Philippians 4:4-13 is the Apostle Paul’s, authority, mind, and power focused on Christ empowering him to do whatever God wills for Paul to do, for who Christ Jesus is in Paul, and what He does, for, in, and through Paul, and Christ Jesus will also do the same for us today.
Philippians 4:4-13 (NLT)—4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Do not worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Think about excellent things worthy of praise.
9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. 10 How I praise the Lord you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you did not have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, is humbled by a demon spirit sent from God (1 Kings 22:19-23), to beat on Paul, so Paul’s awesome revelation of the Lord will not make him prideful; thus, Paul knows God’s mighty power is revealed in Paul’s human inabilities, as in our weaknesses, but as with the Apostle Paul, human weakness is not an excuse for allowing the satanic forces to tempt us into committing sin because the satanic forces try to arouse our interest in lustful things.
2 Corinthians 12:1-10 (NLT)—1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly talk about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I do not know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. 5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I will not do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I will not do it, because I do not want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So, to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan (1 Kings 22:19-23) to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so the power of Christ can work through me. 10 This is why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then in Him I am strong.
The Apostle Paul is telling us, his flesh, his pride wanted to boast about what he saw and heard when he was caught up into the Lord’s presence, but instead Paul relied on Christ Jesus’ power to keep him humble, and He did it by sending a wicked, tormenting demon, so it was necessary for Paul to pray and totally trust the Lord, just as it is with each of us, and this “pray and trust” is what Proverbs 6:20-35 tries to get us to understand, for the satanic forces use every deceptive trick to separate us from God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, so we must depend on the authority, power, and faithfulness of the Godhead.
Proverbs 6:20-35 (NLT)—20 My son, obey your father’s commands, and do not neglect your mother’s instruction. 21 Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you are awake, they will advise you. 23 For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. 24 It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. 25 Do not lust for her beauty. Do not let her coy glances seduce you. 26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. 27 Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? 28 Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? 29 So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. 30 Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. 31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he must sell everything in his house. 32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. 33 He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. 34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35 He will not accept compensation or be satisfied with a payoff.
It is not only sin to use our God-created bodies for lustful pleasures of any kind, but it is also a sin to give God’s money to a schemer, telling us do this and we will become healthy or wealthy, for a scam is a deceptive, demonic, lie, so do not let them persuade you to accept their lies.
Although I wrote this last year, it helped me these two weeks, because I have spent them trying to get floodwaters out of the basement, so we finally got the drains unstopped. We lost a lot of “stuff”, and the expense was huge, but we can rejoice, thank God for everything, and trust Him to somehow replace what we need; not what we want, for the Lord’s joy is still our strength.
Jim Nabors
