A Strong Spirit. Part 3 Proverbs 18:14 AMPC The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear? God is wanting us to develop a strong spirit. Why? Because we are living in the last days with perilous times, times of great stress and when you have a strong spirit, it enables you to get through anything. A strong spirit will cause us to overcome physical attacks, financial problems, relational/marital difficulties, job/career/ministerial setbacks, emotional challenges everything the devil throws our way. We spoke about what a strong spirit will get you through and indicators of a weak spirit. You can feed on the Word of God, exercise your faith and rest, and yet still be weak because of things that deplete your spirit. It s like filling a bath tub with water but the plug is not in. So you don t need more power, you just need to get rid of the drain, hindrances and excess weight. It is possible to accomplish more spiritually by shaving off all the unnecessary things. Hebrews 12:1 TLB Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up Five Enemies of a Strong Spirit 1) Worry and Care Worry and anxiety will drain your spirit of spiritual strength. When you worry you are ministering fear to your spirit. Worry is not okay. Jesus told us not to worry. Matthew 6:25 NKJV Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the
body more than clothing? He is not saying your clothes and food is not important. He is saying, Don t worry about it. 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Philippians 4:6 NLT Don t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Jesus is your Care-Taker. He is your Way-Maker. But you have to give it to Him if you want Him to fix it for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 AMPC Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, 7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. Did you know that casting your cares, giving your concerns to God is a form of humbling yourself. You need to roll the care over onto the Lord and listen to His thoughts directing you in the way you should go. Proverbs 16:3 AMPC Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause 2
your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. As we keep our loving communication open with God, and refrain from being offended or gossiping about people, we will hear Him. The flesh thrives on noise, activity, competition and busyness. The spirit thrives on silence, stillness, solitude and scripture. 2) Yielding to the flesh Sin can drain your spiritual strength. Psalm 31:10 NLT I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within. Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go. Sin will keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and sin will cost you more than you wanted to pay. Samson was the strongest man in the Bible, but became weak because he was sleeping with the Philistines.. Psalm 119:28 MSG My sad life s dilapidated, a falling-down barn; build me up again by your Word. Notice what will build your life up again. The Word. Psalm 119:9-11 NKJV How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. The Word of God will build a barrier, a force field, a wall of protection around your heart so that when sin shows up, the temptation to sin shows up, the Word in you will immediately protect and deliver you from it. 3) Overloaded life 3
The problem for many people is Ø Too many irons in the fire Ø Too many projects Ø Overcommitted Ø Diary full all the time You can t please everyone, you can t be everywhere and you can t do everything. Focus on one thing because Focus produces power. The one thing we talking about is the Word of God. Luke 10:38 NKJV Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. Revelation 3:20 TPT Behold, I m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me. Luke 10:39-42 NKJV 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving Luke 10:40 AMPC But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; Does that describe your life? Overly occupied and too busy. If you don t have time to sit at His feet and hear His Word, then you are too busy. You need to cut off what is stealing your time. Luke 10:40 NKJV 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. We said focus on one thing, the Word of God. This one thing will take care of the many things. 4
The first thing you have to do each day is spend time with the Lord and in His Word. Make the Word of God first place and final authority. Start shaving away those things that are taking too much of your time and draining you of your strength. You take the answer but you don t take the care. 4) Relationship problems We must work on building relationships with the right godly people and stay away from toxic people that drain us of spiritual strength. Genesis 26:34-35 NLT At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. 35 But Esau s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. Genesis 27:46 NLT Then Rebekah said to Isaac, I m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them. Some people feel their calling in life is just to find fault and have arguments all the time. They always blaming others for their bad choices and behaviour. Some people bless you when they come into your life and some people bless you when they exit your life. Arguments will drain you of spiritual strength. A person is only as big as the things that annoy him/her. See what annoys you and ask God to help you grow out from that. Make this Confession! GOD IS MY STRENGTH! For by Thee have I run through a troop, by my God have I leaped over a wall. God is my strength and power. He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like hinds feet. He sets me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war. A bow of steel is broken by my arms. You have given me the shield of salvation. Your gentleness has made me great. 5
You have enlarged my steps under me. My feet do not slip. I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them. I turned not again until I had consumed them. You have girded me with strength for battle. Those that rose up against me, You have subdued under me. The Lord lives and blessed be my Rock, Exalted is the God of the Rock of my Salvation. You have lifted me high above my enemy. You have delivered me from the violent man. I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the nations. I will sing praises unto Thy Name. You are the Tower of Salvation. You show mercy to me and to my children forevermore. Pastor Lester Holland Sunday Message 14 th October 2018 6