Why passionately desire spiritual strength? (article/video)

The power of spiritual force

Life is a battlefield. Some have wrongly assumed that because Jesus went to the cross, life will no longer present challenges. Far from it. We must enforce His victory, deliver people from the devil's hand while doing our best to keep our own heads above water. In Ephesians chapter 3, the apostle Paul shares his prayer requests with the recipients of his letter. He says he prays for them that they may be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in their inner being. Later in chapter 6, he urges them to be strong in the Lord and in his almighty power. This is a call for optimal strength not casually or casually, but purposefully and thoughtfully. Your spiritual strength is critical to your life. Why?

Read the first part of this article here: What You Need to Know About Spiritual Strength

First of all, spiritual strength is what God wants for us; it is His will, for He instructs us to strengthen ourselves. Many people, years after their conversion, continue to emphasize their weakness and seek pity and help from others. Jesus deserves better. He paid a high price for us to be free, powerful, strong, and effective for Him on earth. Your level of spiritual strength (in the first article I discussed how the Lord spoke to me about tensile strength) will determine your impact in various areas, as we will see below.

Spiritual strength and wisdom

Spiritual wisdom is essential for a successful Christian life. However, spiritual strength is necessary to apply the spiritual wisdom acquired. Over the years, I have met many people who have received wisdom and direction from the Lord in one area or another, but they stumble and ultimately fail because they lack the strength to do what is necessary and succeed. They start and stop, again and again, and eventually give up.

Some start out well, but as soon as they encounter problems, they are consumed by anxiety and worry. They lack the strength to withstand the pressure while looking ahead to a brighter future. Many run after revelation, prophets, and prophecy without strengthening themselves internally. How many calls are aborted because those called cannot bear the opposition! God has revealed His will to them, but they have gone no further.

Some people see the struggle and hide. As soon as Satan initiates hostilities, they give up. You hear them say things like, 'Every time I step forward to do this, I'm attacked. I'm going to stop.' No, that's the wrong attitude. The right attitude is to see that there's obviously opposition to this project, so I'm going to resist. I'm going to attack them back. We must attack instead of allowing ourselves to be attacked.

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Spiritual strength to carry the values of the kingdom

Spiritual strength is necessary to uphold kingdom values and accomplish divine purposes. God needs a strong and powerful church. If we are not strong, we will easily be demobilized, and God's work will stagnate. If we are not strong, we will bow to the world. This is what we see in the church today. The church has often capitulated on values—values such as the truthfulness of the gospel and the exclusivity of Christ. Why? Because many Christians are too weak to stand up to the opposition and persecution our values attract. We have not allowed God to strengthen us in our inner being. We can be so strong that we will be unshakeable.

Why not take inventory of the things in your life you fear? Then ask the Lord for help to remove those fears from your life. I must admit that as a leader, I have often had to look at certain people and lament their extreme weakness while wondering if they will truly be able to stand up to adversity. I have sometimes looked at someone and wondered if that person is still there because the devil has not yet taken an interest in them. When he does, will they stand up? Oh, how we need tensile strength!

When someone struggles with managing their own life, they cannot serve God effectively. How is it that many have received the Holy Spirit, the great and powerful God through whom all things were created, and still have difficulty keeping their heads above water? This is very serious, especially since these are not young Christians. Know that no matter your level of faith, there will always be something that will come along and try to push you into a place of weakness.

Spiritual strength to win a generation

It takes a powerful church to win this generation, Christians who are unaffected by opposing opinions. The Lord Jesus truly needs an army of powerful men and women who bow to nothing and no one, who defy persecution and do not shy away from the bad publicity given to them by detractors of the gospel. We cannot sacrifice our mission on the altar of 'peace.' We are at war. Those who capitulate because they want to run away from problems end up drowning in problems. The devil loves to beat up the weak. Those who run away from stories will never make history. On the contrary, history is made by those who are not afraid of stories, like David, like Paul, and who overcome despite adversity.

We don't fail because of adversity; we fail because of our weakness in the face of adversity. So strive for tensile strength. Choose to no longer be an object of pity or even compassion. Instead, decide to be a counselor and helper to many. We have a long heritage of faith and courage in the face of adversity. Men and women chose death rather than declare Caesar lord. They were torn by lions and ravaged by fire, but they stood firm. We need great spiritual strength. God's commandments are doable; they are neither unrealistic nor inconvenient.

I usually tell the Lord that whatever is given to a human being to do, I agree to do it. Now if it is not doable by a human being and can only be done by angels, I will not venture into it. God will give us what we ask for. If we ask for strength, He will give us strength, resilience, capacity, fortitude, courage, etc. These words should be part of our vocabulary and daily experience.

The strength to function without fear

Fear steals and destroys strength. Fear can be the result of a real difficult situation, but very often it is a spirit that enters a situation to block or derail a person. When the enemy wants to steal your strength, he will send fear your way. The only thing to do is firmly reject it, declaring that you are fearless even as you command the spirit of fear to leave you. You are declaring that God is with you and for you and that nothing can prevail against you. Declare that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

The strength to build relationships

As a pastor, I've seen people destroy long-lasting relationships, relationships orchestrated by the Lord, because of their own weakness. When faced with difficulty, they lash out at others, blaming them for the challenges they face. In their weakness, they judge others and disconnect from those they should be honoring. Once the devil has successfully isolated them, they become easy prey or cannon fodder.

Women and Spiritual Strength

God, through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 41, declares that He will strengthen His people. The Amplified translation puts it this way: 'I will give you insurmountable and impenetrable strength.' When I discovered this verse in my youth, it was a gold mine. I devoured it, chewed it, and absorbed it. I needed this strength. I have been praying continuously for decades to benefit from this insurmountable and impenetrable strength, and the result is real. It works for both women and men.

Gender stereotypes often prevent women from walking in the strength God wants to give them. Since the source of our strength is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (and we will discuss this in another article), it goes without saying that both women and men can benefit from it. Who doesn't remember those mothers of the church of yesteryear who demonstrated great strength in prayer and in life, often much more than their sons and grandsons, and sometimes even their husbands? Every mother must be strong to be able to pray for her children. The forces of darkness should fear their strength and stay away from their children because of them.

Spiritual strength to overcome demons

The sixth chapter of Ephesians exhorts us to be strong in the Lord and to take up the whole armor of God so that we may be able to resist and overcome every trick of the devil. In this passage, the apostle Paul identifies the harmful entities we are dealing with: various evil spirits, principalities, and powers. We must seek, receive, and use God's extraordinary strength as well as our weapons to overcome them. He provides the necessary provision for total victory and success in all things and against evil. We do not have to fail in weakness in the face of any circumstances in life.

Thus, spiritual strength allows us to effectively engage in spiritual warfare. It takes boldness to confront the powers of darkness. It takes strength to persevere and not give in when the devil tries to mess with you. The Word of God exhorts us to submit to God, to resist the Devil, and the result is that he will flee. Your spiritual strength influences the effective exercise of authority.

You must be so strong that you never give up. How far will you go? How hard can you handle it? Strengthen yourself.

Read the first part of this article here: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SPIRITUAL POWER

Watch the video below.