DIG for Tuesday the 5th of December…..what they tried to get under the Old we now have under the New…..Philippians 4 v 13

I noticed today a few Scripture references inside the cover of my Bible this morning; I’d not seen them for a while!

They were Psalm 22 v 3, then Psalm 16 v 11 and Nehemiah 8 v 10.

I remembered that this was a model for me to use to receive strength.

If I worshiped the Lord I would receive His presence (Psalm 22 v 3), I would then receive joy through His presence (Psalm 16 v 11) and through this joy would receive strength (Nehemiah 8 v 10).

Now this may sound good, and I thought it was at the time when I wrote these verse on the inside cover of my Bible.

However today I realised that I don’t need this model anymore, as these verses are Old Covenant verses and I live under grace, under the New Covenant.

As a born again, spirit filled believer I already have joy, as part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5 v 22).

As a born again, spirit filled believer I always have His presence as He says He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13 v 5).

Because of His presence I now have the strength to achieve all things (Philippians 4 v 13).

Now I am not saying we should not worship, of course we should, however we now worship because we have strength, joy and His presence, not to receive these things.

What I used to try and achieve through worship (His presence, joy and strength) I now have all the time as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus and His finished work.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Your continual presence, for Your strength and for the fruit of the Spirit”.

Philippians 4 v 13…..I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me

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DIG for Friday the 22nd of April…..you can get rid of that problem in our life…..Philippians 4 v 13

Last night in our Bible study I had a vivid picture of a huge rock.

A person was on top of this and I saw them drop a very small piece of dynamite into a hole in the rock.

As the person went away the dynamite exploded and the rock disappeared.

I think the Lord was showing me that the rock was a big problem and the dynamite was the power inside us, saying we can remove and overcome any problem in our path.

As born again believers we have the powerful Spirit of God inside us, at our disposal.

We can do all things through this power (Philippians 4 v 13).

We can be more than conquerors in all areas of life through Jesus (Romans 8 v 37).

We can be overcomers in all things in this life on earth.

The Lord was showing me that if we use the power that He has given us we could do anything!

We have the power, but we are required to use it.

It is like having electricity but not putting on the light switch, until it is turned on it is useless.

There is no problem in this life that cannot be sorted with “a little piece of God”.

God’s power is bigger than any problem we have and God is not surprised by our problems; He was equipped us in such a way that we can defeat anything that comes across our path.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the awesome power that you have put on the inside of me”.

Philippians 4 v 13…..I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me

DIG for Saturday the 21st of November…..you have made me brave…..Philippians 4 v 13

I was feeling anxious and stressed this morning about a couple of situations that I am in at the moment.

Then I remembered I was supposed to be downloading some worship music for Nunsy, so I did that and listened to it at the same time.

And what a difference one of the songs made to me!

“You make me brave, You make me brave, You call me out beyond the shore into the waves.

You make me brave, You make me brave, No fear can hinder now the Love that made the way”.

These were the lyrics that I have now been singing all afternoon.

The Word says that we can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4 v 13).

The Word says that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4 v 18).

Fear of man and what they could say or do should no longer be an issue for us as born again believers.

If we truly understand the love that God has toward us we will see fear flee from our lives and we will be able to do what we want to do.

Sometimes the hardest thing to say is no, and sometimes we need to be really brave to do this.

If we are in fear over what men may think if we do or do not do something then we do not truly understand the love of God in some way or another.

Perfect love, and that is only the love of God, casts out all fear; not some fear, not most fear, but all fear.

Are you in fear of something this evening?

Focus on the love that God has for you, meditate upon His love and what he has done for you because of His love; fear cannot stay long if you do that!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Your love toward me, and thank you that this love is freely available to me at all times”.

Philippians 4 v 18…..I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me

DIG for Monday the 14th of September…..you can do the impossible with the help of God…..Luke 18 v 27

Life quite often throws difficult situations in our way, issues and difficulties that we think we cannot solve or get over.

In our own strength there are many things that we cannot do.

However as born again believers he have to recognise that we are not alone.

As born again believers we have God with us and we have God on our side.

With God all things are possible, as Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 18 v 27).

Nothing is impossible for God; with God on your side you can do all things (Philippians 4 v 13).

In this life we are at what some would call an unfair advantage, we have God in our team!

Anything the devil throws at you can be resisted and defeated.

Anything fellow man tries to get you down can be resisted and defeated.

If we have the mind set that God is with us and that God is on our side we can overcome any obstacle in our life.

We are overcomers and we are more than conquerors in this life through Jesus (Romans 8 v 37).

You may be going through a really difficult time at the moment with something that looks impossible to overcome.

Take heart this morning. It may be impossible for you in your own strength, but God has unlimited strength and can do anything.

Together as a team, you and God are unbeatable and can win.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that nothing is impossible for you and thank you that you want me to overcome and be a conqueror in this life”.

Luke 18 v 27…..And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God

DIG for Friday the 10th of July…..no limits…..Philippians 4 v 13

My family will tell you that my mind works in a funny way; I have been known to start singing random songs for no apparent reason.

I will see or hear something, associate it with a song and start singing, my wife jokes that I do it without thinking.

Reading through the Word this morning looking for inspiration for this DIG I started singing “No Limits” by Black Box, a song from the early 1990s I think.

I had been looking at Philippians 4 v 13, which is underlined in my bible.

Having the potential to do all things through Christ does indeed mean we can live with no limits.

We can have no limits on the peace and joy we live under.

We can have no limits in the areas of health and prosperity.

This ability to live without limits however is something we have to learn and “work” at.

Not work with regards to good deeds and religious performance, but work with regards to study and meditation in His Word and time with the Lord.

If we have a deeper revelation of who we are and what we have through Christ we will see the limits removed from our lives.

As we soften our hearts and become more sensitive to the things of God we will soar higher and higher as limit after limit is peeled away and discarded.

Philippians 4 v 13 is a verse that we can all aspire to as we take the limits off our lives.

This verse is not just for the “super-dupers” in the church, it is for everyone and it is for you!

If you are being limited in some area of your life today get into the Word and see what God has to say about the situation.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that through the finished work of Jesus Christ I can indeed do all things”.

Philippians 4 v 13…..I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me

DIG for Thursday the 9th of July…..the odds are stacked in our favour in this battle…..Romans 8 v 37

I had a great day out today with my granddaughter up at Culloden battlefield.

We saw how the odds were stacked against the Jacobean forces; they were more tired, had to run across boggy ground and were forced to bunch up because of high walls for example.

I thought about the battle that we can be in sometimes, the spiritual battle and I realised that we have the odds stacked in our favour.

Our enemy has the odds stacked against him and his demons as we have the Lord Jesus Christ on our side.

Because of this we are unbeatable.

Because of this we can be more than conquerors in any situation (Romans 8 v 37).

Because of this we can do all things (Philippians 4 v 13).

But you may be saying, “Vic how can you say this when we see Christians sick and dying?”

Well, I like to look at the bigger picture in all things and I know that at times it seems like we do get defeated.

But this is not the case.

Let’s take illness and death for example; the way I look at it we are in a win-win situation, as if we live we have overcome yet if we die we are with the Lord.

I have read the “end of the book” and have seen the “final score” (to steal a term from my beloved football).

Jesus wins and we win through Him, the odds really are stacked in our favour.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that through you I am more than a conqueror and can do all things”.

Romans 8 v 37…..Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us

DIG for Tuesday the 30th of June…..is it finished or not…..John 19 v 30

The words that come out of our mouths indicate the way we think and what we believe.

I was reading a comment on Facebook this morning that reminded me of this truth.

If we are using statements like “It’s a process”, “I can’t” or “let’s wait on the Lord” then we do not truly believe or understand the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Statements like that mean that we think that Jesus’ work was not quite finished, we actually think that it is the “almost finished but I need to do my bit or God needs to do something else” work.

The work of God, through Jesus Christ is finished; Jesus Himself said that as He hung on the cross (John 19 v 30).

If we truly understood this truth we would change the words and phrases that came from our mouths.

Instead of “I can’t” it would be “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4 v 13).

Instead of “it’s a process” it would be “I am complete in Him (Colossians 2 v 10).

Instead of “let’s wait upon the Lord” it would be “It is finished, let’s get on with it”.

So let’s stop the comments about waiting and seeing things later.

Instead let’s speak out the truth of what we have now through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Let’s speak out truths about healing and abundance, wholeness, joy and peace; truths that can set people free now instead of leaving them sitting around in chains and bondages.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the awesome, wonderful and incredible finished work of Jesus Christ”.

John 19 v 30…..When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost

 

DIG for Sunday the 17th of May…..nae limits; that should be the Christian life…..Philippians 4 v 13

As we were driving down the A9 yesterday we passed an outdoor activities centre called “Nae Limits” (nae is the Scottish word for no).

I love the name of this business, and enjoy seeing it every time I pass.

It brings up the image of being able to do anything, of nothing stopping you, of there being no limits in life.

This is what it should be like in our Christian life.

God has given us authority and power in this life; authority from Jesus and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

This should take the limits off us in terms of healing, peace, joy and prosperity.

God wants us all to live in health and abundance (John 10 v 10 and 3 john 2); He wants there to be nae limits in these areas of our lives.

Paul wrote that he could do all things through Jesus, and we are the same.

We have the same authority as Paul and the same power as Paul, we are born again believers just as he was.

We can live a life without limits if we believe and understand His Word; understand that we have authority and understand that we have power.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the authority and power that we have in this world, and help us to remove our own self-made limits”.

Philippians 4 v 13…..I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me

DIG for Tuesday the 25th of November…..grace is what we produce “works” from…..1 Corinthians 15 v 10

Do this, do that, stop this and stop that; this is what church used to be for me and it was what I thought we needed in order to do “good works”.

Church was one long cycle of striving to do good works, followed by failure and condemnation, leading to me backing away from church and fellowship.

Then I heard the message of grace, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I heard that the key to the Christian life was what Jesus had already done and not what I had to do.

The key word in my Christian life went from DO to DONE.

The key person in my Christian life went from ME to HIM.

The grace of God through the finished work of Jesus Christ became the dominant factor in my Christian life; and that changed my life.

And the same has been true or can be true for you!

It is the revelation of grace that leads to less sin and more “good works” in the life of a believer (Titus 2 v 11 and 12, 2 Peter 1 v 3 and 1 Corinthians 15 v 34).

We will only fail if we labour in our own strength, with our own talents and abilities; as believers we have the option to labour from HIS finished work and labour because of what HE has done (1 Corinthians 15 v 10).

It is good for a believer to want to do good works, that is part of what following Jesus should be all about.

But it has to flow from a love for Jesus and a revelation of what he has done for us through grace and not from a mindset of performance, legalism or law.

We can labour more abundantly if we do it through Him and what He has done; indeed through Him we can do all things (Philippians 4 v 13).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can do labour in abundance, but only through your strength and because of your grace”.

1 Corinthians 15 v 10…..But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me

DIG for Monday the 3rd of March…..need a list of things to think about; check out Philippians 4…..Philippians 4 v 8

I was speaking to a younger brother tonight about the importance of how and what we think.

We spoke about Isaiah 26 v 3 where we read that if we want perfect peace we should keep our mind and thoughts focussed on the Lord.

I was annoyed at myself after our chat that I forgot to tell him about Philippians 4 v 8.

Here Paul is quite specific and gives a list of things that the believers should think about in order to see peace reign in their lives.

Paul recommends that we think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report and virtuous.

To me that sounds like a list of attributes os the Lord; it is not a list of attributes of this physical earth.

Once again the Word is telling us to think on things of the Lord, of things above, of things unseen (if this does not sound familiar please read the DIG from yesterday).

The passage of Scripture that this verse is taken from is about peace, about the peace of God abounding in our lives.

The amount of peace in our lives is proportional to how well we are thinking.

Focussing on Him and thinking on nothing else but Him and His Kingdom will result in perfect peace; that is what Isaiah 26 v 3 says.

Focussing on things of the flesh (or carnal) results in death (Romans 8 v 6).

I would suggest that we are all somewhere in between these two extremes.

The formula is simply; more “good” thoughts results in more peace (and life), while more “bad” thoughts results in less peace (and death, in terms of negative and ungodly issues in our lives).

The Word is very clear on this and it is not a difficult topic to understand; I am not saying it is easy to do all the time, but it is easy to understand.

The choice is yours; good or bad thoughts, more or less peace in your life; it really is that simple.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for my free will, and thank you that I am free to choose how I think; I endeavour to be more positive in my thought life from this point forward”.

Philippians 4 v 8…..Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things