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Pastor Chris White says to all of you: HELLO MY FRIENDS. May the Lord bless you today.
HOLA MIS AMIGOS. Que el Señor los bendiga.
The
word strength and its derivatives are mentioned over 360 times in the
Bible, applying to both natural and supernatural strength. The Greek word katei
means “power, strength, might.” In the Bible, strength is often linked to God’s
power. Believers are to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10). The unlimited power of Christ
is the source of strength for those who belong to Him.
According to the Bible, what strength we have is not our own. It ultimately
comes from God. “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of
their strength . . . but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they
have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23–24).
No matter how strong we think we are, “the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). Left to our own devices, we will
fall into temptation and fail in any worthy endeavor. The weakness inherent in
human nature is why the Bible commends us to the strength of the Lord. Christ’s
“power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). As we learn to rely on
God’s strength instead of our own, we gain new heights: “The Sovereign LORD is
my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread
on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19).
The Lord gives His children strength to minister to others (1 Timothy 1:12; 1 Peter 4:11), strength to face persecution (2 Timothy 1:8), and strength to overcome death
(1 Corinthians 15:57).
God’s strength in the Bible is readily seen in many of His works. He created
the world and all that is in it with the power of His word. He parted the Red
Sea, caused the sun to stand still, raised the dead, and performed many other
great and glorious deeds. “Praise him for his acts of power” (Psalm 150:2). The one “who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4), because the God of all power
needs no rest.
The Bible places an emphasis on God’s strength in our salvation. Man can in no way save himself.
Only God can save. Paul makes this abundantly clear: “For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). These two verses are the
most forceful summary of the dynamics of salvation found anywhere in the Bible.
They help us to understand the contrast between man’s total helplessness and
God’s insuperable strength. “God alone . . . has the power to save or to
destroy” (James 4:12, NLT).
The Bible illustrates God’s strength to save in the story of Gideon.
The Israelites were facing a Midianite army described as “thick as locusts”
with “camels as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore” (Judges 7:12). Gideon mustered his troops, and
they numbered 32,000. God said that was too many, and Gideon reduced them to
10,000 (Judges 7:2–3). Still too
many, God said, and He reduced Gideon’s forces to a mere 300 men (verses 7–8).
God had stated His purpose in paring the Israelite army down to almost nothing
in verse 2: “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands,
or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’” In the end,
the Midianites are routed, God is glorified, and Israel is saved. The salvation
came not through human strength but solely through the strength of the Lord
working through men of faith.
Our strength is found in Christ—in our having a vibrant, dynamic relationship
with Him. It is Christ who empowers us to do whatever is necessary to accomplish
God’s will: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). There is no other source
that gives man the strength to overcome the world with its trials and
temptations.
The Bible says that our strength is, paradoxically, related to surrender:
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”
(James 4:7). We align ourselves with the
strength of God through our total submission to Him; then we are able to
withstand the wiles of the evil one. “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).
Those who rely on God’s strength from day to day will find in Him a
never-ending spring of energy: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you. . .
. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion” (Psalm 84:5, 7). As God’s children, we are strengthened by
His grace (Hebrews 13:9), by our time spent in prayer (Luke 18:1), and by the promise that God will
reward our efforts (Galatians 6:9). Many
around us may grow weary and faint, but “those who hope in the LORD will renew
their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
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