Ezekiel 33-34 / Hebrews 13 / Psalm 115 / Proverbs 27:21-22
Think of the strongest person you know. Hercules, Marvel superheroes like; The Hulk, Captain America, or even your dad or mom. What about your friend who lost her husband, or survived a scary diagnosis? Strength takes different forms; some people are strong physically, some are strong mentally, emotionally, and/or spiritually.
Then there are times we don’t feel strong at all, in any of those areas mentioned. Has anyone ever told you how they admire your strength when they don’t realize you’re crumbling on the inside? A fake smile or a seemingly happy appearance can sometimes hide incredible pain.
But what if you could have true strength? A strength at your core; a strength that truly sustains you when hard times come; because hard times will always be with us. All of us want to feel confident, stable, and unshaken, especially when difficult things happen to us. I’m not talking about a kind of strength that doesn’t allow us to feel, process, or be in the moment. We all need to be present in life.
I found two verses in today’s reading that grabbed my attention because I feel I’m often in need of true strength. I need strength in my inner man (or woman). Hebrews 13:8-9 in the New Living Translation, (NLT) says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.”
There were certain people in Jesus’ day, and there are still some today, who believed they were more righteous because of what they did or didn’t eat or drink. There were rules about not eating meat with blood still in it, and about not eating or drinking anything that had been sacrificed to idols. But as we’ve talked about before, it is not what we do and don’t do that makes us righteous.
We are made righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are made right with God when we choose to believe Him, which is faith. Some see themselves as better than others for the practices they follow, but in verse nine, Holy Spirit is telling us that our strength comes from God’s grace.
Strength in this verse is the Greek word bebaioo and means: “To make firm, establish, confirm, and make sure.” This definition reminds me of a scripture God gave me personally in 1998. 1 Peter 5:10: “In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” (NLT).
The Greek word used for strengthen as used in 1 Peter 5:10 is sthenoo and it means: “To make one’s soul strong.”
Grace is the Greek word charis and it means: “The merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”
I want to share one final verse with you; it’s the one I mentioned above. Ephesians 3:16: “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.” (NLT).
It is the inner strength brought to us by God’s empowering grace that makes us truly strong.
There is nothing wrong with being physically strong, as a matter of fact, physical strength is necessary. However, if we are physically strong without being strong in our inner person, we are imbalanced and will not have everything we need.
Please read Ephesians 3:16, above, again and know that my heart is for you to receive this inner strength through His Spirit.
