4:13: A Journey to Strength, A Devotional

By Annessa Meader

Do you know where your strength comes from?

In today's society, strength is perceived by muscles and weights, but what about mental strength? The kind of strength that gets you moving in your day-to-day life; what does that look like? In this devotional, you will dive into what true strength looks like and where it comes from. Filled with

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887387161

Annessa Meader

Since a young age, Annessa Meader has strived to live her life for Jesus. She's been blessed with the opportunity to teach Sunday school to young kids, and to help as a leader at her church. Upon moving out of her hometown and leaving the familiar, she was reminded of the strength that comes as a follower of Christ. Feeling led to write a book, she dives into scriptures to help others understand where true strength lies and how they can obtain it.

Book preview

Prologue

I’ve always been an odd child, an enigma, if you will. I am quiet yet very outgoing, confident yet so afraid of breaking out of my comfort zone. The thoughts of others have always been the forethought in my mind, and it didn’t actively start to change me until I got older. The older I got, the more it consumed me. I always felt out of step with my friends and peers because I was so worried about how they thought I was acting and whether it was enough for them. I spent my entire teen years consumed by those thoughts nobody was probably thinking.

It wasn’t until I was twenty that I believe my whole mindset changed, the kind of change that can only come through truly diving into the words of Christ. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my days, but don’t we all? To commemorate this change I wanted to have in myself, I got a tattoo on my lower left wrist: the numbers 4:13. It seems odd and a bit random to others, but to me, it helps me remember that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me from Philippians 4:13 (NKJV). I got this tattoo the week I made a huge life change, moving to New York City with absolutely no job prospect or any idea as to why I was moving. I honestly felt like God was steering me in a direction of change and growth.

As I was sitting in my new apartment, binge-watching The Nanny and wishing for more activity before I started my job, I felt this stirring in me that I should be writing down what I had learned. This didn’t feel like much, but then I remembered a verse from Luke 16:10 (ESV): "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."

The parable of the Shrewd Manager is such an interesting passage for someone like me, who thinks they have to have a lot to give to the Lord. Even though Jesus was saying that a little bit, when given to the Lord, is faithful. Which is so out of this world that my little bit could be used for His purpose. Ironically, writing this has probably been the biggest thing I have ever worked on, not my littlest.

As you dive into the book, at the end of each chapter, I’m going to have a little reflection moment. I try to take time to reflect when I read devotionals, and I wanted to leave time for you to do so as well. I’ll have a song for you to look up and listen to while you answer the question. You’re welcome to write in the space provided in the book as you answer it. I pray that the song included will help put your mind in step with the Holy Spirit.

The words from Philippians 4:13 have fueled a fire I didn’t realize was needed. A fire that has guided me here to you, my dear reader, and I pray that the words written will help awaken a fire in you too.

Thought #1

Everything Is Allowed?

Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible but not everything

is constructive.

1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)

Paul wrote this in a letter he sent to the city of Corinth. As a city with over 700,000 people, they had been deemed unlikely to ever convert to the Christian faith because of how brazen their lifestyle was. The city was such a sprawl that to Corinthianize in Greek meant to live promiscuously and immorally. So, I can only imagine everyone’s surprise when Paul chose to work in Corinth for eighteen months to set up a church. Even more surprising, the church that was set up in Corinth became one of the largest churches in the first century.

So, let’s break down the verse above. Everything is permissible. Another word for permissible is allowed. But not everything is helpful or constructive.

This verse always made my head spin a little; everything is such a big word. We all know that not everything is good and helpful to us in our lives. But the way he puts it is the same way we see it advertised. He put "Everything is permissible in quotes, like it was a phrase that was used a lot. I know a phrase we hear a lot today, Everything is allowed." This is plastered all over the media, a never-ending pressure to do things that fit in with the culture and not with Christ.

To dig even deeper into everything, our minds like to entangle their thoughts with the devil. Our minds are sometimes a graveyard of yesterday’s battles and destructive measures designed to make us feel buried in ourselves, and with everything we have done, we feel that we’re way past the Lord’s love.

Friends, I want to recite another big word: Grace. A gift that came from God, that is totally free and unending. A gift that we will never earn or deserve, but it is one of the many blessings bestowed upon those who believe. Despite everything we may have done, God never wastes a single thing to show us the full magnitude of his power and love.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 (NIV)

We are powerless until we allow God to fill us with His Holy Spirit. We are not meant to let everything crush us into a grave of endless restlessness. We are meant to step out in faith, knowing that we do not have this, but God does, and He never fails. We don’t have to hide anything from our Father, who already knows everything. God will carry us through our worst anxieties, hardest trials, our biggest moments, and our proudest accomplishments; God will carry us through everything; we need only to let Him.

Reflection Time!

Reflection Song: Available by Elevation Worship

Are you allowing God to use everything?

Thought #2

Am I Loving Something or Someone?

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:11–12 (NIV)

I hear people tell me all the time, You just love church, and my response is always, Yeah, in the most awkward, drawn-out yeah way possible, because it is so much easier than explaining that I do love church, but not because it’s called church. I love the Lord, and I love people; putting those two together makes a church. Growing up, I can’t tell you how many times my dad told us that "the people are the church, not the building."

With that mindset, the action of loving the church means so much more; it means that we love being with fellow brothers and sisters in the Spirit. And it’s not just loving to be with them but loving them, period. Loving them doesn’t have to mean romantically; it can mean baking them cookies, remembering them in prayer, or simply saying hello with a hug or a smile. The beautiful thing about church is that we are surrounded by fellow believers for all the trials we go through in life.

With that being said, just like the meaning of church gets lost in translation sometimes, I think the thought of having a relationship with Jesus gets lost in translation as well. Instead of people knowing him on a personal level, they associate it with a day at church. Don’t get me wrong; church is not bad, but the church is not