Praise
the Lord for this brand New year. The Lord blessed us with bountiful
and beautiful Christmas celebrations, worship, and gatherings. Our
children and grandchildren from Washington, Philadelphia, and South Carolina
spent a week with us. We had a blast
spending time with our grandchildren. Three of our grandchildren,
together with their parents from Boston, spent some time in the majestic
Mountains of New Hampshire in a mini-vacation. They were home for
Christmas celebrations. Thank you all for Christmas Greetings and loving
regards and kindness. We have been blessed.
It
has been cold weather-wise, but Jesus always reigns. On New Year’s Eve I woke up around 11:30 just
to watch the ball drop in Times Square as over one million people welcomed the
New Year 2018. Praise the Lord this New Year is paved with His amazing
grace, ineffable love, and unfading glory.
Happy
New Year! I trust that you had a
wonderful Christmas season and a grand New Year’s Day. I hope that you are
excited about the promises and
possibilities in the new year.
In the movie City Slickers, Billy
Crystal plays a radio advertising salesman going through a mid-life crisis. He and his friends deal with the boredom of
life by participating in a cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado—an
experience that turns out to be a kind of epiphany for all of them. At the end of the movie as they prepare to
return to New York and the familiar routine, Billy Crystal explains to one of
those friends the concept of a “do-over.” Do you remember, he says, when you used to
play ball as a kid? Sometimes when you
fouled things up, you would get a “do-over” - a second chance to swing at the
ball. That’s what is happening to you now. You’re getting a “do-over” in life.
Something like that happens every January 1. We all collectively get a
“do-over"—another chance to do it right. It’s a brand-new
year!
Philippians 4:13.
It reads like this in the familiar King James Version: “I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me.” J.B. Phillips said it: “I am ready for
anything through the strength of the one who lives within me.” Finally, in
the unique translation of the Twentieth Century New Testament we read: “Nothing
is beyond my power in the strength of him who makes me strong!”
Philippians 4:13 is
a verse of unlimited possibility. The Bible says that you can do all
things through Christ who strengthens you. “All things.”
iT IS WRITTEN—"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Verse
12—"Sometimes I find myself with plenty of food and sometimes I have
nothing to eat. Sometimes I have a roof over my head and sometimes I don’t.” “I
know what it is to have money in the bank and I know what it is to be flat
broke. And I’ve learned to be content no matter what my situation might be.” (the
Pritchard Loose Paraphrase.) Then verse
13—"I have learned through the power of Jesus Christ that I can face
whatever comes my way.” If it’s good, I
can enjoy it. If it’s not so good, I can
deal with it. Why? Because I have access to the everlasting
strength of Jesus Christ.
“I can do
all things through Christ who gives me strength.” The words “gives strength” means “to pour
strength into.” It’s like pouring milk
into a pitcher or water into a glass or coffee into a cup. It’s the picture of
something empty that is filled by an outside source. It’s the picture
of a believer facing the problems of life—hopeless and helpless—and in that
situation, Jesus Christ pours his strength into the believer’s life. He strengthens us—he pours his strength into
us.
This is what makes
Philippians 4:13 totally different from the dream it, do it approach
to the Gospel” and other purely secular approaches to life. They may be useful and may in fact help to a
limited degree, but they don’t change the heart.
The only thing that makes the difference is
Jesus Christ within. We have the power of the indwelling Christ and that makes
all the difference in the world. Jesus
Christ – his broken body and shed blood – are all-sufficient and the saints
across the ages testify that Jesus Christ is enough.
You can do “all things” if this year you rely on Jesus
Christ, and not on your
own strength, not on your own power, not on your own wisdom, and not on your
own ability to figure things out. Jesus Christ living within makes all the
difference in the world. Jesus Christ is
enough for the problems of life. His
broken body is enough. His shed blood is
sufficient. His power meets the problems of life over and over again.
Brown
