If Just Me

Paul the apostle penned the following words: ischyō pas en Christos ho endynamoō me. Now I’m no Greek scholar; I’ll leave that to my beloved brother-in-law Jac, but this one thing I do know; only by the strength invested within me by Christ, will I be able to follow His purpose and His plan.

The seductress called daily life comes to snatch away our deepest devotions and to make them her very own. And often without much protest from the ones most deprived. And why? Why is there such a constant competition for the heart and soul of man, through the seductions of the woman called pragmatic?

There is indeed a seductive interface between the little and the big; the good versus the best; and the now versus the later. And the battle rages on at every level.

If ever there were a passage of divine verse that I desire to keep in my heart that I might not “sin against Thee” it is Philippians 4:13 (thank you Jerry Holte, circa 1977).

In some very vain ways, I have used this passage for my own benefit. But that was never the intent of such words. It was never God’s purpose for His redeemed loved ones to shoulder the task of Kingdom advance in the name of self-advance as a side benefit of standing on the promises. On the contrary; His strength placed within us, by His Spirit, is there for one purpose – Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done – regardless of mine.

Yet how often do I seek the solace of the Spirit’s Words through the apostles and the prophets so as to accomplish my will and not His? How often do we leverage the Truth of God to get what we want?

I know I’ve tried many times, much to my chagrin; because He’s much wiser than my petty juvenile desires. Therefore, He lets me do it in my own strength, so as to not allow me the swell of pride to create an idol of His power for my own wants and desires.

Thank you Lord – but ouch.

I had a very sobering thought this afternoon. What If Just Me? What if the plans and purposes of God, rested solely upon my willingness to step out and do what He calls? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting this thought as a reflection of my own arrogance or aggrandizement, but to the contrary. For God’s will to be done on this earth and for His plans and purposes to be accomplished to their fullest, does indeed depend upon my willingness to accept that mantle: what If Just Me?

What if I was the only one standing between hell and the souls of billions of people? What if my feeblest efforts at the advance of The Kingdom were predicated upon my willingness to let His Spirit empower me to take on any and all mandates from Heaven? What if my prayers alone were the weight that caused a holy tipping in the direction of the greatest Kingdom advance ever known to human history? Delusions of grandeur; I think not. Remember, Jesus lived with this glory upon His life.

God spoke to my heart this very hour and revealed to me the power in that passage. The burden, the responsibility and the joy found in being the key and final piece in the puzzle of His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

If I actually accepted the If Just Me responsibility, how much in my world would change? If you actually accepted the If Just Me challenge how might your world change; and how rapidly might you see the end of days as only seen through the lens of fallen history?

Consider this challenge with me: If Just Me. That’s right, if all of the Kingdom of God and its holy advance rested upon one single soul, one single saint of God, one person who takes those words to heart and to death. Envision the Power that would be released upon this lost and dying planet. If each of us said yes to the idea of being the key instrument for the culmination of God’s will on this earth – Wow! How things might change before our very eyes!

Think of it this way. If you really desire to be empowered by Christ in you, then consider His choice to make you the one. The one who accepts the challenge; that in your own strength impossible, but with His strength ALL THINGS BECOME POSSIBLE. And within the acceptance of such a formidable challenge you actually find all your desires changing to match His, and all things are completed before your very eyes.

Regardless the cost, If Just Me… then just me.