Strength - 4th of the Seven-Fold Blessing

Everyone has their favorite image or icon of strength. Mythical figures were known for their strength. Hercules was known in Greek mythology for his strength. Today, it might be the world’s strongest man, or it might a very simple image that profoundly conveys the notion of strength. Strength is the fourth of the Seven-Fold Blessing that Christ wants to give to us. Our Scripture reference is a familiar one: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!” (Phil. 4:13)

If you wish to do some follow-up studies on your own, here is an array of wonderful Scriptural supports for this concept:

* 2 Cor. 12:9
* Eph. 3:16
* Col. 1:11
* 1 Tim. 1:12
* 2 Tim 4:17

It is important to know that God gives us everything we need through the ministry of His Holy Spirit. This is why it is critically important that we live in the Spirit. Only as we live in the Holy Spirit can we experience connection with God’s infinite resources, including the Seven-Fold Blessing!

Strength is the fourth blessing and to understand it properly, and we can think of it as a complex.

Strength as a complex of connecting, complimentary elements, is given to us by our Lord Jesus to equip us for every need and eventuality! The elements in this complex are mediated to us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shares these elements with us in this way:

* He gives us what we need in proportion to our need.
* He gives us what we need in response to specific demands.
* He gives us what we need at the time of our immediate need.

If we look at the elements that make up this complex, we see that there six important elements that revolve around the ministry of the Holy Spirit:

* God gives us grace which is His sufficiency for our inadequacy.
* Patience which is also poise, serenity and steadfastness.
* Endurance which is durability, stamina, and a “2nd wind” when we need it.
* Power which is energy and motivation.
* Service which is the point of application for the strength God is giving us. (The point of our need!)
* Sufficiency which are the resources and the spirit of resourcefulness that we need.

The Holy Spirit knows what every situation in your life needs. If we are living and walking in the Spirit, He will call forth the specific resource that we need at just the right moment in our life! We receive according to our need, beginning with God’s grace so that whatever our need may be, God’s Holy Spirit mediates the precise element of this complex to our experience.

Grace and Peace,
Dave Felter