POWER & STRENGTH IN THE LORD!

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Philippians 4:13  What is the true meaning of this verse and what benefits can it bring to us if we remind ourselves of Gods' strength daily? The word of God is filled with encouragement that gives strength and power to all who believe and receive it! Satan fights against us by attacking our mind, but if one fills their mind with scriptures of God given hope, strength and power the devil is powerless in his efforts to make us feel inadequate and defeated. These thoughts and feelings are directly from the enemy to keep us bound and unable to be a productive vessel for the Lord. Paul was explaining in this passage that he knew God could change his circumstances. Often though, it is us that God desires to change rather than the circumstance. God wants to remove all doubt and fear from us, he does this by changing the way we think and react to situations in our lives. Molding us into His likeness, giving us confidence and teaching us to depend on Him for answers. Once we acknowledge Him all we do and through every circumstance we can have assured peace that the Lord will give us strength to see us through! We are totally inadequate by ourselves, but through the Lord we are made adequate enough to conquer and accomplish what we set out to do. John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." The Lord empowers us to do His will and what ever purpose and plan He has for us to fulfill! I am so thankful for a life filled with victory, He is limitless and we are more than conquerors through Him! "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us." Romans 8:37 NLT

HE IS RISEN AND ALIVE!

A man was walking down a street when he noticed in a store window a beautiful
painting of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He stood there gazing at the picture for the longest than
realized that a little boy was standing beside him. He patted the little boy on the head and said, "Son, what
does that mean?" The little boy said, "Doncha know? That there man is Jesus, an' the woman that's crying
is His mother, an' them others is Roman soldiers. They killed Him." The man smiled and then started walking
away. In a few moments he heard someone running, turned and saw that it was the little boy. He came
running up to the man, out of breath, and said, "Mister, mister, I forgot to tell you that he didn't
stay dead."
2 Timothy 2:8, "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel."

Isn't it awesome to know that our God is ALIVE! Death couldn't even conquer our Savior!

The Resurrection:

Mark 16
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” 8Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. 9When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. 12Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 14Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
God's word makes it very clear the certainty of Jesus' resurrection. The angel was given a mission to roll the stone from the tomb not to let Christ out but this act was done to allow His followers in to see He was risen and alive. Jesus had told His desciples that He would die on the cross but would surely rise again. Even though the Lord had prepared them for this, they still didn't totally understand it until they witnessed this awesome confirmation. Remember they fled the tomb quickly, trembling and amazed!  1Timothy 4:10 "and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Praise the Lord, aren't you too thankful to know the Lord, and know He is real and alive today! What a blessing it is to feel His prescence within us, leading and guiding us through our lives. His loving kindness never fails us and without Him we surely would be lost forever. But we shall inherit the most outstanding reward in the end, we will spend an eternity with Him in Heaven. Such greatness our future's hold in Him!