“I want to remind you that your strength must come from the mighty power within you.” Ephesians 6 10 in the Living Bible.
Something I've learned as I've got older, is the need to tap into the mighty power that's available within me in Christ. It's a must.
When you're young, you're inclined to trust in your own strength more than in God's. But as you get older, you realise the need to trust Him more and more.
We may say that we are trusting in him, but our actions can betray us. Unfortunately, this generation has been trained to trust in man more than God, trusting in the horses and chariots than in God’s strength, so to speak. We are surrounded with creature comforts that are weakening our faith and make us trust in the world too much,
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 after he had pleaded with God to take away his thorn in the flesh.
“Each time He said no, but I am with you, that's all you need. My power shows up best and weak people. Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am. I'm glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s Power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. Since I know it's all for Christ’s good. I'm quite happy about the thorn and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties, for when I am weak then I am strong. The less I have, the more I depend on him.”
We are not told exactly what Paul's thorn in the flesh was, but whatever it was it helped him to trust in the Lord rather than in himself. The Lord said He was with him and that was all he needed.
If we really believed this, it would make us so much stronger. Paul also said in Philippians 4:13.
“I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ, who gives me the strength and power.”
He had learned to shift from his own strength into accessing the power of God that was within him.
As Paul “In Christ there is all of God in a human body, so we have everything when we have Christ and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest ruler with authority over every other power.”
With Christ you have everything.
One of the main areas that I have learned this secret is in regard to healing. Since the Kingdom of God is within me, I have access to all I need. Christ is in me as my teacher, my healer, my doctor and my strength. I claim this because it says in Exodus 15:26
“I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord that heals you.”
This word heal is the word ‘Rapha’ in Hebrew and means physician, medicine or doctor. We have the healer Christ inside of us.
There was a time that I would run to the systems of the world as soon as I started to feel sick rather than go to the Lord and not use the weapons that He had already given me.
The Bible says that His word is life to me and health to all my flesh.
“My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ears to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22.
Getting God's word into your heart and using it as a weapon against the enemy is a very powerful tool. Matthew, 12:34 says that out of the mouth the heart speaks. This power within is released through our words. This becomes more effective as the level of your faith grows. It's something you have to work on for yourself, as you can't live by someone else's faith. It has to be yours.
“According to your faith, so be it unto you.” Matthew 9:29.
It has not always been this way for me, but through discipline and understanding the power of Christ in my life things have changed and I now go to Him first before running off to man for help when symptoms come.
The world offers so many alternative methods rather than us putting our trust in the Lord. We try to extend our lives and health in our own strength instead of tapping into the mighty power of Christ within.
You have everything when you have Christ: Wisdom, stamina, health energy and life, and it's all in Him. And He is within you. Believe it.
With everything shaking around us and a breakdown in the world's health systems, we need to more than ever know the mighty power of Christ within us. Our strength must come from the Lord within us if we want to remain standing in these End Times.