10)
Finally, my brethren, be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11)
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12)
For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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over, men are professing weakness and an inability to stand. Note that we are
not speaking of just any type of man, we are speaking
of the redeemed of God. Now, basically, wherever we look in the Bible, we are
admonished to “be strong in the Lord.” So, since we can read this for
ourselves, what accounts for our instability and vacillation? Obviously, it is
the devil’s job to get us and keep us discouraged and convince us that we do
not have what it takes to “make it.” How he can keep perpetuating this lie is
really a mystery, for we have been vested with the Power which created the
heavens and the earth.
Though
salvation has been made “easy,” one important responsibility has been left up
to us—we have to will ourselves to be
saved. When that decision is made, we manifest the power of salvation as we have faith in the Word of the Lord.
To
some people, telling them to be strong in anything is ludicrous for they have
never seen, nor felt themselves powerful beings. Unfortunately, one’s
self-image is hard to change, but would find our problems negligible or
non-existent if we would accept one thing—our strength in the Lord is separate
and distinct from our own ability. After all, does the scripture not say, “Be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might”?
Scripture
goes to such lengths to express this so strongly because we need to understand
that in that he is a master strategist, we are no match for Satan. Precisely
because we are no match for the devil’s experience, we have no choice but to
rely on someone with more experience than ourselves. That Someone
is Jesus Christ.
If
we intend to operate and enjoy strength in the Lord, we will have to determine
to be submitted to Him. For our power (strength) will be directly influenced
and determined by our commitment to the all powerful One.
We
must “be strong in the Lord” for many reasons. Obviously, we need the benefit
of His power. Also, there is an added benefit in depending on Him and
thoroughly understanding His precepts, His reality.
You
see, the devil creates illusions—to
which we are slaves without the benefit of operating in the mind of Christ. He
is the only One who can see past the deception, past the “smokescreens” and
past the lies to what is really happening. When we leave the Lord’s spiritual
business to Him, we are free to be about His business here on earth. However,
when we insist upon knowing everything,
we become so busy with our offense that we become unable to launch a defense.
What
is so puzzling about how we think is that our doubts about the Lord’s ability
to keep and protect us persist despite the fact that everyday God solves what
seems unsolvable to us. Not only do we watch Him do this for others, but we
also have personal experience. Still, nothing seems enough.
In
telling us to “be strong in the Lord,” scripture is speaking a plan of victory.
Exercising the rights we have to strength in the Lord means that we can let
people talk and say what they will, but our responsibility is always to
continue to rely on the One who saved us.
One
last thought: When we can hold on no longer, we can draw from the “reserve
strength” we have in the Lord—the knowledge of all He has already done for
us.