Be Strong

Posted on by korgrocker

“We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.”
Romans 15:1 NLT

‭Paul continues to write about the importance of considering others, particular other Christians. But we pilgrims know that, of course. But what about ourselves? Are we the “strong” people in this verse? Believers strong in the faith and able to withstand shocks in times of stress and difficulty? People who are not impacted by what others say or do in our presence? In Matthew 24:9, Jesus said, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me”. Or would we react as Jesus described in the next verse – Matthew 24:10, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other”? A thought that must put fear into the heart of even the strongest believer. 

But I think Paul was making the point that the strength we have in God, through our faith relationship with Him, transcends all the mayhem and temptations that surround us. Another believer behaves in a way we think inconsiderate or even sinful, but we are not affected in ourselves by that. Instead we look for an opportunity to gently and lovingly help the other person. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ”. 

Being “strong” as Paul expects, applies to our own behaviour. We are strong enough to control our lives so that what we do is not to please ourselves but to be pleasing to others. We pilgrims do not behave in a way that will have a negative impact on a fellow believer. We watch our speech, and the words we use. We are careful with the relationships we foster. The way we act in our families is beyond reproach. We make sure our emotions don’t take over our lives, particularly when we are provoked. 

Paul wrote about the tools we have at our disposal to make sure we can in fact be strong believers. Ephesians 6:10, “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power“. And Paul goes on to list the items of spiritual armour that God has supplied. We can read about them in Ephesians 6. We must also realise that the perhaps overly sensitive brother or sister will be fighting their own battles against the forces of darkness that Paul wrote about. Those evil spirits in heavenly places. We are all on a journey through life, slaying our own “dragons” on the way. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit walks with us, helping us to stand firm, strong and unmoved in the face of the enemy’s onslaught. At the end of Jesus’ temptation, we read in Luke 4:13, “When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came“. A strong believer will find that the enemy and his minions will leave us if we stand firm. But we mustn’t forget, he’s always on the prowl, looking for an opportunity to oppress us some other time. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong“.

Dear Father God. We thank You that we are on the winning side, strengthened by You and Your Spirit, that lives within us. We stand firm in our faith, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Finally

Posted on by korgrocker

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
Ephesians 6:10

Paul is in the final section of his lengthy letter. He has meandered his way through a maze of thoughts and instructions, doing a Holy Spirit-inspired brain dump, tailor-made just for his friends in Ephesus. And he now wants to leave them with a model that they, and so many since, have found very helpful. He introduces this section with the encouragement to be strong in our faith, our strength coming from the Lord and the power that is available to us through Him. 

Paul wasn’t the only Bible writer advocating the strength of the Lord. Isaiah 41:10 reads, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand“. Another verse is in Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid“? The strength we find in God is freely available, if only we ask.

But to our ubiquitous Christian pilgrim, what does “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” actually mean? And how will such an inspiring exhortation help us? In our life journey, we will be attacked on all sides from an enemy who wants to stop us in any way he can, from entering into God’s presence. And he does that through temptations, lies, leveraging our human proclivity for sin; in fact in any way where he can find a weakness. So this verse in Paul’s letter reminds us that in God we have all the power and strength to overcome the devil’s strategies and stay on the path mapped out for us. An admirable example of this was when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, the devil even using passages of Scripture to try and trip Him up. But He stayed “strong in the Lord“. Jesus’ example of using Scripture is one we too can follow. So we need to read the Bible. There is an amazing wealth of strength and power in this Book. And as we become more and more familiar with the Scriptures, we will become more able to find the strength we need in the times of testing. Another powerful resource is the Holy Spirit Himself. Jesus said that He will be an Advocate, our Helper. God Himself standing alongside us, resourcing us when in need of power and strength.

So this “final word” really puts the icing on the cake of Paul’s letter. In the coming days we will look at the ways in which this power and strength can be distilled using the illustration of a Roman soldier’s armour and attire. An amazing resource for the pilgrim of today.