LIVING LIFE WITH FULLNESS OF STRENGTH
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INTRODUCTION
The Lord has promised to grant us all the strength that we need in our life. We can have the strength for each day of our life. We need not face any day in our life without the strength that we need. The Lord will never allow any trial that is beyond our strength to bear. Our strength is revealed in our time of adversity. If we faint in the day of adversity , our strength is small. We must receive the strength that the Lord has so graciously promised us, in order to live victoriously.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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DEUTERONOMY 33:25
The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
2 CORINTHIANS 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
PROVERBS 24:10
If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!
LIVING LIFE WITH FULLNESS OF STRENGTH
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OUTLINE
1. STRENGTH FROM THE LORD
2. STRENGTH FROM INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
3. STRENGTH FROM QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE
4. STRENGTH FROM WEAKNESS
5. STRENGTH FROM THE GRACE OF GOD
6. STRENGTH FROM THE JOY OF THE LORD
7. STRENGTH FROM WAITING ON THE LORD
THE MESSAGE
1. STRENGTH FROM THE LORD
We must receive our strength from the Lord. When we are strong in the Lord and are filled with His power , we can face the challenges of life and overcome them. When our strength is in the Lord , we can go through the valley of tears and still come out strong and go from strength to strength. We can turn tragedies into triumphs and stumbling blocks into stepping stones. We can endure the changing circumstances of life with contentment and tranquility. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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EPHESIANS 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
PSALM 84:5-7
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
2. STRENGTH FROM AN INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
We must receive our strength from an intimate knowledge of God. When we know the Lord and His greatness and His goodness and faithfulness , we will be filled with faith and confidence. We must know the promises of God for every situation that we face. We must live in close relationship with the Lord. When we walk close to the Lord we will be filled with supernatural courage and boldness. If we live far away from the Lord we shall be weak and powerless to withstand any trials and temptations.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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DANIEL 11:32
Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
JEREMIAH 9:23-24
This is what the LORD says:"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
HOSEA 4:6
my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
ACTS 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
LUKE 22:54-62
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.
But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them.
A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."
But he denied it. "Woman, I don’t know him," he said.
A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
Peter replied, "Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.
The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times."
And he went outside and wept bitterly.
3. STRENGTH FROM QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE
We must receive strength from quietness and confidence. We must face the storms of life with quietness and confidence. If we are filled with fear and panic we will be weak and helpless. Our strength lies in our faith and assurance of the promises of God. The Lord Jesus faced the storm with total faith and confidence and calmness. He rebuked the disciples for their fear and unbelief. When the Lord Jesus asked Peter to walk on the water , Peter was able to do so as long he had faith and confidence. But when he allowed fear in his heart , he began to drown. We must walk in quietness and confidence in order to be filled with strength.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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ISAIAH 30:15
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
MARK 4:35-41
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
MATTHEW 14:22-32
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It’s a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."
"Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
"Come," he said.Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
4. STRENGTH FROM WEAKNESS
We must receive strength from weakness. The Lord has promised to reveal His strength in our weakness. We must use our weakness as an opportunity to receive the fulness of the strength of God. We must not allow our weakness to dominate our lives and paralyse our effectiveness. The Lord wants the weak to proclaim ’Iam strong’. With the help of God we must turn our weakness into strength.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10
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.
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.
JOEL 3:10
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, "I am strong!"
HEBREWS 11:32-34
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
5. STRENGTH FROM THE GRACE OF GOD
We must receive strength from the grace of God. The grace of God will enable us to accomplish what we cannot accomplish in our own strength. The Apostle Paul was able to labour more than anyone else because of the grace of God. Even though he was not worthy to be called an apostle because of his past actions against the church , the grace of God in his life enabled him to be mightily used by the Lord. We must be strong in the grace of God. We must not allow our past failures to ruin our usefulness to God. We must humble ourselves in order to receive the grace of God. We must realise that we cannot accomplish anything without the Lord.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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2 TIMOTHY 2:1
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:9-10
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1 PETER 5:5
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
JOHN 15:5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6. STRENGTH FROM THE JOY OF THE LORD
We must receive strength from the joy of the Lord. We must face life with the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength. When we allow sadness and sorrow to fill our hearts , we will lose our strength and become faint and weary. The Lord wants His children to be filled with the joy in the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus endured the cross by focussing on the joy that was set before Him. It is God’s will that our joy should be complete and that we live joyfully all the days of our life. Then we will walk in the strength of the Lord.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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NEHEMIAH 8:10
Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
ROMANS 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
HEBREWS 12:12
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
JOHN 16:24
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
PHILIPPIANS 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18
Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
7. STRENGTH FROM WAITING ON THE LORD
We must receive strength from waiting on the Lord. When the burdens and the trials of life have made us weak and weary , we must come away into the presence of the Lord. He has promised to give strength to the weary and empower the weak. We must shut ourselves from the voices and the influences of the world which drain our strength and energy. We must be in the presence of the Lord and listen to His voice which will renew our strength and restore our vision and confidence.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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ISAIAH 40:29-31
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but 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.
PSALM 27:14
Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
MATTHEW 11:28-30
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
MATTHEW 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
PSALM 62:5-8
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him,for God is our refuge. Selah
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