I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

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All things through Christ

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Everyone who answers a question will get one of these
- Actually everyone here is going to get one
- But if you answer a question you get one sooner.
First let’s look at the verse and you tell me what the problem is with it?

Seems too good to be true—a blank cheque!
Are there any limitations or qualifications?
What is the scope of “all things” ?
We kind of know it doesn’t include everything
- I want to win the lottery
- I want to get 100% perfect grade in all my exams
- I want to be married to the perfect spouse within the next year
My previous vehicle was a van, that God provided for me and lasted many years
- But one day after church Anne noticed a patch of fluid on the ground under the front
  - God please stop this leak!
  - May it be gone by the time we get home
- drive home & park. Unload. Already a pool!
- is it because I lack faith? should I be able to say “Leak, In the name of God, be sealed up!”
- Took it in to be looked at—it was transmission fluid and so much of the pipework had corroded it cost nearly $1,000

The overall context ?
- They sent Paul a gift
- He wants to explain how greatful he is for it
- But ultimately he is not dependent on it
  - And what makes him most happy is that he sees their heart
v.11–13 lack of resources
v.11 usually translated “content” but that sounds very passive
- like snoozing contentedly in front of the TV
- I have enough resources for my action plan
cf 2 Cor 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
He has enough v.12 repeats it 3 times!! (just so we get the point)
- But is our verse just about survival when you don’t have much?
- No! as we shall see.
It’s critical that we understand what “I can do” means in this verse
- If we are going to get hold of the verse, we must grasp this
Hand out rest of notebooks now

literally:

All things I can do,
in him who empowers me.

Mark 9:17–18 Boy was having seizures, the disciples tried to help but “could not”
Luke 8:43 A woman who had spent everything on doctors for 12 years. She could not be healed by anyone.
John 21:6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now could not haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.
James 5:16 ...pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has force.
Acts 19:20 (Ephesus) In this way the word of the Lord continued to grow in power and have force.

“I can do all things through [in] Christ who strengthens me.”

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds…
I tell you the truth,
the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing,

and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father…
You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

This is the key: does not hand over the power, he does it in us

It’s not “God give me the cash so I can spend it at the store”
- But he comes with you to the store.
We want a superpower
This solves the problem of it seeming like a blank cheque
I was talking to someone not long ago and he told me about a horrific situation he was in
- I shot a prayer up to God “I’m totally out of my depth here—I need your power”
- God gave me the words, and in his strength I was able to bring healing
It’s not about our agenda powered by his energy
- It’s about his agenda.
As we mature as a Christian, and become more renewed by the Spirit, our desires will naturally align with God’s
- We’ll be able to see things more and more from his perspective
- And our agenda will align more with his
Back in February I was very sick for a couple of weeks
- I had been asked to speak at a 7:30 breakfast to a group of buisness people on Bay St.
- God, I believe this is your will—please give me strength
- Somehow I had the strength to speak through God’s power

Lots of people today claim to be Christians—which simply means a follower of Jesus Christ
- Many of them don’t act like Jesus at all—they are Christians in name only, not in reality
In fact it is not possible for anyone to act like Jesus in their own strength
- But Jesus didn’t just teach a new way of life, that was totally unselfish
  - He made the power available too
- This is by the life of God taking up residence in us
- And this would give us the ability to love each other unselfishly
- Of course the old life is still there...