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10.02.2012 Religion

I CAN DO ALL THINGS!!! 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' – Phil. 4:13

10.02.2012 LISTEN
By Ghanaian Chronicle

The way the world believes it and says it.
Yet I know that I'm strong, but not that strong. I'm smart, but not that smart either. And all my degrees and experiences gathered over the years have still not fitted me to do all things. Not yet. Not ever. So, actually, I can't do all things and I know there's a snag somewhere with that statement.

But we'll end with the complete and correct statement: 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!' This is true, and the only point worth writing about.

To illustrate the difference, let's take a sneak peek into the scope of all the strength of man in his own nature.  And I mean ALL.  You may see strong-looking limbs, but delve deep and you'll find them devoid of power. Intelligent looks but without true wisdom. Attractive lips, without the tact to speak the right words.  Nice looking ears, but without the discernment of the import of words that pass through them.  Healthy-looking heart, without the ability to beat consistently for the right causes.  When you sum it all up, you'll find a shell of a person, more of a caricature. Not entirely pretty. But that's me, in my own power. And when I look around, I see my split images all over. It's almost as if my body has been cloned several times, with the same imperfections.

I know you won't like the sound of this, but the truth is you are one of my clones. Actually, to put it correctly, we are all clones of our first father Adam. We inherited the structural defects of our very being from him. He was created perfect, but lost that when he fell into sin. Since then, every human being that was born was shapen in sin – Psalm 51:5, and with the passing of time, our condition has progressively worsened. It doesn't matter if you're more attractive or more intelligent than me. We are cut from the same cloth and are nothing other than warped. We are inherently and structurally deformed creatures that look strong but are as feeble as putty!

So how much do you think a person with defective eyes, ears, mouth, arms, legs and heart can get done? It doesn't seem like much to me.  That's why those of us who know we can't, but would love to do ALL THINGS, need strengthening. And contrary to popular fads and theories in our world, that strength does not come from within, but from above.

There is so much talk about 'inner-strength' today. This is at best an illusion. TV Commercials buy into it, motivational speeches and books expound on it, several religions promote the human postulation, that there is a well-spring of strength in every man that each of us can draw from at any time. But it is all a fallacy.

Jesus made it crystal clear when He said “ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing' -John 15:5. The most potent dose of human strength cannot therefore supply the amount needed to gain strength to do all things. Maybe to do some extraordinary things by human standards, but God's standards will not be lowered to accommodate man's frailty. Rather, man's strength will be increased to meet God's standards. Hence, Paul's logical conclusion: I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.

So, forget about the glitzy adverts, drown out the voice of the yoga instructor, and toss those energy boosters, the drugs, the charms, the amulets. None works. There is only One source of lasting strength, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the only One that strengthens and He's ready to do that for us so we'll truly be able to 'do all things'. Our best efforts, our greatest strength, our highest commitment, are no guarantee that we will succeed in our quest to do all things. But match all those with Christ's supernatural strength and we're finally on the way to real and achievable success.

I know I could do with a real boost of that, for when Christ strengthens my puny arms and legs, fires up my feeble intellect, revives my floundering heart and refines my dimming vision, the outcome can only be a beauty to behold: a truly strong person who can do all things! That's what I'm not. That's what I'd like to be.

Can I Really Do All Things?
There's still so much to learn from the above one-lined but power-packed text. For the same Apostle Paul who made the insightful statement 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' also said 'All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify' (1Corinthians 10:23).

It follows therefore that even if we can do all things, we shouldn't do all things because according to the learned Apostle from his 'been-there, done-that' experience, not all things are helpful, and not all things edify. Hence, my focus on 'all things' should be on doing only all things that are helpful and edify.

Combing through the Bible, which in itself is an exhaustive source of biographies, legal counsel, nuggets from sociology, philosophy, medicine, finance and other esoteric branches of knowledge, one fact is consistent. The only thing that is helpful, and edifies, right from the foundation of the world, and will last even beyond the termination of this world, is doing God's will.  Doing God's will is fearing Him and keeping His commandments. All other things derive from it. That's why the wisest man Solomon, after trying everything under the sun, concluded for posterity: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all - Ecclesiastes 12:13 .

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