Tag Archives: Philippians 1:6

Nothing is impossible with God

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You’ve heard it so many times before:

 

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

We are more than conquerors. (Romans 8:37)

Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

 

These are all promises of God but how are we to apply them?  Because we believe in God and put our faith in him, are we assured that all our prayers will be answered according to our desires? That everything we want to achieve will be accomplished according to our plans?

 

Not our plans.

God’s plans.

 

The message of Luke 1 is that “Nothing is impossible with God.” Elizabeth was barren and she and Zechariah were quite old. But an angel of the Lord appeared and promised they would have a son who was to be dedicated to God. And it happened exactly as it was foretold. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, foretelling that even though she was a virgin, she would bear a son through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that her son’s kingdom would never end. And it happened exactly as it was foretold. Both births were humanly impossible, yet nothing is impossible with God.

 

Nothing is impossible with God because his plans are invincible. He is Almighty God who made everything from nothing. He is the author of wisdom and understanding, the creator of life itself. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He knew you before you were born. His power and love know no limits. He speaks and light appears. His son Jesus, The Light of the World, shines into the darkness of our troubles and illumines our path so we know how to walk in the path of peace, the very way to live our lives. He redeems our broken, lost, and hopeless lives with his great mercy and amazing grace. You can bear up under your difficulties because he will strengthen you with his strength and grace. Nothing is impossible with him!

 

Is this the God to whom you pray? When we pray the will of God for ourselves and others, we pray with the confidence that nothing is impossible for God when it comes to carrying out his good and perfect plan which far exceeds our own.

 

God has a good and perfect plan for you, better than you can imagine. Though circumstances look to be hopeless through your eyes, nothing can impede God’s perfect plan for those who seek him with their whole heart and trust him fully. (Jeremiah 29:11-13) It may not be the plan you foresee or even think you desire. The things we desire seem great to us, but sometimes they are like making mud pies in the street when God intends for us something immeasurably more grand. Nothing is impossible with God who loves you. You can turn over your daily to-do list and your very life ambitions to the God of all possibilities who loves you and will complete his perfect plan for you, if you let him.

 

Let your focus today be on the God for whom nothing is impossible.

 

He who began a good work in you

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Have you ever wondered if God is ignoring your prayers, if your dreams and hopes will never be realized? If you will be able to stand firm in faith? If no matter how hard you try, there will be no reward for your efforts? It’s part and parcel of walking by faith and not by sight, isn’t it? We don’t always get to see what is happening behind the scenes. What does God say about our sense of doubt?

 

“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” Philippians 1:6

 

What a great verse of hope! But does that mean whatever task we undertake will be successful? Or that everything we seek to do ‘in the name of the Lord’ will be completed? Let’s look at the context of the verse.

 

Paul is writing a letter of encouragement to the faithful body of believers at Philippi. He tells them he thanks God for them and always prays for them with joy knowing they are faithfully living and advancing the gospel. They seem to be wholeheartedly doing ‘their part.’ But his confidence is not just that they will be successful but rather that GOD who first began a work of ‘good news’ in their hearts ‘from the first day until now’ ‘will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’.

 

We sometimes act as if everything is up to us. Indeed, it is our job to faithfully respond to God’s call on our lives. But if we had the capacity to carry our good works on to our completion, then why did Jesus send his holy spirit? The good work in our lives did not even spring out of our own altruistic minds. It was begun by God. And it is God who will bring that good work to completion.

 

What good work is that? Is it our happiness and comfort? Is it the results of earthly ambitions, even those ‘committed to the Lord’? Paul was wearing prison chains as he wrote to them. That doesn’t sound like the successful completion of a plan. Yet he saw that even those punishing aspects of his life served to advance the gospel because they gave him opportunity to trust God and give testimony to his truth and grace.

 

Every problem is an opportunity to trust God.

 

Paul trusted God would be faithful to make their “love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” He trusted God would give them discernment to know not only what was good, but what was BEST, that their lives would be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus – to the glory of God.” If you had just this carried to completion in your life, would that be enough?

 

This famous verse is not just about us. In fact, it is primarily about God, his goodness, and his persevering good work in us. Take heart. He who began a good work in you will not allow any circumstance to keep it from his completion.

 

 

Not finished yet

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Have you ever felt like you’ve reached a dead-end on the path you felt called to follow? Like you started this journey with God, but now you’re looking around trying to figure out his plan for your next steps? You know he has a purpose for you but just now, it seems like it’s been side-lined?

God is never rushed. And even when it seems he is silent, he is actively working out his plan. Sometimes this involves orchestrating circumstances that must come together. Sometimes it involves other people who have not yet submitted their will to him or to the situation. Almost always it seems, he is waiting for our hearts to yield more fully to his, for us to listen for and respond to his voice.

God promises, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with loving kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) This is not the voice of one who calls you down a path only to abandon you! “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) I think about how he purposefully sought each of us out before we were seeking him. He sought us, he found us, he began a work that he will complete in us, as we wait in faith, trusting him to complete his work.

Rest in the satisfaction of knowing you have not been abandoned; you are not alone. The rest of the plan may be different than you expected, and it may take longer than you wanted to work it out. But God’s plan is a good plan. Don’t fret about the timing.
Instead, rest and enjoy his presence as you wait faithfully.