THE NARROW PATH TO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD - DAY 39

by Rev. Robert John Cericola, Carroll, OH - EUA               

Day 39

The Secret

Philippians 4:11–13 (AMP), Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. 12 I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. 13 I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

Paul, while thanking the Philippians for their gift, reveals the secret of living a victorious Christian life that he learned when he returned from the third heaven! Paul is being infused with Christ’s strength which enables him to do all things.

What a gift God gave us in Christ and what a gift Christ gave when He sent us the Holy Spirit! Through the Holy Spirit we too can be infused with the strength we need to fulfill the Commandment to Love!  Oh Glory!

Romans 8:3–4 (AMP) 3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice], 4 So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].

When we draw our strength from Christ we are not living according to the flesh, but we are being controlled by Holy Spirit! Oh glory!!! God has provided the power we need to overcome the dictates of the flesh and it is always available. We just have to ask to be infused with power as we live in this fallen world!

Ending Thoughts

Have you asked God to infuse you with strength when you are tempted to break the commandment to love? Just ask and you will receive.