In the last devotion, we started discussing strength in God’s name. This daily devotional looks at how we gain sufficient strength to do all things in Jesus’ name and by His authority.
Nuggets
- We gain strength through Jesus’ power as well as authority.
- We only gain strength through Jesus’ name.
- It is only through God’s grace can we gain the strength to withstand Satan’s pull.
Devotions in the In Jesus’ Name series
We talked in the last devotion that one of the ways God equips us is to give us strength. In this devotion, we are going to go back to looking at Jesus’ name. Wilkinson showed us several verses that showed the strength we get from Jesus.
Let’s keep going in Wilkinson’s sermon entitled Doing All in the Name of Christ to see how we gain strength in Jesus’ name.
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Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Meyer helped us determine exactly what is mean in the phrase in Jesus’ name. He wrote, “Thus the Name of God, as used so frequently by the heroes and saints of sacred history, stands for those Divine attributes and qualities which combine to make Him what He is.”
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Remember, Jesus and God are One.
Strength in Jesus’ Power
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well’” (Ac. 4: 8-10 ESV)
We gain strength through Jesus’ power as well as authority.
Hmmm. I don’t know if I would say the use of in Jesus’ name means strength in this passage. I would say it is more authority.
It works if we consider it power rather than authority. Power is usually associated with the actual accomplishment of something.
That would work in this case. Peter had healed a cripple man. He couldn’t do that under his own authority or in his own power.
The healing had to come from the power of Jesus through His authority.
But doesn’t the knowledge that the power is there give us strength? We gain courage to serve God as He calls us to do. We get peace.
Side note. Tuck reminded us Peter was responding to the Sanhedrin’s question of under who’s authority did he work. He wrote, “This the Sanhedrin asked because they regarded themselves as the highest religious authority in the land, and they could approve of nothing which had not been submitted for their sanction. They had to learn that God never will allow His grace to be tied with official bonds.”
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Mankind cannot limit God’s grace. We may think we have to put our stamp of approval on it.
We don’t.
Not Our Strength
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4: 13 ESV).
We only gain strength through Jesus’ name.
You see, here’s the thing. We want the strength to come from us. We either think we can do things ourselves, or we think what we are okay doing them outside of God.
We want to gain strength through our abilities. We want to be able to exercise and get stronger — whether that is a physical or mental growth.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
What we need to do is rely on Jesus. We can’t resist temptation on our own.
I know. That galls us sometimes, doesn’t it? We don’t want to have to depend on someone else. This is especially true for a holy Someone we can’t see.
I love what Forsyth said. He wrote, “Dependence is the law of our being?”
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How can this be a law of our being? “For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring’” (Ac. 17: 28 CSB).
The Him referred to here is God. He is our Creator and Sustainer; therefore, we are dependent on Him.
That doesn’t mean God takes away our ability to choose to follow Him or not. He gives us our free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
When we choose to follow Him, God strengthens us. The last thing God wants is for us to be discouraged. We may be weak – we may find failure.
This is all tied into humility. Christian humility is our yielding our dependence to Christ to serve Him and others.
We’ve got to bag our pride and put our faith and trust in God. Pride is an unrealistic high opinion of oneself that is based on faulty self-esteem.
I think our joy within is tied to our strength with God. We are more joyful — even in our trials — when we feel His strength within us.
But go back to the beginning of the verse. “I can do all things …” (Phil. 4: 13 ESV).
Let’s hook this to another verse. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” (Mt. 19: 26 NIV).
Jesus has the strength to do all things — even the impossible things.
We tap into that strength through faith.
Through His Grace
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Cor. 12: 9 ESV).
It is only through God’s grace can we gain the strength to withstand Satan’s pull.
I thought it was interesting that Wilkinson included this verse in his explanation of how we accomplish all by the strength of Jesus’ name.
Think about it. This verse is the response to Paul’s thorn in his flesh. God was telling Paul that He wasn’t going to remove it — He was going to take him through it.
Maclaren had an interesting take on that. He wrote, “The answer is no communication of anything fresh, but it is the opening of the man’s eyes to see that already he has all that he needs.”
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Let’s see how Wilkinson was applying it to this discussion. He was talking about strength. This would mean that we already have all the strength we need.
We do, because it isn’t our strength. It is God’s strength.
God is using His strength to take our imperfect lives and make them perfect through sanctification. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
God knows how broken we are. He knows exactly how strong our faith is.
Remember, God meets us where we are and takes us to where we need to be.
Paul was going to rock his weakness. Maclaren said this was more than just being submissive. Submitting to God is actions by humans that obey God and keep His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, follow His purpose for us, and do not follow Satan’s promptings.
It was Paul’s total dedication to Jesus being glorified.
Let’s roost a second on that God’s grace is sufficient. It isn’t too much. It isn’t too little.
It is just right.
The thing that popped into my mind was the manna that God provided the Israelites in the desert. He provided just enough for the day. The day before the Sabbath, God provided enough for both days.
God knows just what we need. He gives us just that.
Let’s circle back to having strength in Jesus’ name. Jesus was 100% man. That means He knows what it means to be weak.
Jesus was also 100% God. He is back to having all of His divine attributes.
There is no way that Jesus has forgotten what it feels like to be weak.
Just think what it means, then, asking for strength in Jesus’ name. The One Who is providing the strength knows what we are going through.
Making the Connections
We said in the last devotion that confidence brings strength, and strength brings confidence. We probably should have added faith.
Faith brings confidence, which brings strength; and strength brings confidence and faith.
Think about it. We start out with a little bit of faith. God grows it through bringing us through trials. That is where we get the confidence and strength.
Remember, we just said God’s grace and strength are sufficient.
What does that tell us? We don’t have to worry about tomorrow. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Mt. 6: 25-26 ESV).
Our needs will be taken care of by a faithful God.
How Do We Apply This?
- Praise Jesus for giving us strength even in our trials.
- Courageously face all God has in store for us.
- Continue to pray and do God’s Will.
- Don’t stop doing God’s work.
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Father God. Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to be our Savior. We pray in His name for the strength we need to resist Satan’s pull. We know You will give us strength sufficient for the day. Amen.
What do you think?
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