In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: God is the supplier. And when we talk ourselves down negatively, "Well, I can't and it won't work," and then what we do, we start giving reasons it won't work. "Well, this is the way I grew up, and this is how things are, and it never has been very good for me." And so the issue is here: Am I going to believe what God said, or am I going to live in the past? Remember this: He has never required anything of you that He has not been there side-by-side with you to equip you and enable you and to encourage you to get it done.

Guest (Male): We all face difficult challenges. Sometimes we respond with courage, and sometimes we're overwhelmed. Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we'll see how Philippians 4, verse 13, helps believers learn to meet hardship with confidence that conquers. Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Would you consider yourself a confident person? Or do you find yourself lacking confidence? Can you distinguish between being confident and being arrogant and prideful? Confidence is a good thing. Confidence is a healthy thing. Confidence is a quality that all of us should have, and confidence is a quality God intends for us to have and to enjoy, and to live out our lives and to work out what He's called us to do. Not hesitating, not feeling we can't, not feeling down, but feeling confident.

And this was Paul's conviction. If God has called me to do it, then certainly I am able to do it. And I think oftentimes people who have so much to give never get around to giving it because they don't think it's wanted. They don't think they're worthy of it. They just don't think they're acceptable. So I want you to turn to Philippians chapter 4. He says through all these difficulties and hardships and trying times, I've learned something, and that's this: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

That is, Paul recognizing his own inabilities and skills at times, he said, never would he talk about what he can do. He talks about his inadequacy. But watch this: His feeling of inadequacy, but then what does he do? He also lines that up with the capacity and the power of God, and it levels it out. You may feel I'm inadequate. If you feel that way, then when you get to reading the Word and you begin to believe what God says, you begin to understand that God assumes responsibility for equipping you, enabling you.

And everybody who ever has ever spoken to anybody, first time you do it, you're probably scared to death, whatever it might be. If you say, "I can't" because you had a little fear, or you have an opportunity on a job and you're about to get a promotion and you think, "Oh my goodness, I could never do that." Oh, wait a minute. If you've asked God to bless you and now He's giving you an opportunity that's going to test you, try you, educate you, grow you up, mature you, make you a better person, and make you a much more valuable servant of God in that business, and you're telling God you can't do it?

That is, what you're saying is that God's made a mistake. He's asking me to do something I can't do. Now, that doesn't mean we need to be prideful and arrogant and say, "Oh, just whatever you want, I can handle it." No. When he says all things, you say, "You mean to tell me that I can do anything and everything through Christ?" No, I would not say that, and that's not what he said. Because you see, go back to that relationship. Paul is speaking as a child of God. He's speaking as a servant of God. He's speaking, listen, on the basis of this relationship that God has called him to do what he's doing.

You have to look at it this way: You can do anything and everything God called you to do, listen, in His time—that is, whatever is His will. You can say, "Well, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Remember this: God will never strengthen you to do something that is an act of disobedience. Now, there are some people who have enough self-confidence they can get by, it appears, with some things, or they have enough self-confidence to achieve many things in life. They may achieve this, but in a more valuable area of their life, they're not achieving.

In other words, you may be able to accumulate a lot of money, but you can't get along with your wife or your husband or anybody else necessarily. And we can just go right through a lot of illustrations of people who are confident that they can handle something in a given area. But God doesn't want us living that kind of life. He wants us to be confident in Him, so that not just one thing in life, but whatever He calls you to do, that you can do it and do it well. He has equipped you. Remember this: It would be unfair on the part of God to call you to do something without enabling you to do it.

I can do all things through Christ who enables me, who has equipped me. He would never call you to do something that He is not there to equip you and enable you to do. God is the supplier. And when we talk ourselves down negatively, "Well, I can't and it won't work," and then what we do, we start giving reasons it won't work. "Well, this is the way I grew up, and this is how things are, and it never has been very good for me." And so the issue is here: Am I going to believe what God said, or am I going to live in the past?

If I believe what God says, I'll be able to do—now watch this—Paul didn't say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me better than." He didn't say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me but not as good as." He said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." All God requires of us is our best. And remember this: He has never required anything of you that He has not been there as one of His children, side-by-side with you to equip you and enable you and to encourage you to get it done.

That's who He is. He couldn't do otherwise. He has a will and a purpose and a plan for your life, and when He planned your life, everything that you would ever need was in the plan. God doesn't have to say, "Oh my goodness, what did we forget about him? Look at him now." That's not the way God operates. That is, if you think about in His omniscience, He knew everything you would ever need—all of your energy, all of your intelligence, all of your skills, ability, talent—all of it was there. So if you and I come up lacking, it's because we've missed something with Him.

I go back to say it's relationship. He says, "I can do all things through Christ who is my strength." He's already said He's his life. Christ is our life. He says, "I've been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Think about this: God didn't give Paul any more than He's given you. Now watch this: You could have a million dollars deposited in your account at the bank, and if you didn't know it was there, you'd live your whole life in need.

Or if somebody told you that it was there and assured you that it was, but you said, "Oh, I'm not good enough for that. They would never do that." We're self-defeaters. And the tragedy of that, listen, when we defeat ourselves, we defeat to some degree the plan of God for us. And then people live out their lives and they think, "Well, what was life all about?" It could have been about something awesome if you'd just followed Him and believed that one single verse. You can do all things, anything that is in the will of God for your life by His assistance, His power, and His help. He will enable you if you let Him do it.

And I meet people that I think, "My, my, my, what capabilities and skills." Look, don't compare yourself to somebody else. You know why you can't compare yourself with somebody else? Because you are you and not them. God made them a certain way. And listen, you may look at some people and think, "Wow!" They look at themselves and say, "Oh." And you may look at somebody and think that they're just something else, when the truth is, they just put on a show. The happy people are the people who are just who they are—not trying to show off, not trying to make somebody think they're something they're not.

They're just being who they ought to be with a relationship with Jesus Christ, following His will, doing what He's called them to do. And you see, there's always going to be somebody who can do something better than we can do. But that's not the issue. Listen, He's not judging you on the basis of comparisons. This comparison business is what we do. We compare ourselves with him, her, and so forth. God doesn't do that. He has—watch this—I wish I could just drive this into your head so you could never forget it. Look, He has poured into your life every single solitary thing you need to be this person God wants you to be.

You ask prisoners how many of them began in life being downed by their parents. "You'll probably end up in jail one of these days. You'll never amount to anything." It's what comes from our lips that can destroy us, and the tragedy is it can destroy somebody else. Listen, you should say to your children, especially when they're growing up small, "God has a will for your life." I drilled that into my children before they ever knew what the will of God was or even who Jesus was. I just kept saying it before they went to bed every night. I was telling them, "God has a plan for your life. God has a plan for your life. You want to find God's will for your life."

So when you grow up believing He has a plan for your life, what happens? You start looking and checking out to see what the plan is. But when you grow up and you're told that, well, because of your background or your culture, your whatever it might be, you just won't get along in life, don't believe that. God is the one who determines those things. Don't let somebody else persuade you to do less or to be less. And when I think about it, I think about it in this way: Whatever you must do in life, He will equip you to do it. Whatever you must say in life, He will equip you to say it.

Whatever you must sing in life, He will enable you to sing it. However you must act in life, He will enable you to do it. Whatever work He's called you to do, He will enable you to do it. That's who He is. That's why Paul could say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Think about it. He was a Jew, he was a rabbi, he had great credentials as far as they were concerned. And if somebody had said to him, "Do you think your life could ever change in such a way that you'd become a Christian?" No way. You could never have convinced him that he would one day be the apostle of Jesus Christ, whom he hated and despised, until he had a relationship.

I just love that—that here he is lying in the dirt on his back looking up and seeing nothing but darkness. He heard a voice of the Savior. God transformed his life. He didn't try to live in the past. He didn't say, "Well, nobody's going to listen to me." And for a while Christians didn't listen; they were afraid of him. He didn't quit. He just kept going. They threw him in jail. He said, "It's all over?" No. "As soon as I get out, I'm going to Philippi. As soon as I get out of this jail, I'm going over here to Ephesus. As soon as I get out of this one, I'm going to Colossae." In other words, he never stopped, he never gave up, he never quit.

And thank God every single solitary one of us, and everybody who is listening or ever will listen, you and I are blessed as a result of the confidence that he had never to quit, never to give up no matter what. He had a plan for his life. He's got a different plan for our life. But listen, what I want you to see is this: God isn't prejudiced. He doesn't have favorites. Somebody says, "Well, I can never do what so-and-so does." Maybe God doesn't want you to do that. But ask yourself the question: "God, at this point in my life, what could you do with me?"

If I can do anything and everything that's Your will, what do You want to do with me? And did you know that most people who make the biggest gains in their life, and who make the things that they are most famous for, after they're 70 years of age? Most of you have a long ways to go. Look at your potential. Let's say you're 30 or 40 years of age and you've already said, "Well—and this is a terrible thing to say—well, I've got 20 more years to work and then I'm going to retire." If you're 40 years of age or 50 years of age, you think about this: I hope I have at least 30 or 40 years to live, but what I'm going to do, I'm going to make these years count.

You don't give up and quit because you've reached a certain age, and you may be at the bottom of the rung of the ladder from your perspective at this point. If you stay there, it's because you choose to stay there, not because God has placed you there or He intends to keep you there. "Well, but you don't know the things I've done in my life." It doesn't make any difference what you've done. May I ask you a question: Have you ever killed Christians? Have you ever persecuted Christians? In other words, have you done your best to destroy the body of Christ? No. Well, that's the kind of guy the apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, that's who he was.

Suppose he'd have said, "God, You can't use me." Maybe he trusted Jesus as Savior and decided he couldn't be used because of all the bad things he's done. What I want you to see is this: You have the capacity and the assistance and the help of Almighty God to enable you to do anything and everything to become what God wants you to be and to do. The past should not be in front of you. What God has forgiven you for, He does not hold you accountable for. He's forgiven you, He's cleansed you, it's a new slate. That's why Jesus and Nicodemus had that big conversation and they called it being born again.

He says you have a whole brand new life. And remember, he got the message because he was at the crucifixion. So what does God want to do in your life? You have just as much right today in the 21st century to say, "I can do all things through Christ who is my strength." You have just as much right to say it as the apostle Paul did in his day. Now, you can say that based on three things. First of all, on your position in Christ Jesus. You're a child of God. He's your Heavenly Father. Secondly, on your perception of who Christ is. He's the sovereign ruler of this universe. He can do anything in your life He chooses to do, whatever it might be.

And then of course, a third thing, and that is on the basis of my position, my perception, and on the basis of His promises. Promises what? He promised to be with you no matter what. He promised to provide for you no matter what. He promised to empower you, to strengthen you no matter what in life. That is, you can just go right down the promises. Wherever you are and whatever's going on in your life, He's there to enable you to be able to say in the 21st century what the apostle Paul said: "I can do everything in Christ Jesus by His strength, by His power, that is His will."

You can affirm this today yourself, whoever you are. I, today in this 21st century, I can do anything and everything that Christ calls me to do—that is, everything that is His will, in His strength, I can do it. That isn't boasting. That's just being confident. And remember, the confidence is based on your relationship with Him, the promise of His presence and His power in your life, and the promise, for example, that He's going to provide for you and protect you no matter what. He doesn't change. You can walk out of here today, or you can wherever you are, you can stop right now and make a decision.

Beginning today, I'm going to claim that verse on the biblical basis that my Father has a will for my life. He will show me His will day by day. I can rest in perfect confidence that I have His assistance, His guidance, His direction, His provision to enable me to do anything and everything He calls me to do. If you can do that, it'll transform your life. You'll stop thinking about how ugly you look; you'll start thinking you're looking pretty good. You will begin to have a little light trip in your step. People will wonder what happened to you. "I'm a child of God. I have His assistance, His presence, His power, His provision, His protection in my life to do whatever He wants me to do."

Whoever you are, God can do an awesome work in your life today, no matter what your age, no matter where you are in life. Listen, He can do an awesome work in your life if you will say to Him, "I accept by faith the truth of this statement based on my relationship, on Your will, and Your promises in Jesus' name. Amen." It's yours for the claiming. It's a word of God. I haven't told you a thing that wasn't in the word of God. And there are lots of other verses we could go to. It's a matter of whether you're going to claim it or not. I want to know the will of God, and I choose to walk in it, and I'm going to watch this wonderful thing God's going to do.

More than likely, it will be something that you haven't even thought about. Don't settle for less than God's best which He's provided for you. If you are not saved, let me just say this: None of this will work. And I want you to think about something. You may not believe it, but the truth is you're on your own. You may be doing well right now, but you're going to face an eternity without Christ. In a split second, all of what you think you gained will have been lost. Wise men and women hear truth and apply it to their life and make the change. Fools listen, refuse to believe it, and go their foolish way and pay the eternal consequence. Don't join that crowd.

Father, how grateful we are that You love us. And I think about when Paul made that statement 2,000 years ago, he could have had no idea the influence and the impact of his life. I pray today that every person who hears this message would be wise enough, brave enough to choose from the moment of hearing it to accept by faith the truthfulness of this statement and the possibilities that lie before them, based on their personal, intimate relationship with Jesus and the awesome power available for every move and every work. We thank You, Father, for it in Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. By His grace, through trust in Christ, God will deliver you from the penalty of sin and give you the gift of eternal life. In faith, you can invite Jesus to be your Savior right now. Visit intouch.org for a wide variety of resources that can help your faith grow. Just go back over what you just heard when you follow the link to Today on Radio.

And on the bookstore page, you can order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message today. It's called Confidence That Conquers. Again, you'll find these resources at intouch.org, or call or text us. The number simply is 1-800-INTOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Again, that number is 1-800-INTOUCH. Are you a can-do or can't-do kind of person? See how much of a difference your attitude can make in today's Moment with Charles Stanley, coming up.

Have you ever forgotten something God taught you when you were reading the Bible? When we take note of what God reveals to us, it helps us to apply it to our lives. With the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Journal, you can keep track of your spiritual journey and be transformed by God's truth. This journal features artwork of Dr. Stanley's 30 Life Principles, lined pages for writing, a prayer journaling section, and more. To order, call 1-800-INTOUCH or go to intouch.org/journal.

The cross was not something that God gave us as a decoration. The cross is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But what is it about the message of the cross that can transform you every day of your life? In his book, The Gift of the Cross, Dr. Charles Stanley walks us through Scripture to show us how to see the cross in a new light. The Gift of the Cross. Order yours today at intouch.org/store.

Dr. Charles Stanley: I think about many people whom God calls into His service, who say to themselves, "I could never preach. I could never sing. I could never teach. Oh, I could never be a missionary. I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that." They affirm in the presence of Holy God who lives inside of them at salvation. When they got saved, Christ came into their life, and now they are Christians. They say they believe Jesus, and I don't question their salvation, but to tell God that you can't do something that He's calling you to do is to say that God's unfair, He's unwise, and He's made a mistake.

That He's calling me to do something that He will not enable me to do, He will not equip me to do. So God's made a mistake. So what do they do? They say no to God, and then what happens? Their life begins to be a picture of someone who can't, can't, can't because they've told God they can't.

Guest (Male): God, who went to great lengths to offer you salvation, has no trouble equipping you to do the things He calls you to do. Learn more about the Christian life when you visit us at intouch.org. How are you going to apply what you heard today? We'd love to hear from you. Tomorrow on In Touch, we often think of idolatry as worshipping a manmade image, but it's much more than that. Take inventory of your attitudes and priorities as you learn more about idols in the life of the believer next time on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.