Back to The Strong Man

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men!
Do no pray for tasks equal to your powers.
Pray for power equal to your tasks."
~ Phillips Brooks
~~~

"Strength"

The dictionary used for this definition is a Britannica World Language edition of Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary. Copyright 1954

STRENGTH noun 1. The quality or property of being strong: power; muscular force; physical vigor. 2. The ability of material bodies to sustain the application of force without yielding or breaking; solidity; tenacity; toughness. 3. Power in general; operative energy; ability to do or bear; binding force or validity, as of a law; vigor or force of style; available numerical force in a a military unit or other organization. 4. Degree of intensity; vehemence; as, strength of passion. 5. the degree in which a thing possesses its distinctive properties or essential elements: concentration; potency, as of a drug. 6. Rising prices; firmness of prices. 7. One regarded as an embodiment of sustaining or protecting power; in archaic or poetic use, a fortress

 

It really doesn't take much time when reading through the Holy Bible to find ourselves up against a difference in thinking that will clash with what we have learned through the culture. AS IT SHOULD BE! That's when we have an opportunity to get a new paradigm (a shift in thinking). What we do with that is our choice. Will we ignore it or put it to use in our lives?

Are we willing to reshape our thinking, from a cluttered combination of a worldview polluted by ungodly cultural influences that we have grafted into our biblical view - to one that sheds the world's view completely and gets us off the fence of mediocrity? Come on men, what do we want to have on our tomb stone, "He was a great worldly man who knew how to compromise" or "Here lies a man of integrity and strength. He was a man after Gods own heart." At the time it becomes necessary to engrave those words on our tombstones the answer will not only be obvious but also too late to change. You have to commit - do you want want to please the world, or our Lord and Savior?

The following is from Dr. Robert D. Luginbill:
http://www.ichthys.com/Pet17.htm

Spiritual Maturity is Necessary for Imitating Christ: Imitating Christ requires us to walk as Jesus walked.
Imitating Christ cannot be achieved without spiritual maturity, and spiritual maturity in turn cannot be achieved without a deep understanding and persistent application of the virtues of scripture. Virtue is truth, distilled and applied to the individual life.

 

What do YOU think it means to be a strong man of God?

The ultimate strong man is Jesus Christ, you know; the one talked about in the Holy Bible; the one who sacrificed himself for our sins. I am clarifying this simply because there are some who believe that Jesus was no more than a good teacher. I asked a woman one day if she loves Jesus and she replied, “Oh yeah, Jesus is my main man,” what she was saying is that he is only one of the things she believes in, that there are other ways to salvation as well.

Let’s see what the Bible says -

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
If you’re not sure you believe that a hundred percent you could read “In The Beginning” to understand why it’s so important.

Let’s look through the bible a little and see examples of some of the pillars of our faith. These are just a few of the “great” men.

NOAH–

He had a little too much to drink one night and went to bed uncovered (or naked) Gen 9:21. Apparently, the tent flap was open enough to see in because his son, Ham, saw him.

HOWEVER:
- "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Gen 6:8)
- "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (Gen 6:9)
- "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation" (Gen 7:1)
- "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (Gen 6:22)

 

ABRAHAM –

He let fear get the best of him and told a “half” truth to Pharaoh. The trouble with a half truth is that it is also a half lie. He brought near death to the king because of his deception. The bottom line is that he was afraid for his life so he lied. (Gen 12: 11-20)

HOWEVER:
- "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" (Gen 22:17)
- "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Gen 22:18)
- "And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things" (Gen 24:1)

 

MOSES –

Murderer; (Exodus 2:12)
 And - he argued with God when God told him to do something difficult (Exo 3: 11 – 4: 14)
- "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses" (Exo 4:14)

HOWEVER:
- After much negotiating with the Lord, Moses did finally go and do exactly as the Lord instructed him. What ensued is one of the most amazing events in history. God used a man and his brother to be his voice against the most powerful man in Egypt; to bring about the necessary events to cause pharaoh to let God’s people go. Moses said yes to the Lord! (Exo 4:27 – 12:41)
- Moses was a man of amazing faith. Not perfect faith, but amazing faith.
- "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3)

 

JONAH -

 

Disobedient; He also was one who didn’t want to do something difficult God told him to do and he actually ran away to avoid it. (Jonah 1:1-3)

HOWEVER:
- He did end up accepting responsibility for placing the crew of the boat in life threatening danger (Jonah 1:12)
- He faced the consequences of his decision (Jonah 1:17)
- He repented and called out to God (Jonah 2:1 – 10)
- He ultimately obeyed and a king and his city repented and was saved (Jonah 3:3)

 

KING DAVID –

 

Adulterer (2 Samuel 11:4)
Deceptive cover up attempt (2 Samuel 11:8 – 13)
Murderer (2 Samuel 11:15)
Weak father. He did nothing about the rape of his daughter by his son (2 Samuel 13:1-39).

HOWEVER:
- After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do (Act 13:22)
- David acknowledged his sin and the Lord took his sin away and spared his life, however David had to live with extreme consequences (2 Samuel 12:13-18).
- God gave him another son, Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24)

David’s charge to his son Solomon
- “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man” (1Ki 2:2)
- And observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go (1Ki 2:3)
- And that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ (1Ki 2:4)

 

THE APOSTLE PAUL –

 

He approved of the murder of Christians (Acts 8:1-3).
"And Saul approved of their killing him (Stephen), on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria" (Act 8:1).

"Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him" (Act 8:2)

"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. (Act 8:3)
Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee" (Philippians 3:5)

"As for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless" (Philippians 3:6)

"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest' and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem" (Act 9:1,2)

 

HOWEVER:
- As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. (Acts 9:3)
- He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4)
- “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. (Acts 9:5)
- “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:6)
- The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. (Acts 9:7)
- But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15)
- “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16)

 

PETER –

 

But he turned, and said unto Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” Mat 16:23

He denied 3 times that he knew Christ, actually cursed and swore that he didn’t know him. Matthew (26:69-75)

HOWEVER –
- And Simon Peter answered and said “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mat 16:16)
- Jesus said; and I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
- “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” (John 21:18)
- This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)

~~~

O.K. men, let’s look at the character, commitment, and faith of these men;

NOAH wasn’t perfect but he did spend around a hundred years building an ark because that’s what God asked him to do; and he did it in a time when everyone else around was filled with violence and corruption. Do we really think that the rest of the people around Noah just left him alone as he was building the ark? There was probably a lot of ridicule, telling him how stupid he was, many may have told him he was crazy since God wasn’t real... then it began to rain! We think life is hard right now? Could any of us make it with no one else around to give us any encouragement or support in the midst of complete hatred for the God we serve? For a hundred years? So far, God has not asked me to do anything of that magnitude.

ABRAHAM wasn’t a perfect man but he had an amazing faith, commitment to, and relationship with God.
"And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Gen 22:18)
"And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things" (Gen 24:1)

MOSES wasn’t a perfect man but he was obedient and God used him to lead an entire nation out of slavery. The last time I checked God still has not asked me to ever do anything that even approaches what He asked Moses to do. To say that Moses had to put up with a lot is an understatement. Just put yourself in his position and think about it; how would you handle millions of people whining and complaining about so much. Angry with God and Moses, saying that they should have just stayed in captivity? Think about the sheer magnitude of being the one to lead that many people through the wilderness with their attitudes! The constant listening to cases against each other, the water issues, food issues, animal and human waste issues, etc. How would you fare? How about the intercession between him and God simply based on Moses’ love for both his God and his people. Do you think you would do as well? How about right now when God asks you to do something? Let’s say you read something in the bible that points out your disobedience to the Lord? How do you handle that? Do you humbly come before God, repent and then determine to change that thing or do you think it doesn’t really apply to you?

JONAH wasn’t a perfect man but God used him to deliver a message to Nineveh, a great city, which gave them the opportunity to repent and turn from their wicked ways; and avert a terrible disaster that was coming from the Lord God.
Have you ever had the chance to be obedient to God but had an attitude about it or did you simply say no, at first, as Jonah did, and later suffer the consequences? Notice that God did take time to show Jonah the right way to think. God is the one who decides what he will do in a given situation. It’s up to us to be obedient. Can we do it with a good attitude?

KING DAVID wasn’t a perfect man but the Lord God did say he was a man after his own heart. He knew David’s ultimate humility and repentance when presented with truth. The story of King David is one of love for and commitment to God, strength in battle, and unwavering faith that God will win, abuse of power, weakness for a woman’s beauty, murder and attempted cover-up, repentance, and weakness as a father. David certainly had cause for many regrets at the end of his life. Interesting though, his charge to Solomon in (1Kings 2:2) to “be strong and prove yourself a man” (NKJV). In reading through the story of David, can you see which parts of his life are the strong points or weak points of your own life? If you do; how do you handle them? Are you as confident in the Lord’s abilities as he was? Are you as committed to repentance and change when presented with the truth as he was? Do we abuse whatever power we have when it suits our purpose or do we stay the honorable path?

THE APOSTLE PAUL wasn’t a perfect man unless you want to gauge perfection as being able to keep the law that he lived by at the time. I’m not the one saying that, the bible says it, ”… As for righteousness based on the law, faultless” (Philippians 3:6)
Here was a man who was as “anti-Christian” as you can get! And he had the legal protection to do something about it, AND - HE - DID! Let’s not look at that part now though, let’s focus on what happened after his encounter with Christ. When the Lord got his attention, he didn’t simply ignore him. He might have thought as Jonah did that he was justified in his thinking and his actions. I mean, Jonah had an encounter with God and even though he finally got in line and was obedient, he still had an attitude, why not Paul?
This was different, the future of “The Church” was at stake and Paul was the one the Lord intended to use to take his message of hope and salvation to the gentiles; and just who were gentiles? A person who was not Jewish, in other words; the rest of the world! Jesus met with Paul personally and Paul saw that he was in fact real. No more speculating that this “Christ” that people were talking about wasn’t in fact the Messiah, at that point, Paul had no other consideration left, except that “Christ” is who he said he is. That’s where the story and Paul’s life takes a huge turn and for our purposes, it’s where our focus needs to be.

Paul had a moment where he became AWARE of the truth. You and I have that same opportunity. If we are in our bibles and growing in our relationship with the Lord, we have moments when we recognize a truth that we hadn’t before. Our eyes get opened to a particular thing and we are faced with an opportunity to accept that truth and let it change our life, or to refuse it and continue on the path we are on. The question is this; will we do what David encouraged Solomon to do and “…be strong, therefore, and prove ourselves men” or will we continue down the path of least resistance?
Paul’s acceptance of the truth of Christ changed the entire direction of his life instantly. Will we be as intentional and quick to act on truth as he was?

PETER wasn’t a perfect man but his faith in the Lord was solid and he understood the reality of what was going on. Peter’s confession that, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God - showed an understanding of who this Jesus, who was standing there before him, really was. That confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” is the rock, that Christ was going to build his church on.
Peter was a man I can identify with. There are so many times I get bent out of shape, and like Peter, want to start swinging a sword, only to realize that I’m not engaging in the way that Christ would. Here was a man who walked with and was taught by Christ, the Messiah. What an amazing privilege and challenge; but do you realize that we have exactly that same opportunity? We may not get to physically see and interact with Christ exactly as Peter did, but remember what Jesus told Thomas? “…Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). No matter what you might think, Peter’s intentions were good. He really wanted to do the right thing, but like us, many times, fear got in the way. What matters most though, is that he let the Lord work in him and became who Christ intended him to become, with no reservations, even to his death. Will we do the same?

These were truly great men. They had huge obstacles, challenges, personal difficulties and failures, consequences, and successes. When you look at their stories, a common theme comes into view about what it means to be a strong man.
- Not one of them were able to do what was necessary by their own strength. The Lord went before them to prepare the way and he walked with them through each of their lives and the challenges he was putting in front of them. It's important to remember that not all of the challenges that these men faced were put there by God, but God never turned His back on them.

What made them strong men:
- All of them had developed a strong personal relationship with the Lord. They didn’t just know who he was, they knew HIM.
- They recognized and accepted truth.
- They humbled themselves before the Lord.
- They listened to hear the voice of the Lord
- They were obedient, maybe not instantly or constantly, but they got there.
- They had the ability to recognize sin in their lives.
- They had fears, struggles, and failures but overcame them with the Lord’s help.
- They didn’t let their failures define them as men. Their faith and commitment defined them.
- They understood their need to let the Lord be their strength and they let Him be that for them.
- They didn’t give up.
- They were men of great faith and love for the Lord.
- They finished strong!

Finishing strong isn’t a testament to OUR strength; it is a testament only to our decision to be obedient to the Lord, and let Him have Lordship in our lives. He will never have that position if we don’t commit ourselves to Him and get ourselves out of His way. We will not fully commit to Him if we don’t really believe He is who He says He is. None of us can finish strong, unless God had first place. We can give the appearance of finishing strong, but it may only be a mirage to those watching. The big question is this; is your daily existence one of surrender to Christ, or living for your own interests? Only you know the answer.

We live in a time of incredible corruption on all levels and in a world that is becoming more and more Godless. We are encouraged to abandon our faith and all forms of personal decency in favor of a more “liberated” thinking where every deviancy is encouraged. We as human beings haven’t learned much over the past several thousand years, yet we delude ourselves into thinking that we are smarter than ever before. We are still as morally bankrupt as ever and that is exactly why Christ needed to enter this world and give us himself as our only hope for salvation and to have a personal relationship with him. He is the only thing that will make a difference in our lives. He is the only one that can make us the “strong men” he wants us to be.

WILL YOU BELIEVE?
WILL YOU COMMIT – FOR LIFE?
ARE YOU WILLING TO STRUGGLE AGAINST EVIL; ESPECIALLY IN YOUR OWN LIFE?
WILL YOU BE OBEDIENT; NO MATTER WHAT?

James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
~
Jeremiah 17:10 ESV
“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
~
Psalm 147:11
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
~
2 Corinthians 12:9
But 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.”

~
Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

Do you believe that and will you let him be your strength in all things?

Next: In The Beginning