Podcast #493: "My God Can" by Katy Nichole (feat. Naomi Raine)

Show Opening

You're Listening to 'More Than a Song,' Episode #493

[Play Intro of More Than a Song by DoubleWide]

[At 12 seconds ...] Hello and welcome to this episode of More Than a Song. My name is Michelle Nezat, and this is the podcast dedicated to helping you discover the truth of Scripture hidden in today's popular Christian music.

My goal is to teach you to connect portions of God's Word with the songs you are singing along with on the radio, to help you meditate on Truths that will transform your way of thinking and, ultimately, your life.

Intro

As we get started today, I recognize engaging God’s Word for yourself can feel daunting. While our featured song will give us fresh inspiration as to WHERE to study, the episode guide will give you the interaction tools you need to dig in. Grab your Episode 493 guide at michellenezat.com/493download

And If you’ve already subscribed to my email list, this guide is already in your inbox, ready to help you discover and meditate on God’s Word in new ways.

Katy Nichole and Naomi Raine, both amazing singers, joined forces to record “My God Can” as an anthem of the power of God despite our circumstances. They even quote Scripture directly in the bridge, which gave me my direction this week. In fact, before we get too far,

Let’s listen...

Song Clip

'Cause there is a power that is greater So I'm not afraid of what's ahead I'm standing in the confidence that even though I can't My God can Oh-oh, oh (oh, yes, He can)

I can do all things, all things Through Christ who gives me strength I can do all things, all things 'Cause His spirit lives in me

Content

I’m not sure how familiar you are with Scripture. I get listeners of all kinds. There are those of us who have read through the Bible many times, then there are those who are brand new, and those that have dabbled. I have some faithful listeners who report what they learn on the podcast has given them the tools to interact with Scripture and move from “should” to “want” as my friend Keith Ferrin says.

But even if you can’t give me the “address” of the verse the bridge of our song points to, I’m going to bet you’ve heard it before.

I used to work at a Christian school and Philippians 4:13 is a common verse athletes like to put on their shirts. It reads...

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

A friend of mine, who knows how committed I am to reading the Bible in context once gave me a notebook in jest that says, “I can do all things through a verse taken out of context.”

But I wanted to tackle this song and this bridge and the verse it sings because I want to harness the power of this song to remind us of the study we will do in the New Testament inspired by this song. Because in the end when we take our eyes off of ourselves we truly discover that “our God can” when we can’t.

So, first things first, let’s read this letter from Paul to the church at Philippi. It is four chapters, and so to read this verse in context, we not only need to read the verses around it, and the chapters around it, but in this case, the entire letter from Paul to the Philippians.

That is taking the BITE of reading in context and if you never get anything from my podcasts again, I hope you’ll take this BITE every time you interact with Scripture. BITE, by the way, stands for Bible Interaction Tool Exercise and these are the exercises I use to keep my time in God’s Word varied and intentional.

Sometimes I define reading in context as the chapter before, the chapter, and the chapter after a key verse I want to study. But in the case of short letters, especially, I encourage you to read the whole thing.

how can you know what Paul is talking about specifically here unless you understand the general letter as a whole.

Another word for letter is epistle. So if you’re in church and the pastor says “turn to the epistle of Paul to the Philippians” that’s what he’s talking about.

Also, fun fact, many of the letters Paul wrote are believed to have been written out by other people. Like, he dictated what he wanted to say, and someone else wrote it out. In this case it might have been Timothy. That’s just for fun, it doesn’t help us to respond to the text personally, but it’s interesting to know the interaction with believers at the time of the writing.

We’re not going to to get into it for this podcast, but you might want to consider the people mentioned in this letter and see if they are mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, what we know about them, or what Paul chooses to say or imply here in the letter. People like Timothy and Epaphroditus.

The early church was very diverse and had its own share of bumps along the way. We WILL get into that because to understand the letter, you need to take the BITE of understanding the historical context of the book of Philippians.

I use Logos Bible Software and started my study by looking through the initial information in the Factbook area. But if you have a study Bible, the notes at the beginning of the book are worth reading through to get your bearings.

You might discover things like,

The letter is from the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi, in Macedonia (northern Greece).

This might be a fun time to take the BITE of consulting a map to see where that is in the world. It goes a long way to reminding us to take the BITE of remembering people in the Bible were REAL. Paul was a real person, writing to a real church, in a real place and time in history.

Also, I learned from the Factbook that Philippians is one of four so-called Prison Letters attributed to Paul, but it does not share many similarities with the other three (Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon).

But you didn’t need me to tell you that Paul was in prison because he mentions it in this letter. When you read Philippians 1:12–13 “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

If you take the BITE of following the cross-reference to Acts 16, you will see Paul founding this church. In fact, by reading this chapter, you get a sense of Paul’s connection to the people there.

And when you read Philippians and contrast it with, say, his letter to the Galatians, you see a softer tone, and a deep love and connection with the people.

I discovered some details through an article in a Bible Encyclopedia — something you may not have in your study notes — but

The inhabitants of Philippi were proud of their Roman citizenship, which they had received after the battle of Actium in 31 b.c. when Augustus made Philippi a colony of Roman veterans (Acts 16:12, 21).

Acts 16:12 “and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.”

Paul alluded to this nationalism by contrasting political and religious citizenship.

Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

This kind of information is important when studying the Scripture, because the original audience had a very different worldview than we have.

Because while I’m proud to be an American, our world is practically without borders, isn’t it? I mean, many of you are listening from all parts of the world far away from south Louisiana where I’m recording this.

BUT, I’m always going to teach through a lens that has been informed by my upbringing, the culture around me, and the historical period in which I live.

Another interesting fact is that while there were God-fearing Jews in the region, there was no synagogue in Philippi. THAT’S why Paul found Lydia and her friends down by the river praying.

And theirs is the first evidence of a Christian church in Europe.

So interesting.

God’s Word is set in a particular time, but stands the test of time.

The problem with reading for personal application without considering the historical context is that God’s word can never mean what it was never intended to mean.

HOWEVER, the specific details may look a little (or a lot) different in our particular circumstances.

Perhaps we don’t have a group of folks in the circumcision sect telling us men must be circumcised to be saved, but we may have groups within our churches who are trying to tack on various works or evidences to the gospel message.

Perhaps we don’t live in a community that has strong nationalism as part of their identity, but we DO operate in churches that have an us vs. them mentality in the culture…inside vs. outside the church, or staff vs. congregants, or the older folks vs. the younger.

Perhaps we are not in prison like Paul, but DO find ourselves in a circumstance very different than what we thought God meant for us to fulfill our purpose.

And that’s where I landed this week. Because, you see, I teach through a lens of my own experiences, too. I can’t help it. I just don’t want my circumstances to skew what Scripture actually says to fit my own agenda or to cleverly ignore what God wants to change in me.

That’s why I want you to read the Bible for yourself because God wants to speak to you just like he did for me as I read and re-read Philippians.

That’s a BITE, by the way, repetition. Give yourself the grace to read things a few times to start to get it. Yes. I said it right. The grace. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I lose focus when reading. That’s why I like to pair the BITE of repetition with the BITE of listening to an audio version of the text because between the two methods, I should get everything.

I’ve been on a Jane Austen kick lately. I started with Pride and Prejudice, read Persuasion, and just finished Mansfield Park and in Mansfield Park, the main character, Fanny, gets letters as her main form of communication when she’s away from home. She devours them, especially from those she loves the most. But she also picks them apart. She starts by reading them through real fast because she wants to get the information — the highlights — the main points. Then she re-reads them so she can hear the tone and really focus in on every word chosen.

I want to treat God’s Word that way. I want the pages to be worn a bit from reading and re-reading so much. I want to know the whole, but also pick apart every word.

The big idea that jumped out at me this time I’m studying Philippians is that Paul was in prison, but he WANTED to be out and visiting the churches he planted and planting more. His circumstances didn’t match his desire or what he believed God had for him.

Philippians 1:3–8 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s entire goal is to advance the gospel. He is completely surrendered to Christ — to knowing Him and making Him known.

Listen to this...

Philippians 1:12–13 “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

Picture this. Paul is trucking along. He is planting churches (not without suffering, by the way…like I said, read Acts 16...even at the founding of the church is writing he suffered) He is sharing the gospel. He is making friends (a few enemies, too), but he is smack in the center of God’s will.

Have you ever felt like what you are doing is EXACTLY what you were wired to do?

Maybe it’s your job, your role as a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or friend. perhaps it’s a role at church where you think…yep. I’m in the right spot. I’m confident because I’m bringing a skill and a temperament to this role that is fulfilling and is building the kingdom. I’m right where I want to be and I believe I’m right where God has called me to be and

WHAM

That role is taken from you.

You lose your job. You lose your child, spouse, sibling, parent, or friend. You lose your role at church. You lose your church.

Now what do you do? Now who are you?

This is the place Paul is in. This is what we can learn from him here.

What was Paul’s purpose at the core? The gospel of Christ. And specifically sharing the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles.

You seriously need to read Acts. It’s a special calling and Paul was as zealous about it as he was in his previous role before Jesus got ahold of his heart.

But how can Paul share Christ to the Gentiles from a jail cell or under house arrest?

You do what you were made to do even if the circumstances changed.

So Paul shared the gospel right where he was. He wrote letters. He longed to be with Jesus, but he didn’t lose sight of his core commitment to the gospel.

Paul’s clarity kept him from ultimate despair. Because while he can, in this letter, express some amazing conclusions that we, as fellow believers can cling to, it wasn’t an easy road for him.

Listen to this...

Philippians 1:14–18 “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”

Paul’s imprisonment inspired people to preach the gospel. How wonderful.

but it got personal, too.

Some did it in ways that hurt Paul. They WANTED to hurt Paul.

What?

How can Paul rejoice in that? I don’t know. I want to know. I want to be able to rejoice that the good things that come from people purposefully inflicting pain on me are worth rejoicing. THAT is what I needed from this letter this week. I need to learn from the apostle who went through it all and was inspired to write down his instructions and encouragement for us.

He didn’t rejoice in the selfish ambition of the gospel preachers who were out to hurt him, he rejoiced that the gospel was being shared. And there is no indication here that it was a false gospel, either. As my commentary says, “it seems that they were believers who for some unknown reason did not love the apostle or appreciate his work.”

Now, you may not be in a life or death situation like Paul. You see, he would either be executed or released. And he wasn’t sure which one he wanted more.

Philippians 1:19–26 “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

Paul wanted Christ honored in his body. Paul wanted to remain with the people AND to be with Christ. You can see how deep both desires ran and how he managed the tension between them. If you are struggling to manage the tension, this might be a good place to settle in your study to pick apart every word.

Paul moves on from his situation to his hope and prayer for unity and growth in the people. He bookends these exhortations around a beautiful section on Jesus in chapter 2. It’s basically the gospel in a nutshell and worth committing to memory.

But before we leave today I promised to head over to Philippians 4 to talk about the context of the verse that shows up in our song in the bridge.

When you read this letter in one sitting you will see that it is partially a thank you letter for what the Philippians sent to Paul through Epaphroditus.

Philippians 4:10 “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.”

God used the Philippians to give physical, tangible aid to him, and Epaphroditus delivered it. And Paul is rejoicing in the delivery.

Let’s skip down to verse 18 for a second...

Philippians 4:18 “I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.”

Philippians 4:11 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

Paul is basically saying here, “You met my needs…not that I ever am in need.” How can he never really be in need?

Philippians 4:12 “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”

Wait. There’s a secret to thrive in any and every circumstance? Even the chains around my ankles instead of out doing the thing I love in freedom kind of circumstance?

Yep. And you know it.

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

You see, this is not a promise that God will change your circumstance. He may not save your job, your child, your sibling, your spouse, your parent, your friend, or your role at church…but you can be content in your NEW circumstances because Christ strengthens you.

But here’s the kicker. We’ve been focusing on Paul, but Paul is focusing on the Philippians. He wants to point out that what he wants for them is to continue to be givers and servers. WHY? Because it bears fruit.

This whole verse taken out of context is within the context of Paul thanking them for their gifts and encouraging them to continue.

Let’s keep reading,

Philippians 4:14–20 “Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

They provided for Paul’s needs and God will provide for their needs. It’s a beautiful circle of self-sacrifice and contentment that can be achieved through Christ who strengthens us and provides for us.

So What’s Next

Read and re-read Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This time when you read it, consider Paul and his circumstances. Get your bearings as to the history of the church here by reading Acts 16. And the more you read of Paul’s ministry in the book of Acts and his other letters, the more you understand his passions and how his current circumstances might do him in. Ask yourself, how can I apply Paul’s spiritual maturity to my own circumstances? Unlock the secret to your contentment in all circumstances by fixing your eyes on Jesus as displayed in Philippians 2.

Calls to Action

While you're in God's Word, let me know how you are doing! I’ve added a new feature to my podcast where you can text the show! It’s a one way text, so if you want me to respond, you can still email me at [e-mail], but if you just want to send me a message, click the link in the shownotes.

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More Than a Song is a proud member of the NRT Podcast Network. Check out other podcasts in the network and Christian music resources at NewReleaseToday.com

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Show Closing

{outro music}

Well, that's it for this episode of More Than a Song" {drop level to -14.2}

Next time I will be featuring "Grave Robber” by Crowder to dive into Scripture.

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“Until next time, take time to meditate on God's Word and consider His ways.” {fade out music}