Strength to Live Well! Philippians 4:4–13; Isaiah 25:6–9; Matthew 22:1–14          

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God, our Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who strengthens us.

Our message is Strength to Live Well, from our epistle, especially verse 13, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Former football player Tim Tebow used to put PHIL 4:13 on his eye black, Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

It wasn’t so much a statement about athletic or physical strength, but more about moral and spiritual strength, to play with honor, and respect, and integrity.

We’re going to talk about how the Holy Spirit gives us strength to live 1) joyfully, 2) peacefully, 3) thankfully, 4) contentedly, 5) reasonably, and 6) honorably.

Our Epistle says, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. In other words, live joyfully. Live well – live with joy! 

Even when things don’t seem so joyful, if you can remember the joy of knowing you are loved by your Creator and Redeemer, and blessed by Him in so many ways, that empowers you to rejoice, even when you’re feeling sad.

This is what the Psalm 51 calls the joy of salvation, verse 12, Restore me in the joy of Your salvation.

Even in pain and grief, the joy of God’s love and salvation lives in the hearts of His baptized, believing children. Under the pain and grief and emotion, faith is there. 

That’s your power to live joyfully. 

Even when the circumstances of life seem to break bad for you; when they break your heart and cause you to cry, or want to cry, the joy of God’s ever-present, ever-comforting, ever-strengthening love for you, and the eternal joy He gives you, lives deep within your spirit to make things better and to give you the strength to live well. 

So rejoice in the Lord always, even when times are hard. When you can muster the strength to rejoice, things start to look better, and your heart begins to heal. 

God is your strength to live well, with joy.

The Holy Spirit is your strength to live in peace. Our Epistle says, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We know this verse well because we usually end our messages with it, or some variation of it. Where there is peace, joy is sure to follow. To live well, with joy,  we need to have the peace that passes understanding. 

That peace of heart and mind, comes from the peace Jesus brought to earth, and would win for the world through His death and resurrection. As the angels sang, Peace on earth, good will toward man.

Having been brought into a relationship of peace with God through Christ, and given to us by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and our in Lord’s Supper, and in His Gospel, now that extraordinary peace can take control of our hearts and minds, and empower us to live well, as people who share God’s peace in the world.

A slogan we’ve been hearing these past few months is “no justice, no peace”. Even when there’s political conflict, or conflict in relationships, God’s children still carry the peace that passes understanding in their hearts, and that makes us makers of peace. As Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 

The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to live well, with peace and joy. He also gives us the power to live thankfully. Our text says, In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

As with living peacefully and joyfully, living thankfully, gives us a better perspective to live by. An ungrateful, thankless heart, is a joyless heart, trapped in discontent. A thankful heart is much happier. 

Everything looks better when we can give thanks to God, and when we can say those two golden words to others, “Thank you.” 

Thanking others makes us feel better toward them. Being thankful for the people in your life, strengthens your relationship with them. 

Being thankful toward God, giving Him sincere thanks, even when things are tight, or times are tough, strengthens your heart toward Him. 

And it strengthens you to make it through tough times. It gives you a better mindset to face life’s challenges, to live well, even in adversity. 

Where there is thankful living, there is contented living. Gratefulness combined with peace makes contentment. The Spirit gives us strength to be content.

Paul says in our Epistle, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 

That is quite the secret to learn. That’s the secret the Gospel teaches us. 

Paul says, The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything. 

Don’t worry, God is here.  He knows your needs of body and soul, and He’s here to provide, not to make you rich in money or property, but to make you rich in love and spirit. What you need most, God will always give. He’s your strength to live well and be content.

To live well is also to live reasonably. Paul says, Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. This means to get along with others, and not be contentious, not think that I always have to have things my way. 

In Philippians 2 Paul says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

To live well means to watch out for others as much as you watch out for yourself, to love your neighbor as yourself. 

Don’t be hard-headed or ornery or stubborn. Don’t think the world revolves around you and your needs and preferences. It doesn’t. It revolves around God and His grace.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stand strong and unmovable on what we believe and teach in the Christ. We should. But that’s not being about ourselves; that’s being about God.

When it comes to our opinions and preferences, God calls us to be reasonable, and to compromise when that will lead to a God-pleasing outcome.

To live well is to be reasonable unto others. Sometimes that’s hard to do, but God gives us the strength we need to be more humble, and to get along better with others. 

Finally, God gives us the strength to live honorably. Our text says, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

To live like Christ is to live with honor, not for bragging rights, pride isn’t honorable, but to give God the glory is. 

Sometimes we live in ways that dishonor God and ourselves and our families and the groups and organizations and communities we’re a part of. But when we confess with sincerity, God forgives with honor. 

And He strengthens us to be more honorable like Him, to set our hearts on things above, those most excellent things that bring honor and glory to our honorable, glorious God. 

Walk with Him and live well, with joy, and peace, and gratefulness, and contentment, and reasonableness and honor. 

And as you live in this excellent way, God’s peace, which passes understanding, will guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who strengthens us to live well. Amen.