Huffing and puffing up and down the hills around my neighborhood, I found it challenging to keep my heart rate up tonight. I was using one of those fancy heart rate monitors and tonight my plan was a ride in the somewhat cooler evening air.
As I was riding and struggling to get the most out of my time in the saddle, a verse came to me that I often think of during a workout -“For bodily exercise profiteth little…” I Tim 4:8a. Paul refers to physical exercise to teach us by comparison that while working out is good, there is something even more profitable -- godliness. I don’t want you to miss the greater truth there, but tonight I honed in on the first part of the verse and encouraged myself that there was at least some profit to what I was doing while I dodged cars and watched for potholes in the dark.
Somewhere around mile three I began thinking about the discipline required to really make an exercise routine work. If I am to really become a strong cyclist, or strong runner, or strong ______ (insert your sport of choice) I have to do it on a regular basis, and from time to time stretch myself. I started thinking about how similar my spiritual life is. In the spirit of my workout, when I got home I set aside what I was planning on writing and did a short word study…
Did you know in the New Testament, we are told to "be strong" only three times?
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. I Cor. 16:13
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Eph 6:10
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. II Tim. 2:1
That blew me away! Of all of the directives and important plans our Father has for us in the New Testament, only 3 things warranted a command to be strong in them. What exactly does it mean to be strong in: faith, power of the Lord, grace in Jesus? Let me encourage you to study these passages out on your own, but to help you get started here are some tips:
Be Strong in Faith – I Cor 16:13
The Corinthians had a crisis of faith when they stopped adhering to the word of God and ended up in a carnal way. Paul wrote I Corinthians in order to correct their actions according to what the word of God said. Faith, essentially is knowing what God said, and realigning your life to do what God said. In a word faith is obedience (to his word). For a whole list of examples see Hebrews chapter 11. Are you strong in your obedience to his word? Keep in mind willful ignorance of what God says is not an excuse.
Be Strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might – Eph 6:10
Sounds good. What does it mean? A key to understanding this passage is to follow through with the passage and look at the context of the last half of chapter 6. Essentially, Paul is instructing the church in the warfare that is Christianity. Don’t fool yourself, there is a war going on for your consecration and for the souls of men. Failure to see this will lead to weakness in this area and certain injury on the battlefield. To be strong in the Lord and suited for battle requires arming yourself with truth, righteousness, preparation of the gospel, faith, salvation, the word of God and watchful prayer. Whoa! That’s a heavy list. I guess warring in the name of Jesus involves more than just snatching a verse a day from the clutches of my morning routine. Are you strong in the Lord and ready for the battle? Know that the enemy certainly is.
Be Strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus – II Tim 2:1
Unfortunately, many of us jump past this verse when reading chapter 2 in anticipation of the famous discipleship verse found in verse 2 where Paul commands us to invest in faithful men who will also invest in faithful men. Did you ever notice that verse two of II Tim. 2 starts with the word “And?” Paul is continuing his thought from verse 1 where he tells Tim to “be strong in grace.” What does that mean? Good manners, elegance of movement, sophistication? I think you’ll find if you study the word out that there are spiritual elements to all of those things relating to grace, but at the core I think you’ll find something more. You see the discipleship, taking place in verse 2, has to come from something substantive in your own life. What is that substance? It’s you living verse 1. In other words you have to be strong in grace (v.1) before you have anything to really invest in anyone else (v.2). Without living verse 1, you will be investing a very limited amount of goodness into others, if anything good at all. So what does being strong in grace look like?
Here’s a clue -- Chapter 1 drips of the condescending act of Jesus to save mankind. Chapter 2 then continues with “thou therefore” (pointing back to the act of Jesus) “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Here’s another clue, Paul, in the book of Ephesians tells us that “unto everyone of us is given [the gift of] grace” in his famous list of spiritual gifts. Grace, simply put, is the act of condescension unto others for their eternal benefit. It’s you arresting the will of the flesh and maybe even forsaking what is rightfully yours (condescending) in order to preach the good news of the gospel to someone in need. What’s that, your gift isn’t evangelism? No problem. If you’re saved, you’ve got the gift of grace (Eph 4:7). Be strong in it.
How do I get strong in these areas? Daily Exercise. Your faith stance strengthens with each obedient step you take as you witness God honoring his promises and you develop a track record of success with God. Your power in the Lord surges as you consistently arm yourself and become skilled with the weaponry and armor that God provides. And you become stronger and stronger in grace every time you say no to the flesh and yes to opening your mouth with the good news of the lowly Jesus.
Know this – the enemy would love to see you wallow in weak faith, weak power and weak grace. I believe that there must be something particularly special about those three areas to be singled out as they are. This week I’m making sure these three workouts are part of my regiment. God forbid I am weak in any of them!
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