“I can do all things [which He has called me to do]
through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfil His purpose –I am
self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to
anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace].” (Philippians
4:13)
POWERFUL: Because God lives in us, we truly can do anything we need to do, but we are often defeated by our own wrong thinking.
If we think or say that we can’t, then we won’t!
Don’t ever forget that what you believe will become your reality!
We
Must FIRMLY believe that it’s ours:
Jesus deposited it, but we must believe that it’s ours
· The devil is a liar.
· If we believe his lies, then we will be deceived like Eve
Powerful Point: Learning to believe and trust in God’s Word more than we believe what we think or feel makes the difference in living victoriously or being defeated?
You’ve Got to TRUST that GOD will give you the ability to accomplish it:
a. We are instructed in God’s Word to not faint in our minds (Hebrews 12:3)
b. We shouldn’t think that we are not capable of doing what God directs us to do.
c. Our thoughts turn into our behaviors.
d. If we think we cannot do a thing, we are weakened to the point where we can’t.
Learning who we are in Christ is Vital if we are to ever live a victorious life as a Christian. We are DEAD to our past.
Our past may make a difference to some of the people we know, but it makes no difference at all to God.
You are STRONGER than you think you are?
1. You can do whatever you need to do in life through Christ!
2. God’s Word says that you are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you (Romans 8:37)
NOTICE: It is “through Him,” not through your own determination!
We Must be Determined…
We need to be determined and refuse to give up, but the greatest amount of determination will eventually dissipate unless we continually draw on God’s strength that is in us.
What does it mean to be “more than a conqueror?”
a. We can live with confidence that we will win every battle we face even before it begins.
b. We don’t have to wait to see how big the problem is before we decide how things will turn out.
c. Many things are impossible with US, but NOTHING is impossible with God!
Stress and Schedule
Just as Joyce has stress and schedule to comply with, we do too. When we are overwhelmed, we may also think that we can’t do it, complete it, or get through it. But we must apply these principles from this chapter to our own life. Then we will be able to accomplish everything through Christ.
YOU WILL CONQUER IT!
A. Note that “all things” are not experienced by us – even though in reality they belong to us – unless we are personally knowledgeable of Him and the kind of life He has called us to live.
B. We have to add our diligence to the promises an exercise our faith in them in order to see them released into our lives.
What happens if someone makes a huge deposit into your bank and you did not know it was there or available to you.
***Lack of knowledge is the thing that prevents God’s children from living the truly awesome life that Jesus died for them to have.***
We simply don’t know that it is even an option. We have no idea that we can let go of our past and never look back or that they can experience healing from all of the wounds of our soul.
Page 123 – If God Be For us…
If God is for us,
who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]
Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us (Romans 8:31,37)
YOU are not weak – You are Strong! – pg. 124.
The devil delights in making us think we are weak and incapable, but the truth is that we have all God’s strength available to us.
We may be weak in ourselves, but His strength shows itself most effective through our weakness when we lean on and rely on Him.
A Thorn in the Flesh – 2 Corinthians 12:7 – pg. 124
· Paul was dealing with a Huge Problem in his life.
· A thorn in the flesh
· We have all experienced this thing that just won’t go away
· Its sometimes painful or extremely challenging or BOTH
· Paul begged God to let it depart from him
· But instead, God told him that He would give him the STRENGTH to bear it.
Questions:
o How many times did Paul Call upon the Lord?
o What was Paul’s plea?
o What did the Lord say would be made perfect and completed to show themselves most effective in His weakness?
What if God removed EVERY difficulty from our lives?
a. There would be no need for Him in our daily lives.
b. God wants to show Himself Strong in our lives.
c. God wants to be needed.
d. He wants to be sought after.
e. He wants us to believe that we can do whatever we need to do THROUGH HIM.
Personal Story about Joyce’s Mother
a. Although Joyce’s mother believed in God,
b. She did not know how to rely on Him to be her strength.
c. She did not confront the situation with Joyce’s father in their home.
d. She allowed the incest to continue because she thought she was incapable of caring for her children without her Husband.
We must believe that we are STRONG in the Lord. There will be times during your journey that you will be tempted to think that you don’t have what it takes to confront the issues that needs to be addressed. On your own, you are too weak and not strong enough to do it. But God is not weak. He is STRONG. Drawing on His strength will get you through anything if you don’t falter, or faint, in your mind and give up.
Joyce’s mother could have had believe this truth, but she couldn’t.
Bottom of Pg. 125 – What did the Psalmist David say….
“My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!” (Psalm 119:28 NIV).
What did Isaiah say in 40:29?
“He gives strength to the weary and INCREASES the POWER of the weak!” and Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:31 NIV)
Paul said: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10 NKJV)
a. Psalms contains countless Scriptures that repeatedly say, “God is my strength.”
b. But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me” (Psalm 22:19 NIV)
c. When we are weak, go to the WORD of God.
d. It’s even better if we have studied the Bible long enough to have memorized verses that will help us at any time.
e. If we put the Word in us, the Holy Spirit will draw it out at the exact time we need it.
f. He brings it to our remembrance (John 14:26).
Ø We can do battle because God’s Word is our weapon.
Ø Every weakness can be cast down by meditating on and confessing God’s Word.
Ø What does it mean “to meditate”?
o To think or ponder, contemplate, murmur, or speak God’s Word
If we live,
dwell, and remain in Him, and let His Word (Jesus) live, dwell, and remain in
us, God’s Word promises us that we will bear much fruit (John 15:5)
Greater is He That Is in You
Ø We are indeed weak and incapable in many ways, but God, who is the greater One, lives in us.
Ø You’ve got what it takes to do what you need to do!
Ø You don’t need to have fear in any situation.
Ø You may not know what is going to happen, how difficult things may become, how long it may be before victory is yours, or what to do---but God does, and He is living in you!
Put your faith in God, and He will guide you each step of the way if you continue to put your faith in Him.
We need to learn to be: “God inside minded!”
Remind yourself:
ü God lives inside of me.
ü He is close to me at all times and
ready to help me.
*** Think about the promises in God’s Word concerning who you are in Him and what you can do through Him until it becomes part of who are you. ***
ü We should learn to identify with Christ at all times. ***
ü We died with Him, and we are raised with Him to a new, powerful, and overcoming life.
ü We are God’s home.
ü He is our home.
ü You have what you need to do whatever you need to do!
Think about what you think of yourself and how you feel about your capabilities. What you believe about yourself is much more important than what anyone else believes.
Learn to believe what God says about you and what you can and cannot do.
*** STORY from Passiton.com
If this person could be this affected in a positive way by what his grandpa said, how much more can we be affected by what God’s says?
When Jesus comes in, weakness goes out!
***What would be the possibility of you overcoming your painful situation?”
Don’t spend one more day feeling helpless, weak, and incapable. See yourself as a special, well-equipped child of God who has what it takes to do whatever needs to be done.
You are more than a Survivor
You are an overcomer.
“Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? As long as we see ourselves as victims, we will continue to feel victimized and often carry resentment about our past. In Christ, our past does not need to determine our future.
Don’t see yourself as merely survivors.
That leaves you with thoughts of being someone who has barely come through a tragedy instead of someone who is strong and an overcomer. YOU are a new creature in CHRIST.
How you see yourself and what you believe are extremely important.
(Story of man sitting on park bench who lost his JOB!)
The young man succeeded because he believed that he had what he needed in the bank and could draw on it at any time.
· What he had wasn’t even a reality, but thinking that it was helped him overcome his loss.
· What we have is so much more.
· We have something in the bank, so to speak, because WE HAVE JESUS living inside of us, and we can live without fear and do great things because we can make withdrawals anything we need anything.
· If you need help, you can make a withdrawal.
· If you need peace, you can make a withdrawal.
· If you need wisdom, or strength, or creativity, make a withdrawal.
You can never make too many withdrawals, because what you have available in Jesus has NO LIMITS.
He is always more than enough for any need we have.
**You can do whatever you need to do through Christ, who is your strength. You are NOT weak. You are STRONG.
You are more than a conqueror through Jesus. You are an overcomer!!!