“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13 esv)

Strength is the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance.

God gives strength in times of need

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isa. 41:10 NIV)

Those who hope in the Lord will gain renewed strength

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isa 40:30-31 NIV)

Therefore...

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart ,and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-39 NIV)

 “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” (Psalm 138:8 ESV)

Purpose: The object toward which one strives or for which something exists.

God has made you for His purpose

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10 NASB)

Your purpose is to fulfill God’s great commission

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20 ESV)

Your purpose is to do everything to God’s glory

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31 ESV)

Therefore...

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28 NIV)

 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 NIV)

I had doubts!

After discovering from my aunt that my father had not died as my mother had told me, but had only moved to another state, gotten remarried, and had other children that I finally met, we exchanged much information. All this was exciting.

Accept, I had doubts

I wasn’t totally convinced that I was actually related to them. Yes, I was completely sure they were related to my big brother, David, because the resemblance was unmistakable. But, I didn’t look like any of them; I look more like my mother. And, because David and I were a couple years apart in age, and because my mother and father had separated before I was born, I thought there could possibly have been someone else “involved” after they had split. So, to be absolutely sure, I asked one of them, my new sister Kathie, to take a DNA test and I would, too. We got two DNA kits from Ancestory.com and I sent mine to them as Mike French, from Lynden, Washington, and she sent hers to them as Kathie Swan from Anderson, Indiana. We gave no information other than our names and addresses. Several weeks later the results came back informing us we were closely related to each other! Yes, it was definitely confirmed, we ARE siblings! After that test, there was no doubt left, and I wholeheartedly believed that we have the same father.

God’s kids must not doubt!

My doubting experience reminds me that there are Christians, such as one of Jesus’ own disciples, famously known as Doubting Thomas, who had trouble believing (John 20:26). If Christians entertain doubts and don’t know for sure they are a member of God’s family with promised eternal life, they will be unstable, weak and ineffective in their relationship with Him.

Absolute assurance

God wants us to have absolute assurance of our relationship with Him and said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 NIV)

Those who have received Him have the right to become God’s children

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13 ESV)

It’s through faith in Christ

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Gal. 3:26 ESV)

Therefore...

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39)

“God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” (Psalm 68:6 NASB)

My new found brothers and sisters

Shortly after my mother died I received a shocking phone call from my mother’s older sister, my Aunt Evelyn. She said, “Mike, you better sit down, I have something important to tell you.” She then told me that my father, Brach Whitson, hadn’t really died in an automobile accident before I was born as my mother had told me. “But”, she continued, “Shortly after your parents had separated he moved from California to Anderson, Indiana, and then remarried. So, Mike, you may have some kinfolk there to look up.” I was blown away by the news and immediately made some phone calls to Whitsons living in Anderson, Indiana. The first person I called gave me the phone number of Brach’s daughter, Barbra. I phoned her and told her that Brach was my birth father and I was seeking information. She seemed happy to hear from me and told me that he had recently died and there were ten children. I told her that he had also had two more children, my brother, David, and me. A couple of weeks later, I flew to Indiana to meet them. My new brother, Greg, came to pick me up. As we drove along I stared intently at him. He noticed and said, “What?!” I said, “Greg, I’m very sorry for staring at you, but you look exactly like my brother!” (I meant that he looked like my older brother, David, who had recently died!) He said, “I am your brother, get used to it!” We soon arrived to where the rest of them were waiting for us. They greeted me with hugs. Although they had been equally surprised to hear about me, they were loving and receptive. We laughed a lot and shared stories to catch each other up. It was a complete joy having all these new siblings!

Sons and daughters

“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6:18 ESV)

Your offspring shall be blessed

“Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 28:14)

 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29;13 NIV)

While visiting the Grand Canyon last summer, Susan and I enjoyed breakfast in a beautiful lodge overlooking the canyon. Our friendly waiter, Jeremiah, introduced himself and told us Grand Canyon stories. At one point during our brief conversation, I told him that I liked his name, Jeremiah, and that it was one of my favorite books in the Bible. As soon as I told him that he said, “I’ve never read it. I’m not religious.” I said, “Well, my favorite verse in that Old Testament book is Jeremiah 29:13, which says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Later, after Susan and I had returned back home, I remembered the short conversation with Jeremiah and his comment about not being religious, and I prayed for him. I asked God to touch his heart, to send others to speak to him about Christ and that he’d be receptive. There are people all around us like Jeremiah, who need to know that God loves them and that He has put together a plan for them to know Him personally. Here are some Bible passages that explain it.

God so loved the world that He gave eternal life

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

All have sinned

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (ROM. 3:23)

The wages of sin is death

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

Jesus gives an invitation

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20)

Salvation is only through Jesus

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Forgiven when we confess

”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NIV)

You are saved by God’s grace

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

You become a new creation

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isa. 40:28 NIV)

Helen Keller knew

Yesterday, I told how I had always believed in God as a child, but I  didn’t come to know Him until I had become an adult. I read something similar about deaf and blind Hellen Keller, who had been in a dark silent world of her own.  She was taught to communicate with others by her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who spelled words into her hand. She said about God, “I always new He  existed, but until I read the Bible, I didn’t know His Name.” Helen Keller learned about God by reading about Him in the Bible. That is exactly the right place to look for information about Him. The above passage from the book of Isaiah tells us that God is  everlasting creator who doesn’t get tired or weary. Other passages, such as the first verse in the Bible, confirm that He is creator.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1 NIV)

“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.” (Isa. 42:5 ESV)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6 NIV)

I was confused at first

As long as I can remember, I have believed in the existence of God. But, I had a lot of confusion early on about Him. As a child, I occasionally attended Sunday school, heard Bible stories, and even listened to religious people who had came to my door. I heard a lot of religious talk, but no one helped me understand how I could know Him. It wasn’t until I had become an adult and read a small booklet explaining how God had sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins, and how to pray and receive Him into my life, that I finally understood how to know Him personally. While driving down a busy road I prayed a simple prayer of faith: “Jesus, I believe in you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me and be my savior.” From that moment on the direction of my life was forever changed. I began my journey to serve and learn all I could about my savior, Jesus Christ. It was like a light had suddenly come on and I wondered how I could have been in the dark for so long. As I studied the Bible I discovered that God had been telling us about Himself for a long time!

God told us about who Jesus is long before He came

Isaiah 9:6, written 700 years before Jesus was born, between 740-680 B.C., tells us a number of important things about the coming messiah:

• “He is born for us”  (Isa. 9:6a NIV)

• “He is a gift for us” (Isa. 9:6b NIV)

• “The government will be on His shoulders.” (Isa. 9:6c NIV)

• “He is called Wonderful Counselor” (Isa. 9:6d NIV)

• “He is called mighty God” (Isa. 9:6e NIV)

• “He is called Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6f NIV)

• “He is called Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6g NIV)

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15 ESV)

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Psalm 100:4 ESV)

Give thanks in all circumstances

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (2 Thess. 5:18 ESV)

Give thanks always for everything

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 5:20 ESV)

Praise Him for He is good!

“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?” (Psalms 106:1-2 ESV)

Therefore...

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:4-7 ESV)

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57 ESV)

We are more than conquerors through Jesus

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:37 ESV)

The Lord goes with us to give victory

“For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’” (Deut. 20:4 ESV)

We can do all things through Jesus who gives us strength

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13 ESV)

We do valiantly with God

“With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

God provides a way of escape

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Cor. 10:13 ESV)

Therefore…

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Eph. 6:13 ESV)