Strength Training
From my teenage years up through my late 60s I diligently did strength training for my physical body. I could bench press 300 lbs. even being an old dude.
We live in a time and culture chasing after strength. The world’s definition of strength and God’s definition are not the same.
The world would define strength as power through our own ability to overcome that which we are almost impotent. Power is sought, looked up to, and praised. It’s taught, emulated, and admired. Media and books tout and idolize strength. Every age, gender, and ethnicity exalt power and debase weakness. The quest for power weaves its influence into strength training, diet, clothing, relationships, and purpose.
God’s spiritual strength training begins with our choosing to accept the gift of salvation through Christ. Our salvation is accomplished through no personal merit or strength of our own efforts. For it is by grace we are saved. It is an act of God, impossible by human means, undeservedly given for which we can choose to accept or reject.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
In the spiritual realm, recognition of our human inability invites the power of God to do what cannot otherwise be done. These spiritual muscles develop by learning to trust God with our most vulnerable areas.
The apostle Paul presents a spiritual strength reality in 2 Corinthians 12:10 “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul’s words turn the logic of our preconceived notions of weakness and strength topsy-turvy. This notion that power is made perfect in weakness is dissonant with today’s culture and its obsession with power. The spiritual paradox of power made perfect in weakness implies that the very areas of our lives we fail at controlling are foundational to God’s working His power in us to grow our spiritual muscles.
God’s strength training totally involves Jesus. When Jesus died for us, He restored us to a peace with God that cannot be undone. We don’t just do things for the Lord; we live our lives in Him, with Him, and by His strength to honor Him with the submission of our will for His.
Nehemiah 8:10 “… the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The joy of the Lord is constant gladness and cause to rejoice. It stems from an inner strengthening from our intimate relationship with Him.
The word JOY is a great acrostic which entails the undergirding of a Christian’s relationship with God-Jesus Owns You. “You were bought with a price (you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own). So then, honor and glorify God with your body”. 1 Corinthians 6:20
The gospel of Jesus Christ is that all who accept Him as Savior are bought with a price. They will never come into condemnation. When Jesus died, the debt was paid. Justice has been done. We are free. And God is not against us but for us, if we will accept His gift and trust Him.
The reality is that in the moment that we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, He buys us with His blood from having been our substitute on the cross. He now owns us and wants to continue to grow and strengthen us with His Joy. Joy and strength go together like flame and heat. When we’re joyful (focusing on who owns us) we’re doing strength training, but when we lose that focus of joy, we lose strength.
The following verses provide us with additional spiritual strength training advice:
Isaiah 40:31 “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.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” Imagine the eyes of the Lord scanning the globe right now, sweeping over your city, searching for a heart committed to Him. When he finds that person, He imparts heaven’s strength into his/her soul.
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Are we each trusting God to train us to have and use supernatural strength and joy in our daily lives for His glory?
