SEVEN FAMOUS BIBLE VERSES #5: "SECRET BEHIND PHILIPPIANS 4:13"

Mankind has always coveted power from the dawn of time, and especially when life on planet earth was rebooted, post Noahic-Flood. One of Noah’s great grandsons was a….Nimrod. In fact, Nimrod was his name. He is the person responsible for the reintroduction of idolatry and pagan worship into the world after God had cleansed the earth of every evil thing and person. Nimrod wanted power, longing to be like God and decided to build a tower that he thought would reach the sky…all the way to heaven. The result was the Tower of Babel and the true power of God revealed when the Almighty scattered mankind across the land, speaking in strange languages and tongues. Before this event, all living humans spoke the language of Noah.

Nimrod used his God-given gifts and abilities to shake his fists at the Creator and do things in his own power. Then God showed up. Many will see the brilliant and lost in this world prospering to the tune of billions, while blaspheming God or worshiping their own creations (whether it’s in the technology or financial world). They see this inconsistency going on while God’s people suffer in most countries of the world and have nothing. This should not concern us to the point of sin. It should inspire us to work harder in Kingdom Service and not to an obsession of what is celebrated in this celebrity culture, but a reliance on the Strength and Character of God, in order to be like Him.

  

The popular Philippians 4:13 verse is a favorite of a lot of people, especially soldiers, college students and even athletes, most of whom do not follow Christ.  Taken by itself, the impact which God intended for us to have from this verse is lost. By itself, it even becomes somewhat of an idol if we are not in relationship and fellowship with the God Who had it written down for us. The Power is not in the word but the Word Who became flesh. The Power is not in the t shirt, hat or mug it is on, but in the Author of Life. The run up to this exhortation (4:13) is Philippians 4, verses 11b and 12.  If we miss this, we are operating in midair with now landing gear down.  The Apostle Paul, under inspiration from the Holy Spirit writes the following:

Philippians 4:11b-12 ---  11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 

The above passage should be an example to those of us in modern times who sometimes feel as if we need the next best thing....and then we will be happy. Or maybe, if we had this new car, or new job, or new home, then we can really be satisfied with our lives.

Focusing on the wrong things brings dissatisfaction, but peace with God and the simplicity of the Gospel lead to peace, joy, contentment. The mark of a true believer is how one carries oneself under ANY circumstance. This is the main point of the passage. 

When the modern cultural fad adopts the "Bumper Sticker" man-made attribute of "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me", the fad creates more fad adherents than followers.  When Philippians 4:13 becomes written on the back of your cleats, or on your ball cap or coffee mug, it should be more than just YOU and I making some kind of statement to the world that we are "Christians".

Because the Gold of this teaching is found here in Verses 11b and 12, we can surely NOW rest in Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all things through Him who strengthens me") but more important, we must ensure we are filled with the sense of the main thing which is integral to our soul and its well-being BEFORE we get there. The main things ARE the main things and here they are:

 -  Open our eyes to what the Lord has done for us and be grateful for every single thing He has done for us. 

 -  Gratitude for what our Heavenly Father has done for us, beyond just meeting our needs, but allowing us to be even more comfortable and prosperous than we were, maybe even ten years ago, should lead us to proper humility.

 -  This Humility should result in perspective of the kind where we can handle any form of adversity which the world throws at us in general, or at Christians specifically. Life will happen to all. Life is lived in the valley of sometimes flowing waters and fertile soil, but many times, life is lived in the valley of despair. The Secret is found in the Oracles of God, Who laid them plainly out in Scripture.

 -  Adversity, in the Valley of Despair, can always be handled with Godly dignity and grace if we know the Source of Everything and not just the Strength and Power which comes from God.

 -  Gratitude, Humility, Persevering in Adversity even when times are good (and they will not stay good forever) can be rolled up into one thing - Godly Perspective. This is the Real Secret which are available to the Faithful who can now claim the ability to possess all these attributes, because his/her reliance is in the Lord Jesus Christ - Who has given us and embedded His character and power IN us. 

Therefore, if we are really searching for the Secret behind this popular or any other verse of its genre, we will most certainly find that there is no hidden magic formula at all! God has written it all out in the open! All we should immediately grasp is this - our God is a God of order and is also Process. He IS in the details and longs to fill them in for us - if we will only ask. 

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY EIGHTEEN:
VERSES:
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge...(Psalm 18:2)
PRAYER:

Most Heavenly and Holy Father, on Christ the Solid Rock I stand, ALL other ground is sinking sand. You are the Almighty, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the Creator of All Things, the Upholder of the Universe, the Sustainer of All, the Provider, Protector and Standard of Your people! Through You, all was created by and for You and You rule over all. You uphold the righteous, You hug the loveless, You reach out to the hopeless, You guide the careless, You discipline the reckless and You grant favor to the penniless.

You reward those who bless You and pray for Your people. But You turn Your Holy Face against the hard of heart and those who reject You. You sent down fire and brimstone to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. You destroyed Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea.  You wiped out the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom and gave them to the Assyrians. Today, perversion and corruption reigns as the followers of evolution have denied the Creator and worship the creation (Romans 1:22-25). You have given then the ultimate pre-Judgment - You gave them over to themselves. The righteous see them rampaging through and destroying our family structure, the unborn and the great institutions You ordained with no brakes and no check in sight. But this is just for a time. They have a future eternity to think of and regret all of this.

But You oh God, are my deliverer. You sent Your Son the Savior to set the captives free, to deliver us from all evil. While we are set upon, beat up, pressed down, oppressed and spat upon by the lost, from the outhouse to the fanciest house, You stand there for us. You stand in the Gap as our Shield and Buckler. Your guardian angels protect us daily, even in our temporary folly.  Because You are unshakeable...because You always existed and there is none like You...because You are God before the foundation of the earth....because You are sinless, pure, holy, and good and because You see the beginning from the end, You are more than a fortress. You are a bulwark. You are to Whom we run when we seek refuge and comfort. You are to Whom we raise up our hopes and hands because You are the Fountain of Righteousness and Source of All Power! Words cannot describe You. You scoff at the scoffing pagans and heathens of this world as they shake their puny fists like Nimrod did and You can remove them by a single word. Yet You stay Your hand not wanting that any should perish. You are a merciful as well as powerful God and we love You. We worship and adore You. We magnify Your Powerful Name, Oh Lord of Heaven's Armies Who shall one day return to rule the earth, and it is in Jesus' Strong Name I pray, amen.

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY SEVENTEEN:
VERSES:
Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken....(Psalm 55:22)
PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, in You alone do I both my trust and faith as the Leader and Lord of my life. Father You have been there for me all the time, even when I walked away from You countless times and did not follow Your precepts and statutes. You called me into the Kingdom of Your marvelous Light, but yet in my disobedience, many times I preferred to walk in darkness. In those times oh Lord, You were still with me, You never leaved me or forsake me because You had Your calling on my life as You do with all whom You have called out of the Egypt of despair, into the Promised Land of Eternal Destiny and Joy.

When there is adversity, You are there. When there is trouble and despair, You are there. When there is doubt. You are there. When there is fear and trembling, You are there. When there is persecution and hate against Your people, You are there. Where there is no vision or hope, You are there.

You sustain the world by the Word of Your Mouth. You speak life and hope into the atmosphere and the people rejoice. You shake the Heavens and let the snow and hail fly, in times of war and battle such as now, and Your remnant stand in amazement. The world does not know You, the religious and the rulers issue documents and like Nimrod claim man's authority over the Climate You created and still control. They and their modern day scribes and pharisees claim precedence over Your Word and rewrite the code of civilization and family which You have ordained. They blaspheme You by bowing down to other useless and worthless idols who can never create a child, or explain the crops of the field or the birds of the air, and they pay more respect and honor to non-existent idols and prophets You never sent or ordained.

But You will never allow Your righteous, Your true elect to whom You have positioned as the saved, to those whom You have made righteous and now are blameless as those bought under the Precious Blood of the Most Righteous One, Whose Body was never abandoned to sheol but went down and knocked over the gates of hell and told death Who had won the Victory! O death, where is thy sting now! Thank You Jesus for defeating death and for now sitting on the Right Hand of the Sovereign One and Satan, you, evil one, have no authority, no claim, no right, no open door, no nothing on the Called ones- the Christian made right by God - because Jesus has defeated you.  Be gone, and get thee behind me and all who are Christ's.

Because Jesus Christ is my Lord, and the Lord of the millions and millions of this world, whom He has saved, we can lay our burdens at His Feet. Because He is Our Shepherd, we shall want no good thing, and no good thing means being apart from the greed and desires of this world. Because He is my Savior, we cast ALL our cares upon Him, for in the end, what it is all said and done, He cares for me and it is in the strong and mighty Name of Jesus I believe that promise, stand on that precept and follow that Good Protector and Provider and Proconsul, the Lord of Heavens' Armies, amen and amen - from now until the end of time and my days, amen.

WHY WE BLESS THE LORD, PART 2

Today, we need to key in on one major fact about God - and this should be a HUGE reason to Bless the Lord! In fact, if we don't bless Him big time about this, we don't deserve anything else.

There is so much that can be said about each of these verses from Psalm 103. However when we look at ourselves, both as individuals and as a people, we never see the way God sees. 
His Ways are not our ways and His Eyes are definitely different from ours!
He sees through the Eyes of Holiness. We see through the eyes of the flesh.
He sees through the Eyes of Righteousness. We see through the eyes of self- righteousness.
He sees through to the very core of our soul. We see only the man in the mirror.
He sees and knows all our short comings. We see ourselves as "not so bad".....not so bad. But is that good enough?

Of course it is not good enough...in fact, that kind of philosophy is called "religion" and it is the same evil that has been perpetrated against God since Nimrod built the Tower of Babel and created every false and evil thing, only a few hundred years after God destroyed the earth with the Great Flood - for the same reason!

So unless we are truly blinded, as most people are, we need to recognize this Truth - THE LORD IS MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN MERCY! America is a corrupt and godless country which has sown the wind by the kind of leaders they elect; the evil culture they worship and their ungodly lifestyles we have. We deserve the Backhand of God slapping this country around from one side of the ocean to the other. Yet He is holding back! He is holding back! Not for much longer, but God is holding back some bad stuff, for the time being. For that reason alone, we should BLESS THE LORD, oh my soul!

PSALM 103: 6-10

The Lord executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.

7 

He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.

8 

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

9 

He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.