Today is the last in the series on: How God Sees Us, which commenced here. I hope you have found the series helpful.
If God wants something to be done, can it be done? Absolutely, God is never going to ask us to do something that can’t be done. Paul states in Philippians 4 that he can do all things. “I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13
Below there is a list (from Neil Anderson) of 20 thing we can do through Christ. Like Paul we can be the person God wants us to be regardless of our circumstances, through Christ who gives us strength. Paul learnt to stop trying to change his circumstances and allowed God to change him. Whatever challenging situation we face or think we may have to face in the future, even the prospect of growing old. We can face it with confidence because we know we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.
Twenty Christian ‘Can’s’:
1. Why should I say I can’t when the Bible says I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:3)?
2. Why should I worry about my needs when I know that God will take care of all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)?
3. Why should I fear when the Bible says God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)?
4. Why should I lack faith to live for Christ when God has given me a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)?
5. Why should I be weak when the Bible says that the Lord is the strength of my life and that I will display strength and take action because I know God (Psalm 27:1; Daniel 11:32)?
6. Why should I allow Satan control over my life when He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)?
7. Why should I accept defeat when the Bible says that God always leads me in victory (2 Corinthians 2:14)?
8. Why should I lack wisdom when I know that Christ became wisdom to me from God and God gives wisdom to me generously when I ask for it (1 Corinthians 1:30; James 1:5)?
9. Why should I be depressed when I can recall to mind God’s loving-kindness, compassion and faithfulness and have hope (Lamentations 3:21-23)?
10. Why should I worry and be upset when I can cast all my anxieties on Christ who cares for me (1 Peter 5:17)?
11. Why should I ever be in bondage knowing that there is freedom where the Spirit of the Lord is (2 Corinthians 3:17)?
12. Why should I feel condemned when the Bible says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)?
13. Why should I feel alone when Jesus said He is with me always and He will never leave me nor forsake me (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5)?
14. Why should I feel like I’m cursed or have bad luck when the Bible says that Christ rescued me from the curse of the law that I might receive His Spirit by faith (Galatians 3:13, 14)?
15. Why should I be unhappy when I, like Paul, can learn to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11)?
16. Why should I feel worthless when Christ became sin for me so that I might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)?
17. Why should I feel helpless in the presence of others when I know that God is for me, who can be against me (Romans 8:31)?
18. Why should I be confused when God is the author of peace and He gives me knowledge through His Spirit who lives in me (1 Corinthians 2:12; 14:33)?
19. Why should I feel like a failure when I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loved me (Romans 8:37)?
20. Why should I let the pressures of life bother me when I can take courage knowing that Jesus has overcome the world and its problems (John 16:33)?
It might take a while to work through this list and apply it to our lives. But God’s promise is that we can do all things, through him.
