The Christian life is a victorious life by God’s design. It is the will of God to supply all of the believer’s needs according to His riches in glory[i]. What this means is that no earthly limitations can be imposed on the extent to which God is willing to go in order to provide for those who put their trust in Him, those who, through Christ, have entered into a covenant relationship with Him, and the extent to which those needs are met.
In part 3, we examined the need for courage in the life of a victorious Christian. But courage is not enough. A courageous person lacking in strength will soon succumb to weariness. Now in the fourth part of our study, we turn our attention to the importance of being strong.
RULE #4: BE STRONG
Why be strong? What kind of strength does the believer stand in need of? Where does the believer’s strength come from? These and similar questions readily float to the top as we examine the instruction “Be Strong”.
From earlier parts of our discussion, we noted that the Christian faces constant opposition and sustained attack from an adversary, and this adversary is not flesh and blood nor can his onslaught be overcome with weapons that are of a physical nature. The Bible teaches that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. These are the spiritual powers and forces that stand in opposition to the victorious life the Christian is called by God to live. And the weapons the believer needs to engage with these spiritual forces of darkness are spiritual in nature.
So then, how strong do you need to be in order to mount not just a determined defence of what is yours in Christ Jesus, but also to launch an emphatic and overwhelming counter attack capable of pushing back the frontiers of darkness and extending the reaches of the kingdom of light? The scriptures leave us in no doubt about how strong we need to be and where our strength comes from. David, who was familiar with what it takes to be victorious against all odds, declared:
“...The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1 , NKJV)
And Apostle Paul wrote:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes” (Eph 6:10-11 )
Our strength comes from the Lord! Simply put, when we stand against the schemes of the devil we are to be as strong as if the Lord Himself was present. And that is what we will look like being clothed with the whole armour of God!
Praise God! The Lord supplies the strength that enables us to enforce the victory that Jesus won for us through His death. The same power that raised Jesus from death and made a spectacle of Satan is at work in us – we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.[ii]
The ability that the Lord supplies in the day of adversity is sufficient to see us through: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds”[iii]. If we depend on our own strength, which is the arm of flesh, we will faint and we will fail: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small”[iv]
The fourth rule for living a successful Christian life as we have discussed here in this study, challenges us to be strong and to seek to receive that strength by faith as part of the supplies of God according to His riches in glory (not trusting in our own physical strength, which is the arm of flesh).
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. ” (2 Chronicles 32:7–8)
You can face life’s challenges with the confidence that the Lord is your strength. Christ has overcome the world[v] has made those who put their trust in Him overcomers! Be strengthened by faith with all might according to God’s glorious power!
[i] Phil 4:19 [ii] Phil 4:13 [iii] 2 Cor 10:4 [iv] Proverbs 24:10 [v] John 16:33
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