How do We Access the Strength of Christ Within to Live Successfully in Today’s World

How to Access the Strength of Jesus to Live in Today’s World
December 30, 2020

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹  And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

If there is one thing we all learned in 2020 it is that we cannot have victory with natural strength alone.  The arm of the flesh has failed mightily.  Personally, we have not experienced any great problems.  We are healthy and have done well financially.  My only complaint is that we have not been able to travel in ministry due to the restrictions in place.  I am convinced it has not touched us on a personal level because we have learned to access the strength of God that is within.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Not only can I do them, but I can also have victory in all things if I have the strength of Jesus working in me. 

We have looked at this strengthening power from James chapter 4.  The next question is how I bring that strength to bear in my life.  This is important for you and your family, but the church has a role to play for those around who do not know this strength.  In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we find that it is God’s people who are the key to healing in the nation.  In the Gospels we read that the church is a city set on a hill placed in such a way that it will draw men to the light of Christ.  If we, the church, are just as beaten down as the world, what will draw them to the Lord.  We need this strength for many reasons.

In today’s scripture, we find possibly the most important key to walking in the strengthening power of Christ.  Of course, all things that come from God come by faith.  We must believe this power is ours because the Bible says it is.  Paul found that something else was important if he was going to access God’s strength and not just his own. 

Acts 9:3-5 (NKJV) ³  As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴  Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵  And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

Even after this humbling encounter with God, Paul still was a strong, often opinionated leader who was used to getting things done.  As he continued to go deeper into the life God had called him to, he often found that the strength he thought he had was not enough.  What he reveals in 2 Corinthians 12 is a culmination of how this revelation played out. 

He has come to realize that something is personally attacking him.  He has done everything he can to overcome this problem.  Some say it is a sickness, but in verse 7 Paul calls it a messenger of Satan.  The term messenger never refers to a sickness.  I believe Paul understood that there were demonic beings, one in particular, that had been assigned to torment him in order to disrupt his ministry.  He asks God to do something about this problem.  Many interpret the Lords response to mean, “Paul, you are just going to have to suffer.”  It never says that.  Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you because My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  He did not say my grace is insufficient.  He did not say that God’s grace was leaving him to suffer.  He said his strength was made perfect or released in our weakness.

What was it Paul wrote in James 4?  Did he not say he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him?  Grace is God’s unmerited favor.  Ephesians 2 tells us we are saved by grace through faith.  Jesus was not saying grace was enough to make him bear up under the attack.  It would certainly do that, but the Bible is full of scriptures that tell us we are to triumph (2 Cor. 2:14.)  We must remember that we can only do that with the strength that comes from Jesus.  Paul had to be reminded of that.

What was Jesus telling Paul?  He was telling him what Paul tells us in Roman’s 8.  Jesus was telling Paul to remember that God was with him so who could be against him.  Paul was being reminded that he was more that a conqueror in his covenant relationship with Christ.  2 Corinthians 12:9 does not say that God will not help Paul.  It is telling him that he already has.  He just needs to believe and receive the help that comes with salvation by grace.  To do that, he must acknowledge that he does not have the strength he needs in himself.  He needs Jesus.

This is one of the most important keys to walking in the strength of Christ.  We are taught that we must be self-sufficient.  We are taught that we cannot admit weakness.  Some take this to mean that we should confess our worthlessness.  That is not true either.  I am strong.  I am not weak.  Nevertheless, I am strong in the Lord and the power of his might (Ephesians 6:10!)  If I believe I can do what is necessary without Jesus, the Holy Spirit and his anointing, I will always find something I cannot do.  I will always run into something that is beyond my ability to both endure and overcome.  When I realize that without him I can do nothing, I am in position to access the strength of Jesus that can do anything.

Isaiah chapter 40 is one of my favorite scriptures.  It speaks of the renewal of our strength.  The picture in verse 31 is not of a refreshing of our own strength alone but more an exchange of strengths with God.  I once visited an 18^th century recreation of a whaling village in New England.  There was a rope maker there who showed how the huge ropes used on sailing ships were made.  They started with a relatively small strand of string and twisted it together with other strands.  This process was repeated with larger and larger strands made from combining the smaller strands.  Eventually the strands lost their identity and became the rope which could hold many times what a strand or even multiple strands could.  This is exactly what Isaiah 40 is talking about.

When we wait on the Lord, spending time with him and in his Word, our natural strength is exchanged, or wound together with God’s strength.  Our lives, and our strengths become swallowed up in his strength.  We lose a part of our identity but gain the ability to do all things through Christ who strengthens.  That is what was happening to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. 

What Paul came to understand is what we see in verse 29 of Isaiah 40.

Isaiah 40:29 (NKJV) ²⁹  He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

I do not believe I should walk around declaring I am weak.  I believe that I must recognize that no matter how strong I may be whether physically, emotionally or spiritually, it is nothing compared to his unlimited strength.  When my strength is reinforced with his, and when I let my identity be lost in him, then and only then can I do all things. 

As we face 2021, we hope it will be better than 2020.  Even if it is, there will be challenges to face and overcome.  We may have strength in ourselves, but we can access something far greater.  If we believe we do not need his strength, we will not have it.  Once we can accept that I cannot do it myself and realize that this is not a position of shame but of wisdom, we will begin to feel the strength of Jesus rise until we can overcome anything.  We will see the power of God go to work for us both inwardly and outwardly.  That is my prayer for 2021.

Christmas: Through Christ who Strengthens Me

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) ¹³  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Over the last two posts I have been looking at something that, I believe, is the power behind the Christmas celebration.  Most Christmas movies focus on the “magic of Christmas” as if Christmas itself was the important thing.  There is no magic in Santa, silver bells, winter wonderlands, family or any of the other iconic representations of the season.  The power of Christmas is the gift given by God to the world.  Anything short of that is good for producing warm feelings but powerless in the face of real-life challenges.

In Ephesians 2 and Romans 8 we found that Paul saw some things that he shared with us in his written letters to the churches he founded.  These revelations were not statements of doctrine or theology.  They were truths born out of Paul’s struggles as he sought to fulfill the call of God on his life.  In Ephesians 2 we find the true gift of Christmas.  God had set into motion a process that would result in the restoration of humanity into covenant relationship with God the Father.  Romans 8 gives us a very in-depth description of what that produced in his life.  In Romans 8 we also find that these truths are applied in the middle of some very difficult things.  His statement that in all the challenges he faced he was “more that a conqueror” is powerful.  What worked for Paul can and will work for you and me.

Today I want to see some of how Paul became “more than a conqueror.”  In today’s verse we see that he says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  We often quote this scripture in light of doing works of ministry.  It is true that we can do anything God requires of us through our relationship with Jesus.  Nevertheless, that is not the context of this verse.  In verse 10 we find that the Philippians had sent him an offering to help him in his ministry.  He thanks them but says that he is not speaking from the standpoint of need.  As we have learned from Romans and many other scriptures in Paul’s letters, he did have needs.  I suspect that this offering came at a time when Paul really needed the support.  Yet that was not how Paul saw things.

Because of what God had revealed to him in his life, Paul simply did not think in terms of need.  I am sure he had days when he got overwhelmed just like we do.  When he wrote to the Philippians he was writing from the “more than a conqueror” perspective.  He had needs but he saw God meeting the need even before the result came.  Therefore, when the Philippian church sent the offering, he was grateful, but he was not surprised.  I expect he was thanking God for provision not sure from where it could come.  However, he was not in need because he knew God would do something.  The question is, how could he maintain that kind of thinking.

It is important that we understand something about this process.  Paul meditated on what God said to him.  He was an Old Testament scholar so he could draw on that part of the Bible.  He was also in close fellowship with Jesus so God was speaking things to him that would become two thirds of the New Testament.  This process builds up our inner man, our spirit, which is the part of us which is born again.  The more we build up our spirit, the stronger our relationship with God becomes.  This is also how faith is strengthened.  What Paul says in Philippians is that he is able to deal with the pressures and stress of life because Christ is strengthening him.  He cannot do it on his own.  Neither can you.

Often, we feel that we need to “stand on our own two feet” so to speak.  We need to be able to handle things.  If we cannot handle whatever pressure we face, we feel condemned, useless or worse.  The truth is that even the great apostle Paul found that in his own strength he could not deal with everything he experienced in life.  In the year 2020 through which we have just lived, we need to know this truth.  I cannot on my own deal with everything life throws at me.  The wonderful truth that Paul learned was that he did not have to.  He did it “through Christ who strengthened” him.  That is what we need as well.  We have a covenant relationship with God almighty.  We are more than conquerors through his love for us and we can overcome any challenge through Christ who strengthens us. 

I like to look at definitions.  I looked up the word strengthen and found out it means to make us stronger.  It carries the idea of reinforcing.  In construction, concrete is a very strong building material.  Today, in most concrete applications we find something called rebar added to the concrete.  These are metal bars or mesh added to the concrete to make it even stronger.  The term “rebar” is short for reinforcing bar.  Concrete is strong.  Reinforced concrete is far stronger.  That is the picture behind what Paul is saying in this verse.

It is not that we are necessarily weak.  We are, however, much weaker than Christ who is God.  I can do all things through Christ who reinforces me.  I may be strong in myself or I may believe that I am a weak person.  Either way, I can do whatever I need to do when God in Christ reinforces my strength with his.  Whatever strength I may have, it cannot compare to his strength.  When the two are infused together, nothing is impossible.  I can face any trial, pressure, or challenge in life.  I can endure while I am in the midst of it and win in the end.

One of the meanings of strength is capacity for exertion or endurance.  When a force is brought against us, strength is the capacity to endure whatever power that force may have.  I have faced strong challenges in my life.  There were many days when I did not think I could resist the pressure.  Just like you I have felt overwhelmed and even depressed as some things seemed to go on for a long time.  In myself I did not have the strength to resist the force coming against me.  As we know, the outward forces are one thing, but the inward stresses are often more difficult.  When I turned to the Word of God outwardly and the presence and Spirit of God inwardly, I found a reinforcement that enabled me to overcome both.

Another use of the term reinforcement is military in nature.  When a military unit is outgunned and outnumbered, they call in reinforcements.  That means additional troops who come to the rescue of the trapped soldiers.  Strength not only means to endure pressure against us, but it also means to exert force against whatever may be against us at that time.  When we feel overwhelmed, not only will the strength that comes through Christ help us endure but it will enable us to attack as well.  I cannot win in life or against our adversary, the devil, in my own strength.  It is just not enough.  When I call on the strength that comes from God in Christ, that is another thing altogether.  Look at a verse in James’ letter.

James 4:7 (NKJV) ⁷  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

When my life is submitted to God, I can resist the devil and all of the challenges of life he may bring against me and the Bible tells me he will flee the battlefield which means I will win the day.  Although I believe we need to be very aware of the activity of our adversary (1 Peter 5:8-11) I also believe that not everything that happens to us is directly from the devil.  We make mistakes and even allow sin to come in that may cause problems to arise.  Sometimes things just happen, and we find ourselves facing some problem or pressure.  If God will cause the devil to flee, anything that may come from our own mistakes or just the process of life is not a problem.  When we draw on the reinforcing power of Christ to strengthen us, we will endure until we win every time.

Next time I will look at some keys to accessing the reinforcing strength of God in Christ.  For now, I encourage you to remember these things as you go through your Christmas celebration.  When you open the rest of your presents, open the one from Jesus that is marked “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  You will find that the most important gift of all.

We are More Than Conquerors Through Christmas

Romans 8:31-39 (NKJV) ³¹  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶  As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” ³⁷  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In my last post, I talked about the real power of Christmas and the most important gift it represents.  God gave Jesus to die for our sinful nature.  In Ephesians 2:11-13 we found that one of the main things Jesus’ accomplished in his redemptive work was to put us back into covenant relationship with God the Father.  In verse 12, Paul says without that relationship, we are without hope and without God in the world.  In verse 13 he says that we are no longer in that condition.  We have been brough back into covenant with God because of what Jesus did.

I believe we need to know that as Christians we have hope because God is always involved with our lives.  He is working for us because we are covenant partners in Christ.  2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all the promises of God are yes and amen because of this truth.  This is not to say that God will never move for those outside the covenant.  There are many stories in the Bible that demonstrate that he does.  Nevertheless, if we are in covenant relationship, we have a different kind of access to the blessing and favor of God.  If this were not so, Paul would not have written Ephesians 2:11-13.

As I was meditating on the fact that we now have both hope and the guarantee of God’s continual involvement in everything concerning our lives in the earth, the Lord drew me to Romans 8.  As I looked at this, I could see a process of meditation in the Word of God as it played out in Paul’s life.  He wrote what he did in Ephesians because the Lord had revealed that to him for personally.  He needed to know that he was not without hope nor without God as he lived in this world.  In Romans 8 we see the continued revelation of what this meant to him and, therefore, what it can mean to you and me.

The first thing Paul came to understand was that since he was not without hope or God, God was with him.  This is powerful in itself.  I thank God all the time that he is with me and in me.  However, what Paul was really saying was not just that God was with him, but that God was with him!  God is on Paul’s side.  If God is with him, God likes him.  If that is the case, what does it matter if anyone else is not with him.  What does it matter what others think of him?  God is with him so he cannot fail.  This is wonderful for Paul, but he is not just saying God is with Paul.  He is saying God is with all who are part of the New Covenant.  God is with me.  God is with you.  Who can be successful against any of us if this is true?

The next truth that Paul sees is since God did not withhold his only Son but instead gave him freely for us, what else is he going to withhold.  He gave the best in Christ.  Everything else that he has is also available to us by faith.  He is not going to hold back peace, joy, blessing, prosperity, healing or anything else we can find as a promise in the Bible.  This is true because of the covenant, but God demonstrated it by giving Jesus.  Whatever God has, I can know is available to me.  It will come in God’s time, God’s way and in the way that will produce the best results in my life, but it will come.  It will come to you as well.

One of the things that will keep us from believing that both hope and God are with us is guilt and condemnation.  The devil is always there to remind you and me about all the reasons we do not deserve God’s blessing.  Paul has seen that the Father also covers that in his covenant.  It is God who justifies us.  That is makes us just as right in His eyes as if we never sinned at all.  Not only that, but it is Jesus that died for us.  Our sin is none of the devil’s business. 

The first verse of this chapter tells us that there is no condemnation in Christ.  That does not mean that we can live any way we want and do anything we want.  It does mean that how those things are dealt with are between us and our Father.  The devil has no right to bring it up and it will not keep God from being there for us.  If something needs to change or we need to repent, our Father will deal with that in his love. 

In verse 35 he brings all of this into the practical realm.  He lists a number of bad things that can happen to us.  We find in 2 Corinthians 12 that they did happen to him.  None of these things are on my list of things I would like to have in my life.  They are trials and troubles.  They are pressures and problems.  Even so, because of all that Paul has seen about having access to hope and God in the living of life, he determines that none of these things can separate him from the love of God made available through our covenant with God through Christ.  He simply cannot see these things as the result of God not being with him and for him. 

The result of seeing life this way is that Paul is more than a conqueror through Christ.  What does that mean?  It means that even in the middle of all these problems he knows that God is with him.  We might be conquerors when we get a healing or receive provision or have some kind of victory.  Paul is more that a conqueror because he can walk in the reality of the victory even before he sees it.  He can draw on something that will sustain him through the battle and the winner is never in doubt in his heart and mind.  I am more than a conqueror through Christ.  You are more than a conqueror through Christ.  It does matter how it looks now.  In the end we win.

Finally, he says that he can be this way because he has been persuaded of something.  I think the combination of Ephesians 2 and Romans 8 gives us a beautiful picture of how meditation in the Word of God produces a power in us that can change our whole view of life.  We are no longer strangers to the covenants of promise.  We are in covenant because we are in Christ.  Therefore, I am more than a conqueror.  He gave his best in Jesus, therefore nothing else is withheld from me.  I am not condemned but justified because of what Jesus did.  Nothing can keep me from victory in all of life.  It may take a while and it may not always be easy, but in the end I will win. 

To be persuaded means you have looked at the facts, listened to the arguments and have come to a conclusion that you accept as truth.  That is what Paul did.  He looked at what it meant to be without hope and without God in the world.  He then turned that around and asked what it would mean if he had supernatural hope and the constant involvement of God.  His conclusion was Romans 8.  What he is persuaded to believe is the crux of the whole matter.

Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) ³⁸  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Whatever we deal with in life, God loves me.  Nothing that happens separates me from that.  If he loves me, I will overcome.  I will have all the covenant promises of God in Christ.  Nothing can change that. 

Merry Christmas!

What is the Real Gift of Christmas

Ephesians 2:11-13 (NKJV) ¹¹  Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh–who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands– ¹²  that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Once again, we find ourselves at the end of another year.  We are closing in on Christmas followed by the beginning of a new year.  Usually there are people who look to the next year with one of two thoughts.  Some wave a fond goodbye to the year that is ending, hoping for something at least as good for the one coming.  Others thank God that the current year is ending and pray that the next will not be a repeat.  I doubt anyone is looking back fondly on 2020.  It has been the worst year of my nearly 67.  2021 has to be better, right?  Please say yes!

What is the power of Christmas?  Where does it come from?  What is the real gift we should focus on?  I believe this is one of many new testament scriptures that can tell us.  In verse 12, Paul points out one human condition.  He says to his readers that there was a time when they were without hope and without God in the world.  For many people in 2020, that has been a very apt description of how they feel.  In this verse, Paul makes this statement as a fact not just an emotion.  He says to the Ephesians that this was their condition.

He also tells us why some people are in this condition.  He says they were not part of Israel because they were “strangers from the covenants of promise.”  The issue here is not that they were of a race other than Hebrew.  Many important people in the history of Israel were not Jewish.  The reason they were “without hope and without God in the world was that they were not part of the covenant God entered into with Abraham.  This covenant agreement provided Israel with promises that those outside of the covenant did not have a right to.

This does not mean that God never moves for people outside covenant relationship with him.  In the ministry of Jesus there was a woman of Syro-Phoenician birth who came to Jesus for the healing of her daughter.  Jesus initially tells her that it is not time for him to go beyond Israel.  In the end, he is moved by her faith and heals her daughter anyway.  God will move for anyone who believes him, but there is a difference for those in covenant with God. 

God is bound to move for those with whom he is in covenant.  Covenant creates relationship.  If it is properly understood, the blood covenant, which is the kind always implied in the Bible, is stronger than any other relationship including family.  It is an unbreakable relationship.  It is a relationship that makes everything that belongs to one partner legally and morally the other partner’s as well.  This involves everything from resources to abilities.  To those who have a covenant relationship with God, he is obliged to withhold nothing from his covenant partners.  Of course, the other member of the covenant is so obliged as well.

God desires to care people whether they are in covenant or not.  However, Peter tells us that we have an adversary here on the earth (1 Peter 5:8-11.)  He calls this adversary the devil and makes it clear that he is actively opposing the will of God in our lives and in the world.  This adversary has been called the God of this world by both Paul and Jesus.  He gained legal authority over God’s family, mankind, in the fall described in Genesis 3.  Because of that, Satan has the right to bring his will into the life of people and into the system that is currently in control of the world. 

A covenant made by God with man overrides the devils right to block God’s moving in our lives.  Without a covenant relationship, we are what Paul calls us in Ephesians 2:12.  We are without God and without hope in the world.  Those who have a covenant relationship with God are not without him and, therefore, are never without hope.  They have a covenant, and the Devil has no right nor power to stop the promises of God from coming to pass in our lives.  They know what God will do because it is in his covenant.  When they call upon the blessings of the covenant, the devil cannot keep those blessings from coming to pass in the life of the covenant believer.

The one thing that is still necessary is faith in the covenant and our invisible covenant partner.  The covenant is written in the Word of God, the Bible.  The more we know what our covenant promises, the more our faith for those promises grows.  When we speak those covenant promises into our lives and into the world around us, we are enforcing their legality and overriding the dominion our adversary took from Adam.  They become the law and the reality of our lives in the earth.

In the case of Israel, the covenant was between God and Abraham.  Covenants always include the descendants of the covenant partners, therefore it extended to Abraham’s descendants.  It also included any who would become “spiritual descendants” by accepting and living by the terms of the covenant.  Since it was a covenant between God and fallen people, it had to include a way to restore relationship when Israel inevitably broke it.  That way was the law and sacrifices set out in the Old Testament. 

Israel did break the covenant quite often.  They broke it as individuals and as a nation.  When they did, they opened the door to the adversary.  They cut themselves off from the blessings and promises of God.  They tied the hands of their covenant partner.  We read throughout the Old Testament the consequences of this behavior.  There were plagues, wars and eventual slavery that came to them when they broke the covenant.  However, Israel had something that no other nation had.  They had a way back into the blessings of the covenant.  They had the law.  Whenever they repented and returned to God, they were once again invincible in all they did.

In verse 12, Paul speaks of one possible condition in which people might live.  In verse 13, he tells us we are in a different condition once we received Jesus.  We are not without God and without hope because we are not without a covenant.  However, the New Covenant is different from the old in that it is not between God and a merely physical man.  It is between God and his Son.  Neither party will ever break this covenant.  We are part of it because we are in Christ.  The covenant is always in force where the nation of the Church is concerned. 

If we sin, we have a far more efficient way back into the blessing of the covenant.  We simply confess our sin to God.  Since the covenant is still in force, we are immediately forgiven and cleansed of any legal unrighteousness our sin may have caused. 

I believe this is a truth we must begin to enforce in our faith for 2021.  We are not now, nor will we ever be, without hope nor without God in the world.  I have covenant with God in Christ.  My covenant is a better covenant because it is based on better promises and a deeper form of relationship with God than Israel could have before Jesus came (Hebrews 8:6.)  As we face the challenges in the world today, let the devil know that you have a covenant with God.  Let him know that the promises of God are all yes and amen because of your covenant with Jesus.  While you are at it, tell yourself as well!

Another Look at Giving Thanks

Luke 17:17-19 (KJV) ¹⁷ And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? ¹⁸ There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. ¹⁹ And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

(I know this is a little bit late but as we begin the Christmas season let’s take one more look at the power of giving thanks.)

As we take time this year to give thanks to God, we need to remember that being thankful is not just a response for a believer. Giving thanks to God is also a causal force. We do not only respond to the good things God brings to our lives by giving thanks, but giving thanks actually draws good things to us. It changes things in the spirit. As such, thanksgiving is one of the spiritual weapons we must use to win the war for the soul of our world.

A continuing theme for me recently has been the simple truth that Christianity is a radical lifestyle. In the sermon on the mount Jesus said many times, “You have heard it said …..But I say.” The revelation here is that the world operates one way but the body of Christ must operate in a very different manner. When we talk about weapons and warfare, we must understand that our weapons and our warfare are also completely different from the way it would be in the world.

We would never see giving thanks as a weapon in the natural world. When we are threatened, we do not give thanks. We fight back. However, when we give thanks to God in every circumstance, we are fighting warfare in the spirit with weapons against which the devil has no defense.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

There was a teaching many years ago, that said we should give thanks for all things because anything that happens to us must be the will of God for our lives. This is not what the verse says. It tells us to give thanks in all things. Rejoicing always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks are the will of God for you no matter what you are going through. When we do these things, the devil cannot defeat us.

I want to look at this story from Luke’s Gospel. Earlier in this chapter, we see 10 lepers who come to Jesus and cry out for him to heal them. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests. To understand what is happening here we need to know the social ramifications of this disease.

I have seen leprosy and it is not a pretty sight. In the days of Jesus, this was similar to how Aids has been viewed in recent history in that it was incurable and carried a severe stigma. The person with leprosy was literally eaten alive by the disease. Noses might be eaten away. Often the person would be without fingers or toes. They believed it was also highly contagious.

A person with leprosy was legally and religiously unclean. He or she would have to stay away from everyone who did not have the disease. If they went out in public at all, they had to cry out, “Unclean!” This was so that people would know to stay away from them. They would be segregated in “leper colonies” away from their friends and family. It did not matter how rich they might be or even what their position was in life, if they were a leper, everyone rejected them and left them to die.

If by some medicine or miracle a leper was cured of the disease, the only way they could go back into society was to show the priest proof they were no longer leprous. If they went to the priest and were not free of the leprosy, they risked possible death because those who were unclean could not approach anything holy. This is why the 10 cried out from “far off.” (Vs. 13)

When Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest, it took faith for them to go. They had not yet been healed. However, they obeyed Jesus and as they went, God touched their bodies and they were no longer leprous. All ten of them had faith. All ten of them were healed. Nine of them continued on to the priests to reclaim their lives. That is what Jesus told them to do.

We cannot say that the nine did anything wrong. The fact that they obeyed and went to show themselves to the priest proved their faith in Jesus. However, one of them simply could not continue on his way when he saw that he was healed. I am sure the others were grateful, but this man’s heart of thanksgiving would not allow him to take one more step until he went back to thank God for what had been done to him.

The one so moved with thanks to God was a Samaritan, a hated foreigner. I want you to see something about thanksgiving in this story. All ten were healed. All ten had faith. This one man responded with radical thanksgiving. The impact of his thanksgiving did not end with the response. Because he came back and gave thanks to Jesus, the Lord says that he was made whole. The thanksgiving was not just a response to good things it was a cause of something that was an even greater good!

I do not know exactly what Jesus meant when he said the man was made whole. I think it could mean that things the leprosy had eaten away were restored to his body. Imagine seeing his nose made whole in an instant. That would be something to see. This disease can eat away fingers, toes and even hands. It would be wonderful to be free of the leprosy but how much greater would it be to have your body complete again.

I think being made whole also means restoration from the spiritual and psychological effects of the disease. What would it do to someone to be taken from his or her family and friends? How damaging would it be to have to cry out “unclean” as you walked down the street? I think to be made whole would mean healing in those areas as well.

Faith connects us to God and the realm of the spirit. I believe it bridges the gap between the natural and the supernatural. Faith is one of the most important weapons in our arsenal. However, as important as faith is, when it is coupled with active and radical thanksgiving there is a completely new level of power that is released. Faith healed ten and made them clean. Adding the weapon of thanksgiving to his arsenal caused the Samaritan to be made whole.

Find something to give thanks for today. Add this powerful force to your spiritual arsenal. When we are going through difficulties, it can be hard to be thankful. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. If there is something God has done for you, stop where you are and thank him. Thank him for your job, your family and your friends. Most of all thank him for salvation. You will never see a day in hell because of what Jesus did for you.

Your attitude of thanksgiving will change the spiritual atmosphere around you. It will cause people to be drawn to you and you will be able to share the gospel in a much more effective way. Good things will be drawn to your life as you actively and radically give thanks to the Lord