[Tuesday's Devotional] - The power of the Lord Jesus strengthen you in his service

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4.13 [NIV]

So said St Paul, who knew what it was to struggle with human frailty (see 2 Corinthians 12). We don’t know for definite what the thorn in the flesh that he spoke of was, but we do know that it was something that he asked God to remove three times. A lot of thought and energy has been spent trying to work out what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was: was it epilepsy or depression? Was it arthritis or temptation? The point is that is doesn’t matter as Paul’s life and ministry was not about his thorn in the flesh. It was all about ministering the love of Jesus and Paul did this so very effectively through Jesus’ strength.

So remember, that you don’t work in your own strength, but in the power of the Lord Jesus. It sounds so obvious doesn’t it? You will have heard it many, many times if you have been in church for a while, but how often have you forgotten it? How often have you felt up against it and relied on your strength, rather than turning to prayer? How often have you felt over confident in a situation and gone in there like a bull in a china shop, using your own strength? How often have you forgotten to call upon the strength of the Lord Jesus? Maybe that’s why it is such a good thing to pray over people at the end of a service: confirming and commissioning for the week ahead.

Remember too that the strength of the Lord Jesus isn’t just something that we receive supernaturally through prayer in crisis, or more lucid moments. It is something that we need to be drawing on and living in all the time. It is accessed through the gift of leisure, exercise and time with friends as well as through prayer and Bible study. Next time you are feeling guilty about resting remember that Jesus will strengthen and empower you for his service through your rest, just as much as through your work. That was, after all, the whole point of the Sabbath: the seventh day of rest, family and community time. You were created to draw strength from rest.

So thank Jesus today that his strength is enough for you and all you need and that you, like Paul can ‘do all things through him who strengthens me.’  Look again at making sure you are in a place where you can regularly draw on Jesus’s power through prayer, Bible study and rest.

John Martin-Jones