Hey All, I Hope all is well, I’ve been quite for a while. I’ve been preparing for this message, God has been opening His Word to me. I’ve been seeking a definition for Strength. I’ve been trying to comprehend what it means to be Strong in Christ.
I asked a number of my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The response was as I thought it may be, To be Strong is to have Faith in Christ.
When we look to The Bible, It is countless accounts that further verify this. It’s incredible. It’s never about what we can do alone, It’s always about what Jesus Christ has done for us, then in following Him what we can do according to His Will. The Focus is always on God and God’s Will. By nature we are short sighted and often partially blind. By His Grace we see.
As content as I was with this message, I felt as though. There is allot more to this point. When we look at the world around us, We can draw similarities between the Strength Christ gives as to that we may receive from other relationships. Though not on the same scale but snippets of that can be seen. A Child who performs better in the eyes of His/Her parents, Friends encouraging each other through adversity and similar scenario’s.
Jesus Christ Faithful Above All Else, Provides us with a True Strength. That overcomes all circumstances of the world. We often more often than not, look to other people to provide us with Strength, While we are adequate at supplying “temporary” strength, We are Not Faithful nor Strong enough to do this task. In our own nature we very quickly grow tiresome and become unfaithful to that person who once seeked a sense of Strength in that relationship.
So where does this place us ?
We as Christians are saved and set apart from this world for a reason. ( Romans 6:22 ) We as Christians are called to be Salt and Light in the World ( Matthew 5:13-16 ).
We strive to be the best we can be in Jesus Christ, That we may Abide by God’s Will at all times. We know that we are weak in flesh, We know very well our weaknesses. Yet we often shy away from our Strength. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:12-13 –
12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
The Story of Paul is a beautiful one, God took someone who hunted after Christian and by God’s Grace made him into a Leader Amongst Lost people for The Gospel. Paul suffered Greatly for His Faith in Jesus Christ
Acts 9:15-16 -
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of
Throughout all of the sufferings Paul endured he kept faith in Jesus Christ, He warns us of Boasting about our own Strength. In this passage we also get insight into the suffering he has been exposed to and remained Faithful.
So we have One Strength we can Boast in. This Strength Is not of our own work, But by God’s Hand. By Jesus Christ. This Strength is God’s Grace. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6 ), We must be Lovers of The Truth. We must be careful not to boast in ourselves but in Jesus Christ. What have we as individuals, a Society, Nation or World Achieved ?. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 –
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
He expresses that our weaknesses we are Strong in Christ. This led me to very much explore the meaning of weakness. The Word in Hebrew is Astheneia which literally means feebleness. If someone is feeble, they are in a position where they have to be dependent on another. This is beautiful because it means that we must depend on something. At My Church which is Hillsong London, We had a message recently about how we are genetically programmed to be in relationships with other people. We have a constant dependence, which is beautiful news to a world that promotes “Self-Independence”. Some that also go one step further and say it is weak to depend on anyone else but yourself.
Paul wrote Inspired by God. That it is in that weakness, Christ’s Powers comes into us. Power . The word Power in Strongs is dunamis which means miraculous power, strength or might work. Truly a Gift from God.
So we can go one step further and say, Weakness is in fact a Blessing in the sense, it allows us or gives us the opportunity to depend on God. It is Truly Amazing to be Expectantly Dependent on God. Only by His Strength can we be Strong in the World.
To place your Faith in Jesus Christ.
This led me to the question – What are the Characteristics of Strength ?
When we look at Jesus Christ’s Character we see many aspects of this -
He is Loving
He is Merciful
He is Just
He is Truthful
He is Courageous
He is Humble
He is Faithful
He is Wise
He is Forgiving
He is Dependable
He is generous
He is Pure
He is of Encouragement
He is Attentive to us
He is Compassionate
We could list for so many characteristics for Jesus Christ. He is all the things of Philippians 4:8 and more, He is all the things of Galatians 5:22-23 and more. He is all the things of Revelations and more. Revelation which first describes Jesus Christ as “The Faithful Witness”, “The First born from the Dead”, The Ruler of The Kings of the Earth”. The many Titles given to Jesus Christ all speak of His Character and His Godly Nature. Each one is a Tremendously Beautiful Statement.
His Character and Nature, Is entirely True and is of Great Benefit to Others.
This is a revelation that occurred while teaching my little brother about Strength. My little brother recently got placed into a compromising position, where a fight may of occurred. While telling him why it was wrong to be violent and how people attitudes vary in this area. Galatians 5:19-26 seemed to be a great place to talk about the Characteristics of Strength in Christ.
First Galatians 5:19-21, Which talks about the negative and toxic characteristics that pollute us. These characteristics are Birthed out of Sin.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the
All these things do not benefit anyone. All these characteristics are harmful not only to yourself but to those around you. Paul goes further to write that those who live like this will not inherit the
Sin is toxic to ourselves and those around us. It has no purpose in our being.
When we walk in God’s Grace, When we walk in Jesus Christ. We no longer walk in Sin and Darkness, Rather we walk in Jesus Christ’s Grace, We Walk in The Holy Spirit.
We no longer rely on ourselves, We have a Saviour and His name is Jesus Christ, He is Our Strength, He wants to Breed a new Character in us. This is what the Fruits of the Spirit Talks about. Galatians 5:22-26.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
When we look up Fruit in Strongs, we get a variety of means. When we following each meaning to it’s root we end up at a word - airō
In Hebrew which has a intense meaning. Which changed my perception on how we receive and live our lives in the Holy Spirit. We find a variety of words
So in place fruit we can also find these words which help us understand what it means to be in the fruit of the spirit.
- Lift
- Accept
- Advance
- Arise
- Bear
- Bring
- Carry
- Desire
- Exalt
- Marry
- Receive
It’s interesting to view, because we find there is a great depth to the word. I believe to sum it up, it does mean Growth by The Holy Spirit.
Following this message, I want to share what I have found out about the 9 Fruits of The Spirit. I hope this message and the messages to come inspire and aid you on Your Walk with Jesus Christ.
May God Truly Bless You,
Chris
