YOU HAVE A WINNING SPIRIT

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”(Philippians 4:13).

He gave his autograph with the inscription: Philippians 4:13. Then a number of his admirers began to wonder what that meant. Could it be an identification number of some sort?  Could it be some secret code? To Evander Hollyfield, this was an expression of conviction transformed into victory.

Hollyfield entered the ring with a doctor’s report of a bad heart condition.  He entered the ring as an underdog, having lost his last major boxing bout. But he emerged the world heavyweight-boxing champion, defeating the seemingly invincible Mike Tyson.

That same year, I watched the seven-a-side rugby championship and I was amazed to find on the jersey of the winning team (The Fijians) Philippians 4:13.

Now, we are talking about a verse in the New Testament contained in the letter of Paul to the Philippian church. In an earlier verse, Paul had written: “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound”

(v.12).  Here Apostle Paul was telling us that regardless of the circumstance, he had learnt how to break down the limitations and win.

In a way he was encouraging us not to allow limitations to limit us.

Paul did not stop there. He continued, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  He clearly identified his own source of strength. He knew that on his own he had no strength to properly master the situation and excel.  So he turned his attention to the enabler, the one that created him and gave him the assignment to win.

Then he won!

We are looking at what makes a champion.  Paul said I can, but today many people say I can’t.  And the difference between the winner and the loser is just the apostrophe and the t.  The winner is saying I can, while the loser is saying I can’t.

John Mason said, “It is a fact that most people could do more than they think they can.  You never know what you cannot do until you try.

So never use the word NEVER.”  He said further that the answer to your future lies outside the confines that you have right now and that to believe an idea is impossible is to make it so. In his words, “You consider how many fantastic projects you have miscarried because of small thinking; or have been strangled in their birth, by a cowardly imagination.” As the Bible says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

Charles Swab said, “When a man has put a limit to what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.”

It was said that at one point during the World War 2 General Caringhton Abraham and his command were totally surrounded.  The enemy was north, east, south and west.  This was how he reacted to the news:

“Gentlemen, for the first time in the history of this campaign we are now in the position to attack the enemy in any direction.” General Abraham not only had the desire to lead, he had the desire to win.

The problem is not the situation, but the way we react to it.  Such was the story found in first Samuel chapter 17.  An army that had prepared for war could not fight because no one was bold enough to lead the required assault. The commander of the enemy camp was ready to overrun the camp of the children of Israel until the miracle ‘I CAN’ spirit filled the camp.  Through whom, you may ask? Through a young boy! As a matter of fact, it was from the lips of a teenager by name David.  One “I CAN” statement changed the mood of the camp, and tilted the war in favour of the camp and the entire Israel. David defeated Goliath whereas the rest of the soldiers saw the task initially as an impossibility. David just could not imagine that as big as Goliath was, anyone would miss a target from a shot on a sling.

Then he won the encounter.

It is not really your circumstance that is the problem. The problem is your attitude! Your destiny is in your own hand.  You can do it through Christ who strengthens you.

This message is excerpted from the book UNLEASH YOUR GOD-GIVEN POTENTIAL by PASTOR TAIWO ODUKOYA.