pluck an acorn from the greensward and hold it to my ear, and this is what it says to me:
By and by the birds will come and nest in me.
By and by I will furnish shade for the cattle.
By and by I will provide warmth for the home in the pleasant fire.
By and by I will be the shelter from the storm to those who have gone under the roof.
By and by I will be the strong ribs of the great vessel, and the tempest will bear against me in vain while I carry men across the ocean.
O foolish little acorn, wilt thou be all this? I ask.
Yes, God and I, it answers.
PHILIPPIANS 4: 13
13 I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME.
Could he possibly mean this literally?
Did the apostle really believe that there was nothing he could not do?
When the Apostle Paul said that he could do all things, he meant all things which were God’s will for him to do.
He had learned that the Lord’s commands are the Lord’s enablements.
He knew that God would never call on him to accomplish some task without giving the necessary grace.
God doesn’t ask us to do things unless He knows we have the tools to get it done.
Has anyone ever dug through their toolbox looking for a specific size wrench?
We know it’s in there, but where?
That’s how we are with tasks God asks us to do.
God says go and do.
If He says, go and do, we either have or He will give us the tools to use.
Sometimes, however, we have to look for them.
The tools are right there in plain sight, but we don’t see them.
It’s like when the kids need something and claim to have looked all over for it.
Then mom comes in and there it is.
RIGHT WHERE SHE SAID IT WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Paul was confident that he was in the will of God.
He knew that wherever he was, or in whatever he found himself doing, he was there because God wanted him there.
Right living results from right thinking.
If a person’s thought-life is pure, then his life will be pure.
On the other hand, if a person’s mind is a fountain of corruption, then you can be sure that the stream that issues from it will be filthy also.
And we should always remember that if a person thinks an evil thought long enough, he will eventually do it.
Those who are faithful in following Paul’s example are promised that the God of peace will be with them.
God is always very near and dear to all whose lives are patterned after the truth.
The 10 words from PHILIPPIANS 4: 13 enable us to overcome any obstacle.
We can conquer every challenge.
We will fight off every foe.
And we can bear any burden, and shoulder any sacrifice.
13 I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME.
Let’s examine the sentence in three phrases.
The first part is “I CAN”
Those are the two most positive words that exist.
We live in a world that tells us that we can’t.
We live in a world where Satan is trying to convince us that we can’t.
He wants us to think that we can’t change and grow.
He wants us to think that we can’t reach the lost or minister to others.
He wants us to think that we can’t make it through our struggles and overcome our problems.
Unfortunately, sometimes we believe him.
Unfortunately, sometimes we develop the “I can’t/ We can’t” attitude.
And when we do, we are just giving into Satan.
We are letting him have his way.
So how can we knock the “T” out of can’t?
We can knock it out through faith and perseverance.
Ultimately, not faith in ourselves, but faith in God.
Perseverance is the ability to keep on going even when the going gets tough.
I think that many times we quit too soon.
In many cases, if we had just continued we would have accomplished what we were trying to accomplish.
BUT WE QUIT TOO SOON.
Through perseverance and faith “I can”, “you can”, “we can.”
The second part of the statement is: “DO ALL THINGS”
There are two words in this part of the statement with which we are likely not comfortable.
The first is the word “DO”.
The word “do” is an important one, but one we often avoid.
Often we spend more time TALKING about doing, than ACTUALLY doing.
We might attend meetings, committees, and workshops to prepare to do something.
Then we never get around to doing anything.
In the end, it’s not the talk, but the walk that matters.
JAMES 1:22
22 BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, DECEIVING YOUR OWN SELVES.
The other word that often makes us uncomfortable is the word “ALL”.
Perhaps we would be more comfortable if this statement were: “I can do some things” or “I can most things”.
But that word “ALL” is so inclusive.
There is this little voice of doubt that goes off in my mind.
That little voice entices us to “water down” God’s promises.
We must resist doing so.
This verse says, “I can do all things.”
Someone has called these words we have looked at thus far as the “monosyllables of madness.”
The reason they're called that is because if you put a period at the end of this part of the statement, you would be stating the impossible.
The statement “I can do all things” is a false one.
It is a maddening one.
I don’t believe that Paul was trying to say that we can do all things period.
I don’t think he means that if I just get on my bicycle today and start pedaling that I can win the Tour de France.
Or if I go to the YMCA down the street that I will be able to hop in the pool and out-swim Michael Phelps.
Or sit down today and begin writing a book that will out-sell J.K. Rowling’s books.
No, what Paul is talking about is that we can do all things that God wants us to be doing.
All things that pertain to God’s will for our spiritual lives.
In the fourth chapter of Philippians where this positive verse is found,
Paul has already made known a number of things that are possible with God’s help pertaining to his spiritual life, and the spiritual life of the Philippians.
He had already pointed out that they could get along with each other in Christ.
He had already pointed out that they could rejoice in the Lord always.
He had already pointed out that they could overcome fear through prayer.
And He had already pointed out that they could learn to be content regardless of the circumstances.
So the promise has to do with all things pertaining to our spiritual lives.
And, then it is only when you add the last part of the statement that it becomes true and possible.
The third part is: “THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENETH ME.”
This final part is truly the key.
JOHN 15:5
5 I AM THE VINE, YE ARE THE BRANCHES: HE THAT ABIDETH IN ME, AND I IN HIM, THE SAME BRINGETH FORTH MUCH FRUIT: FOR WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING.
Without Christ “I can’t”. With Christ I can.
But we might object: “But you don’t understand, my problems are really big and very complex.”
And that may be true, but let me ask you this question: “Is there a problem too big or complex for God?” I don’t think so!
EPHESIANS 3:20
20 NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US,
Paul discovered from his own experience with the thorn in the flesh, sometimes God chooses not to remove the difficulties from our lives,
Paul said that to keep him from becoming conceited because of all the things he was privileged to know, there was given to him a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment him.
Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away.
But God told Paul His grace is sufficient for Paul, and that God’s power is made perfect in Paul’s weakness.
Paul tells us then he will boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on him.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, Paul says he delights in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Is God’s grace sufficient for us?
Do we believe and accept that?
Maybe we are living in a body that is not healthy or doesn’t work as it could and should
Is God’s grace sufficient?
Can His power be made perfect through that weakness?
Maybe you are living in a family or a marriage that is not what it could or should be – Is God’s grace sufficient? Can His power be made perfect through that weakness?
What if you have lost your job, or you are really struggling to make ends meet? Is God’s grace sufficient? Can His power be made perfect through that weakness?
There is not a person among us who does not have some kind of limitation, or struggle or pain in their life.
There was a preacher who always used to say, “Be kind to everyone you meet, because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”
The only struggle-free people you know, are the people you don’t know very well.
Do we believe that we can do all things through Christ?
Will we all decide today to claim that statement and promise as our own?
Will all of us make the decision to believe that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength?
Will all of us decide to face all of our difficulties, and all of our deficiencies with the attitude that God will help us stand up under it or against it?
Will we make that decision and commitment today?
A professor of preaching at a well-known school tells a story about one of his former students.
The former student was a successful young man who called one day to tell the professor that he was sick and in the hospital.
When the professor visited the former student, he discovered that young man was sick with leukemia, a battle that he has since lost.
After a few moments by his side in the hospital, the former student, said to his professor
“I have learned that life is not like a DVR.”
“What do you mean?” the professor asked.
“It’s not like a DVR, because you can’t fast-forward through the bad parts. But I have learned that Jesus Christ is in every frame, and right now that is just enough.”
How many times have we wished that life had a “fast-forward” button, or a “rewind” button, or an “edit, undo” button?
BUT THAT’S NOT HOW LIFE IS.
What we can rejoice in and count on is that Jesus Christ is with us in every frame, and in every moment, and that is just enough.
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME.
What looks like great strength on our part is really just our dependence on our all-powerful God.
We can do all things through Christ, and only through Christ.
Another preacher of another day, said, “Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger people; do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work may be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, the richness of the life that has come to you by the grace of God.”
We have a very high calling.
We are children of the King – loved, forgiven and saved by Him.
The God of the universe lives in us and His power can enable us to grow to maturity and completeness.
His power can help us endure whatever we must suffer.
His power can supply what we need to obey all his commands, and complete all that God has planned for us.
But if we try to walk in our own strength, we will fall and we will fail.
But if we walk in the Spirit then, we can, do all things, through Christ who strengthens us.
To all who contribute to this site, I give full recognition for your work. My sermon prep includes many quotes, paraphrases, and rearrangements of thoughts and ideas from previously published messages for re-presentation. I greatly thank SermonCentral and its contributors for allowing their work to be treated so.
