But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. Genesis 49:24 (NIV)
I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalms 18:1-2 (NIV)
Our God is the key to great strength in His children. He has not left us as orphans to fight our spiritual battles ourselves. He has come to us via the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit residing in every true believer in Christ Jesus. And, as Paul tells us in Romans 8:9B: “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” This begs the question of why do we see so many defeated believers? Where is the power, the joy? While there are perhaps several reasons, at the very least, we can be rest assured they are not going forth in God’s power for His glory rather in their own. We get to choose and we often quench the Spirit by taking the reins with the arm of flesh. Big mistake. Human strength is no match for the adversary of our souls, Amen? This certainly does not mean that there will be no death’s or sicknesses or loss (Job will ditto that when we get to heaven as well as a myriad of other saints!). God’s standards are not man’s, Amen? The Apostle Paul poured out his life like a drink offering and so did our Lord Jesus for that matter.
God wants us to rely on His strength to slay the Goliath’s in our lives. We do this by prayers and petitions with thanksgiving. We do this by memorizing His Word so that we are equipped to fight in battles just as our Savior did. To be sure, what earthly soldier would dare leave their weapon behind in the midst of battle? We do this by not isolating ourselves rather surrounding ourselves with others that will hold us accountable for doing God’s best for our lives. We do this because we want God to be glorified in our lives and not us. There are perhaps many more but these are a good start.
It matters how we live our lives. The only one who is held accountable for our life is the one sitting in the chair we are in. We each get to answer to God for the life we lived – no props. He does not care what we have done in our own strength. Only things done through His power will make it through the fire that will test the quality of each man’s work. Our credentials will be what we allowed Him to do in and through us. All for His glory. All for our ultimate good.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:10-11 (NIV)