Be Strong
\by Pastor John Fredericksen
There
was once a young man who stood in the shadow of a great leader. When
that leader passed away, it fell to his young apprentice to pick up the
reins of leadership. As he did so, he faced his circumstances with a
certain amount of understandable doubts and fears. Then someone
encouraged him, telling him to be strong and
exhibit courage, because God would enable him. The leader was Moses, his
apprentice was Joshua, and the encourager was the Lord Himself (Josh.
1:1-9).
God likewise challenges believers in the dispensation of grace to be strong. Paul told grace believers to "...quit you [or act manly] like men, be strong" (1 Cor. 16:13) and to "...be strong
in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Eph. 6:10). We must not
cower in fear nor surrender to Satan who is waging spiritual warfare
against us. We must be strong!
We can do so by remembering God's power is available to us.
Paul prayed the saints would comprehend "...the exceeding greatness of
His power [is available] to us-ward who believe" (Eph. 1:19). The Lord
offers us His power, and wants us to have it. Believe it! God's power is accessed "by His Spirit in the inner man"
(Eph. 3:16). We can never triumph over Satan in our own strength, but
we can when we allow God's power to flow in our lives in our inner man.
Nourish your inner "new man" in Christ!
Our inner man is empowered by equipping ourselves with "the whole armour of God"
(Eph. 6:11). This can be summarized by choosing to have a consistent
daily walk in truthfulness and righteous behavior as our standard (v.
14), being always prepared to give the gospel (v. 15), protecting our
minds through faith in God's Word (v. 16), living in the confidence of
our eternal victory (v. 17a), using the Scriptures to slice through
Satan's lies (v. 17b), and being constant in prayer (v. 18). Be vigilant
in clothing yourself with apparel that enables you to have victory in
your daily life!
Paul's admonition is "...and having done all to stand, stand therefore..." (Eph. 6:13-14). Have you done all you need to do to stand victorious today? Are
you remembering God's power is available to you? Have you been
spiritually strengthening your inner man? Will you consistently equip
your soul with the whole armour of God? Be strong believer! God will enable you if you look to Him for His power to overcome whatever you face today.
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