Empowered!

Empowered!

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]. Philippians 4:13 AMPC

Quite a popular passage, and it would be nice to place it in context and clarify a few things: 

The I that starts the passage does not exist on its own. There is nothing in me that qualifies me for all that God is and gives me, but then, I don't depend on I but on Christ. I place my whole life in His hands, so that He can make me all He wants me to be. I have learnt that no matter what comes, it is important that it meets me in Christ, otherwise, I will get into trouble. Check out all the men and women in the Bible who really made an impact for God: they learnt quite early that their lives only made sense and had the right direction, when it was based on God, not themselves.

And the work God wants done won't get done by physical exertion or labour, but by the empowerment Christ supplied. The work ahead is such that no mortal man has all it takes; but the One who calls, is the one who will empower, locate, establish and send out. 

The location and environment also matter. I can read up all I can about Christ, but it is not knowledge alone that helps me, but a personal experience of Christ. I can live on the church altar, serve daily at the church altar, and give up my life in regular service to humanity, but God has always made one thing clear: He would rather have disciples who focus on becoming like Him, than on people who focus on just 'working'. Whatever I want to become will only be possible in and through Christ: the strength, direction, guidance and peace that are required for divine impact are only supplied by the One who commissions the assignment He wants done, not what I think I want done. 

Paul understood the right order. He knew Christ personally, so the drama around him didn't move him. No matter what was going on around him, it wasn't going to disrupt the equilibrium inside of him. So, in the event that anyone would think that Paul couldn't survive without his/her help, Paul made it clear: no matter what it is: hungry or fed, in lack or in abundance, Christ is all I need. Since I have Him, I have all I need. Whatever else you want to do, know this: it cannot be bigger or better than what I have already received from Christ. 

And I note it says I can do ALL things, but it will be proper to qualify this by saying that God never calls a man to do whatever He has not ordained. As long as the assignment is given by God, the resources required to succeed are supplied by Him. I cannot force God to back up an assignment He did not commission, and I cannot expect provision for a vision that God did not birth. 

Before I go quoting today's extract, I had better be sure that whatever it is I am pursuing is in line with what God can back up. If He can't supply the strength required for the work, then it is not a work I should be pursuing. So, inner strength first, then outer impact. God works first on my inside, then I can effect change on the outside. Has God done that inner work first in you? His time of favour is here.