I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. —Philippians 4:13

Satan does not want you to fulfill God’s plan for your life because he knows that you are part of his ultimate defeat. If he can make you think and believe that you are incapable, then you will not even try to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Even if you do make an effort, your fear of failure will seal your defeat, which, because of your lack of confidence, you probably expected from the beginning. This is what is often referred to as the “failure syndrome.” The devil wants you and me to feel so bad about ourselves that we have no confidence in ourselves.

But here is the good news: We do not need confidence in ourselves—we need confidence In Jesus! I have confidence in myself only because I know that Christ is in me, ever present and ready to help me with everything that I attempt to do for Him.

A believer without confidence is like a jumbo jet parked on the runway with no fuel; it looks good on the outside but has no power on the inside. With Jesus inside us, we have the power to do what we could never do on our own.

Once you learn this truth, when the devil lies and says, “You can’t do anything right,” your response to him can be, “Perhaps not, but Jesus in me can; and He will, because I am relying on Him and not on myself. He will cause me to succeed in everything that I put my hand to” (See Joshua 1:7).

Or should the enemy say to you, “You’re not able to do this, so don’t even try, because you will only fail again, just as you have in the past,” your response can be, “It is true that without Jesus I am not able to do one single thing, but with Him and in Him I can do all that I need to do” (see Philippians 4:13).

by Joyce Meyer