Strong in the Lord

Those born of God have been made alive unto God. They have been redeemed from this present dark age and are no longer a part of the world system.

The born again person is translated into the Kingdom of God, made an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.

The born again person lives through the physical body in this world but is not of this world. The purpose of remaining in the world is not to be a part of the world system but to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ for the Kingdom of God.

You Must Be Born Again

The born again person represents Christ to the lost in this world; as salt and light.

The world is in an unredeemed state. Those not born of God are held captive as slaves to the dark realm and it’s overlord’s whether they realize it or not.

The born again person is under assignment by the King of the Kingdom of God to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to those held captive by the dark realm.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16

The dark powers that rule this fallen world are in opposition to the Kingdom of God. The born again person is in a state of war with those dark powers to set captives free from the domain of darkness.

For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Acts 13:47

And he said unto them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every person. Mark 16:15

In order to participate in this spiritual war, the born again person must be suited up or clothed in the full armor of God.

I did a series on the full armor of God. Below is a link to these blog posts.

The Helmet of Salvation

In this post I want to talk about the verse just before the exhortation given to put on the Full armor of God.

Without this verse the full armor of God will not be effective.

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

In order to wage war against the evil one and his cohorts we must be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.

What I am going to share with you may surprise you.

God’s ways are not man’s ways.

In order to be strong in the Lord we must become weak in our own selves.

This is something that I learned the hard way.

Revelation of the Spirit comes through the word of God being worked out in us.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Phillipians 2:12

By nature I am a fighter. When it comes to flight or fight I will impulsively choose fight. Others may run from a battle but I would rather duke it out. This self sufficiency while useful in the world does not work very well in the Kingdom of God.

Through trial, error, and much frustration I reached a point in my life where I was through with fighting. I recieved so many lumps from battles that I ended up with a sore head!

In my desperation I cried out to God.

“I just can’t handle any more of this! Please help me. Show me what to do!”

In his still small voice the Lord told me,

“Are you ready to deal with things now?”

Through my tears I said, “Yes Lord.”

There began my journey of surrender to my self sufficiency.

Putting this in perspective, I learned from God that as long as I fight my battles he won’t fight for me. As long as I defend myself he will not defend me. As long as I put my hand in the pie, he won’t work on my behalf.

Being a fighter this surrender to my self sufficiency was not easy. I was tested up one side of me down the another. It took more than a few lessons for me to get the hang of how this works. Surrender to self sufficiency is a spiritual law that I was not that familiar with.

Don’t get me wrong. I was a Christian. I loved the Lord but I was so used to fighting for everything in life that I didn’t know how to let go and let God. I had to fight like there was no tomorrow. I prayed, fasted, rebuked everything under the sun!

Unbeknownst to me God was training me to be a fighter in his kingdom. He created me with a fighter spirit but I was doing it all wrong.

I was fighting in my own power. You see just using the name of Jesus and all the weapons of our warfare is not enough to beat the devil.

Ephesians 6:10 is the key to getting the victory.

Being strong in the Lord requires being weak in one’s self.

God says that when you are weak then he is strong on your behalf.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9

When you look foolish in this world God becomes your wisdom.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. 1 Corinthians 1:27

When you bless and pray for those who persecute you God works on your behalf.

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:43,44

When you sit in darkness not knowing what to do God will be your light.

You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. You light a lamp for me. The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness. Psalms 18:28

This spiritual law of strength through weakness is very powerful.

I learned that when I yeild to God rather than handle things in my own power, he rises up and defends me like a mighty warrior.

But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. Jeremiah 20:11

Be strong in the Lord and HIS mighty power.

Then when you are strong in the Lord you can confidently put on the full armor of God to battle the devil.

Praise the LORD, my protector! He trains me for battle and prepares me for war. Psalms 144:1