Aside from the most popular Bible verse which is "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16, I believe the next most popular Bible verse is "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" Philippians 4:13. There is hardly a motivational speaker, be it a Christian or a non-Christian that doesn't use that statement during their motivational talks. It is a statement many people are very conversant with and use for inspiration. This great Scriptural verse has been a source of motivation for many. It is a statement that assures one of being adequate or equal to things, physically, mentally, morally and spiritually. It is a statement of the victorious spiritual life of grace. Glory and thanksgiving be unto the Almighty God and our father for all Scripture.

Ironically, a lot of people may have discovered that despite quoting that particular verse severally, they still suffer inadequacies in many areas of their lives and are wondering why.

Well, the simple reason it doesn't work for some people is that they have missed out on the very secret to the "I can do all things" life. This secret lies in the two words "through Christ". The truth is that the declaration "I can do all things" is just a statement of determination, however, it has no power of enablement in itself because it is an ordinary phrase. The words "through Christ" gives meaning and life to the whole phrase of "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." The two words "through Christ" makes the difference. Several verses of the Bible affirms God as the source of all strength and not ourselves 2 Chronicles 22:23, Psalm 18:1,32. Jesus Christ alone is the enabler and the source of the strength needed to do all things in life. Jesus Himself pointed this out saying "….without me, you can do nothing," John 15:5. Without "through Christ" the "I can do all things" is just an ordinary phrase that cannot hold water.

HOW TO LIVE THE "I CAN" LIFE
Although, going by the reason of humans being created in the image and likeness of God with His breath of life in their nostrils, we are with so much power and strength in us to do all things. However, due to the fall in the Garden of Eden owing to the willful disobedience of Adam and Eve to God's commandment not to eat from the tree of the knowledge good and bad, man got disconnected from God, the source of his strength in life and became inadequate in many areas of life, Genesis 2:16-17; 3: 1-24. Nevertheless, God in His mercy and love gave us His Son Jesus Christ through whose death we are reconciled and reconnected back to our source of strength. Through the Holy Spirit, the believer has the imparted life, grace, power and wisdom of our Lord Jesus and can do all things.

It is God's desire for all His children to live a victorious and joyous life and He has given unto us everything needed to achieve it. To achieve the "I CAN" life, it is important to do these:

1) Become genuinely born again by believing in Jesus Christ, repenting and confessing all sins and accepting Jesus Christ as one's personal Lord and savior

(2) Abide in Him by daily living in communion with Him - It is important you maintain your contact with him and guard against anything that will make you lose contact with him. Losing contact means instant disconnection from the source of spiritual strength as Jesus reveals in John 15: 1-6.

(3) Yield yourself totally to Him by allowing him to do all things through you, Romans 12:1. Note that it was only when Saul yielded himself totally to Jesus that he became Paul the Apostle who was mightily used by God.

(4) Stop looking at things on the human level but through the eyes of faith in Jesus. Looking at things from the human level makes things seem so big and our own sufficiency so obvious and eventually make us conclude we are inadequate and can't undertake great things. Taking our eyes from ourselves unto Jesus shrinks into surprising littleness those things considered so big and impossible and gives us the confidence of "I can."

(5) Endeavor to read through the whole books of the Bible. In the Bible, you will discover how God gave strength to many ordinary people like you and I to do great exploits. He gave the slave-born Moses strength to champion the great Exodus. He strengthened David, a young shepherd boy to kill Goliath. He has strengthened so many in our generation to become spiritual giants.

The power to receive strength to do the extraordinary has nothing to do with your physical stature. The Scripture says "by strength shall no man prevail", 1 Samuel 2:9. You can actually do that particular thing you needed to do that you have been afraid to do because of the feelings of inadequacy. Look inward and stop looking at your inadequacies. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to give you the strength to undertake whatever you want to do.

REMEMBER ALWAYS THAT AS A CHILD OF GOD, YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENS YOU,