The Strength Of Jesus

WORDS FOR LIFE - The Strength of Jesus

August 19, 2018

Philippians 4:13 (p. 820)

Introduction:

How can we be strong in the midst of circumstances that make us feel so weak? How can we face the struggles of this life victoriously when we feel so defeated?

I believe with all my heart the answer is “to be content with God no matter what the circumstances are.”

It is impossible to not feel stress, or anxiety or fear in many of these circumstances…we’re human…and God gave us these emotions for a reason. But He also lets us know “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith isn’t the absence of turmoil…Faith is trusting God in the middle of it!

Satan uses the same tools he’s always used. From the Garden of Eden until today he whispers “Look for something better and beyond God’s plan…he plants the seeds of discontentment and ungratefulness in our soul.

Every one of us has heard the statement…“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence…”

Wayne Smith said, “Yeah, but it’s still got to be mowed…and the great theologian Ron White says…“It’s because it grows over a septic tank.”

I laughed out loud when I heard that last one…because I really believe this is the number one way Satan leads people astray…both inside and outside the church.

“I’m gonna show you greener pastures.” I’m gonna show you a more exciting relationship. I’m gonna show you shinier toys and a way to be more popular… but he never reveals the septic tank these things are planted over!

He’s so subtle, isn’t he? In the midst of a dry or barren spot in your marriage the girl you always thought was pretty asked…”Are you O.K?” “And the coffee room becomes a pasture where the grass looks greener.” And you have to make a fence crossing decision.

You’ll be happier if you have a new or different car or house… (It has nothing to do with need, but a lot to do with image), so you get it….go deeply into debt…It makes you feel good sitting behind the wheel or decorating the new living room, but underneath the fading happiness is a septic tank.

It’s the satanic carrot in front of the horse…If I can just get this, have this, love him…I’ll be happy…

But eventually something putrid starts to seep up into our soul…We discover that the promise was bogus…and we even start to long for what we once had.

We do this over and over again with struggles and difficulties in our lives and we wonder why we end up right back in a place of unhappiness and discontent…the definition of “insanity” is doing the same things over and over again expecting a different result.”

But I don’t want to take another drink! I don’t want another marriage to end! I don’t want to go into further debt trying to buy my happiness.

Well if that’s true…don’t do the same things that caused you to reach that place, over and over again…take a different path.

This path is the secret for victory and strength…

It’s found in these words:

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:11-13)

If we want to do all things through Him who gives us the strength…If we want to be content and trust God no matter what…then start with being like Him.

I. FOCUS MORE ON OTHERS THAN YOURSELF

By the way…anyone know where Paul physically is as he writes to the Philippians? He’s in prison.

Even so, he writes from behind bars. He says…“I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me…Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it”. (Phil. 4:10)

The world has a huge “I” problem…it’s caused them to be spiritually blind…but it’s also invaded the church…it’s not an “E.Y.E.” eye problem…it’s a selfish me letter, capital “I” problem.

It’s ironic that the Apostle Paul, in prison, says…what causes me to feel joyful is that you’re not thinking about yourselves anymore, but me…it’s not because I want you to think about me first, but I want you to think about others before yourselves…and evidently that had been a problem…it’s always a problem for people in the world…but that same “I” problem is huge for the church. Listen to what Paul tells them 2 chapters earlier:

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4 (p. 819)

God’s people…those who live as Kingdom seekers first are radically different from the world who seeks “me” first.