While flying back to Chicago from upper New York via New York City, we had to stay in
our holding pattern over Kennedy Airport for more than an hour. When the stewardess
announced that we would be landing an hour late, a man across the aisle shouted, “Bring out
the booze!” This was his only resource when things were going against him.
All of nature depends on hidden resources. The great trees send their roots down into the
earth to draw up water and minerals. Rivers have their sources in the snow-capped
mountains.
The most important part of a tree is the part you cannot see, the root system, and the most
important part of the Christian’s life is the part that only God sees. Unless we draw upon the
deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life.
Paul depended on the power of Christ at work in his life. “I can—through Christ!” was Paul’s
motto, and it can be our motto too.
“I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me,” is the way
J.B. Phillips translates Philippians 4:13. The Living Bible puts it this way: “I can do
everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.”
No matter which translation you prefer, they all say the same thing: the Christian has all the
power within that he needs to be adequate for the demands of life. We need only release this
power by faith.
A verse to live by: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20,NASB).
Read: Isaiah 40:29-31; 2 Corinthians 12:19; Ephesians 1:19; Philippians 1:6, 21; 2 Timothy
1:12.
Action assignment: Select a verse in today’s reading; memorize it and act upon it!
WARREN W. WIERSBE
www.backtothebible.in