God blessed me with a great mom.  It is still hard to fathom all that she did for my brother, sister and myself.  She worked tirelessly to take us to soccer and little league practices.  She taught us the value of hard work, doing chores and learning how to cook. 

When I was in the 4th grade she told me, "if you can read you can cook" and required each of us to cook dinner for the family once a week.  Sure it took her extra effort to teach us and guide us, but guess what?  It worked!  We learned and eventually went out into the world knowing how to care for ourselves.

The greatest thing my mom ever said to me was "You can do anything you want to do in life."  I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, but she was speaking words of life to me and later, when looking back, those words were empowering.

The core idea at the time though was focused on my own effort and my own strength.  And while I do believe that God has placed in each one of us the ability to achieve it is very limited compared to what God can do. 

Just like my ability to cook as a child was primitive compared to what my mom could do (she is a great cook!), so is our ability to do anything on our own when compared to God's power.

This brings me to a familiar passage that many can quote.  Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

What an empowering scripture!  All things?  That is incredible!

My parents also saw to it that we attended church regularly as children.  Three times per week: Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening.

This created a good habit.  Being with God's people and hearing His word regularly over time is important.  And subsequently I have been going to worship assemblies and listening to sermons my whole life.  I've even preached quite a few sermons.

But in my decades of sitting in Bible studies and hearing sermons I've never heard one that did a deep dive on this incredible passage: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

So we are going to do that now.  Are you ready?

It is tempting to pull this incredible verse out of the context of this letter and just start talking about Paul and all the extraordinary things he did in his life by the power of God.  The first draft of this article did that!  It is a critically important part of hermeneutics (fancy word for interpreting the Bible) though to look at the surrounding verses to get the context of a scripture.

Philippians 4:10-19 gives the full picture of what Paul is communicating as he concludes this letter.  He is praising the Philippians for their generosity as they have sent gifts to aid him. Nested within this scripture is some incredible teaching on contentment.

Paul could have survived just fine without the gifts the christians of Philippi had sent him.  How?  He had learned the "secret" of contentment.

Which is easier?  Being content when you are hungry and in need?  or when you are well fed and have plenty?  Generally we'd say the latter but abundance of resources still does not result in contentment for many.  It is a secret that we need to learn either way!

When I was interviewing for my first full time job out of college one of the companies put me up in the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta the evening before the interview.  This is not the type of hotel I grew up staying in; to be honest I only remember staying in a "hotel" once and it was actually a motel which is different 😀.  The Ritz was nice.... really nice.  The breakfast that came with room service cost $30 and it was delicious.  I felt pretty important on this trip.  It was nice.

Earlier in life during college I spent a summer in Murfreesboro, TN working with a small church.  I remember have a meal by myself one evening that summer that consisted of a can of tuna and a raw carrot outside of a dorm room I was staying in at MTSU.  Total price?  Less than two bucks!  It was nice (and healthier than the rich breakfast at the RC!) but it wasn't the Ritz.

Honestly the experience at the Ritz Carlton was more exciting;  but we gain so much power when we are also content with more meager provisions.  When you are content at the bottom no one can take anything away from you.

This is the context of this incredible version: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Paul can handle anything.  Put him up at the Ritz Carlton and he'll be fine!  Send him over to the campground with a tent?  Paul would not only survive but he would thrive.

He could handle anything because his strength and identity came from the Lord, not his circumstances or his own strength.

Contentment probably isn't at the top of the list of superpowers you'd think of when Paul says he can do all things through Christ.  But it is an incredible gift, and it is the one that is directly connected with this statement.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Wow.

Now let's broaden the scope of this discussion which I believe is part of the whole counsel of God on this topic when we combine Philippians 4:13 with other passages like Matthew 17:20 that is quoted below.

Let's start with a question: is there anything that God can't accomplish?  He created the world just by speaking.   He can hear the prayers of the saints all at the same time.  I can barely handle listening to my wife sometimes (sorry babe!) and God can listen to millions of people all at once and perfectly answer their petitions.  In theology we call this omnipotence, but all this really means is that God can do anything.

Here's another question: What was Jesus' greatest miracle?  Hint: I don't think it was turning water into wine although I'm sure many of us would love to see that sometimes!!  Jesus walked on water, told the lame to get up and they did.  He had full power over evil spirits that had to obey Him; and of course, He raised Lazarus from the dead.

So we know that the Godhead is all-powerful.  It is an important idea but most christians already understand this.  The challenge is juxtaposing this idea with the words of Jesus that intimate that we can have this same power.

Hold on a second.  Moving mountains? 

Have you ever had to move some dirt?  It takes an extraordinary amount of effort just to move a pickup truck load of dirt?  But moving a mountain?  Surely this is a joke.

But this is where faith comes in, even when it starts small like a mustard seed which is close in size to the period ending this sentence.

It is faith in an all-powerful Jesus that gives us supernatural strength to truly tackle even mission impossible!!

And Paul understood this and essentially echoes the words of Jesus about himself.  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  Incredible.

Let's take a closer look at Paul.  What do Paul do in his life that would support such a BOLD claim?

First, Paul was a prolific church planter.  Anyone who has ever planted a church knows that it is very difficult work.  For Paul this was routine, but not because he was charismatic preacher.  It was because he realized on a visceral level that he was weak on his own.  It was only with the immeasurable strength of the Lord that he had any strength at all (See 2 Corinthians 12:9,10)  Armed with this understanding, he couldn't help but travel through Asia minor preaching and teaching others and starting churches in the process.  It only happened by his reliance on God's power.

And of course what about Acts 19:11, 12.

Hold on a second.  So Paul would touch a person's handkerchief, take that to someone who was sick or demon possessed, and then touching that cloth and they were healed??

Yep.  It was incredible.  Peter did the same thing with just his shadow in Acts 5:15,16. 

How did these things happen?  The power of God working through great faith.

I grew up in a fellowship that explained these experiences with a doctrine of cessation.  In a nutshell, Paul was able to do this because he was an Apostle of Jesus and had special power that would cease once the complete will of God was revealed in the Bible, basically around the end of the first century.

I do believe that miracles were much more common in these times, but I do not believe they stopped altogether.  James 5 points us to the power we have in prayer to heal others and uses the story of Elijah praying for rain as a blueprint for us.  James effectively says:  "Was Elijah a GREAT man?  Yes!  His prayers literally changed the weather.  And guess what... you are a human being just like Elijah and can do what he did!"

Incredible.

How do we do this?

1. Realize that we have no power on our own.

I know you are a bright person with lots of gifts. But can I be honest with you?  On your own you are really not all that great.  I'm not picking on you... I am even less!

One of the most important things we need to even be able to serve God to start with is humility.  The first words of the sermon on the mount help us here:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Poverty.  You are broke.  Empty pockets.  A weakling.  Are you getting the picture?

We need to start by seeing ourselves as helpless as a baby.   Not only can we not do everything, we really can't do much of anything.  We start from a place of weakness.

I was serving at a church conference recently and was praying over several individuals for various problems they were facing.  I remember distinctly one man coming forward and asking me to pray for them for the ability to overcome continual sin.  Wow.  I have been there... stuck in a sin and wanting to not do it, but still returning to the pig trough over and over again. 

I knew when he asked this of me that I was powerless.  I couldn't help him with my own string bean strength.  But I knew God could help him.  So I went before the Lord and told Him, "God... I can't do anything here, but I know You can.  And this man is asking for Your help.  So I give him to You and put my FULL FAITH in You believing that he will be freed in the mighty name of Jesus".

I was not able to stay connected with this man but I believe God has either already freed him or will in the future.  It will happen.

Ask for God's help in this.  Ask for humility and a spirit that recognizes the zero balance in your bank account without the Lord.

I hope this perspective about you does not discourage you.  For me there is actually a peace that I have from this perspective of spiritual reality.  I don't have to do it on my own.  I don't have to be the strongest wisest person on my own.  My identity is in something much greater than myself, and this is where we must start.

Next...

2) Just believe

Faith is a simple concept.  It is belief in something you can't see.  And I know some will not like this point.  But you just need to believe more.  Honestly this will be a function of how well you empty yourself.  The more you hold on to, the less you will be able to believe.

I've struggled with this immensely in my life so I can sympathize here.  I have had a notable block here around the idea of healing.  My whole life I've heard people praying for the sick and never saw much happen.  I've observed that this experience has left me with a block when praying for healing; I've observed doubts wanting to creep in.  I know God can do it but what if He chooses not to act?

This is a topic that deserves more thorough treatment.  Just like there were evil spirits that would only "come out with prayer and fasting" I believe we need great faith to see some sicknesses be healed.  And certainly a Sovereign God, who can see things we can't see, can also choose not to heal (remember the POWER is coming from Him after all). 

Nonetheless I believe it is a HUGE mistake to just be dismissive of the power of God to heal through our faith.  Just believe.  Expect that it will happen.  Pray for rain and then go get your umbrella.

I don't enjoy making this exhortation because I spent many years in a fellowship that said things like, "if you don't like this kind of worship, you are the problem".  It is simplistic and always makes you the problem.  But in the case of faith it really is this simple.  You just got to believe and trust.  But it has to come from you.

But you are never alone in any of this.  Ask for God's help in this.  Ask Him to help you just believe.  He wants you to do this and I believe 100% He will help you.

3) Start Testing the Limits of what "All Things" means for you.

If you just became a christian I wouldn't recommend you start by relocating the Rocky Mountains into the Pacific Ocean.  First of all I personally would rather them still be around for us to look at.  And second there is an important concept of the size of your faith being connected to the ability God gives you.  Paul said this after spending a lifetime growing in faith.  Our faith starts small just like a mustard seed and grows into a large and fruitful plant over time.

So while I don't recommend you start by moving the Rockies, you do need to start growing your faith and letting God provide you with strength.

So start by thinking of things you've never done before.  Things that you believe you could use some help with.  Here are some things that come to mind:

If any of this feels difficult for you, ask God to give you the strength to do it.  As you do more things with God's power, start increasing the intensity of the items above.  Read the New Testament in a month.  Fast for a full day and give the whole day to the Lord in prayer (see footnote about fasting [1]).  God will give you the strength.

Keep pushing the boundaries here.  Doing all things is a growing process and eventually you will move mountains!

Eventually I hope that you will begin to use your faith in the same way God asks us to use our money.  To start with we use our money for ourselves.  To pay our bills and to take care of our family.  But God also says that when possible, use your money to help others.  Help the poor with your resources.  Pay for things that can help others whether it be food or education or anything that can help meet their needs.

I've never heard anyone talk about faith like this, but I believe our faith should work the same way.  To start it just helps us.  We receive salvation, we begin to grow in wisdom in the Lord and make less stupid mistakes.  Our marriages give better, our homes are more functional and we experience more wholeness in our own life.

But eventually as you grow in faith, you can use it to help others.  As you grow in faith I can't wait to see you start doing this following types of things depending on your gifts:

Writing this gets me excited. This is when we start walking around not only quoting "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" but we actually believe it and practice it.

Incredible.  Really.  This is incredible.  Using your faith to help others.  God's power is limitless and He wants to work through you.

All it takes is the faith of a mustard seed that starts very small but grows into a large and productive plant in the Lord.

I honestly can't wait to see and hear about all the great things you are going to do in the Lord.

It is going to be incredible.

-- Harris Reynolds

[1] Fasting in the Bible was expected of His disciples by Jesus, and it teaches that fasting can supercharge your faith and your prayers.  But there are certainly health conditions where fasting could be harmful to you and I'm not saying you should fast under these kind of circumstances.  But if you are healthy I'm asking you to consider this practice given that it was common in the Bible.  Ask God for wisdom in this matter.