*Being Strong In Spirit

4/18/04

 

(The following was used with a Power Point presentation and the *asterisks were used in the presentation, so please disregard.)

*Lk. 1:80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Lk. 2:36 (KJV) And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; ³⁷ And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. ³⁸ And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. ³⁹ And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. *Lk. 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

*Being strong in Spirit has nothing to do with gender.

My Dad was a very determined man. He was very strong willed, but my Mom was strong in Spirit.

*2 Tim. 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

*A person who is strong in Spirit is not double-minded.

*Ja. 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

*A person who is strong in Spirit has deep convictions and is not easily persuaded otherwise.

*2 Chr. 24:1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴ Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the LORD. ⁵ He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.

⁶ Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”

⁷ Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.

⁸ At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the LORD. ⁹ A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the desert. ¹⁰ All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. ¹¹ Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to the men who carried out the work required for the temple of the LORD. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD’S temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.

¹³ The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the LORD’S temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.

¹⁵ Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. ¹⁶ He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.

*2 Chr. 24:17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.

Joash had great advice, but he never grew up. He became so dependent on what he was told that his effectiveness was limited to the quality of his advisers.

Joash’s knowledge of God was “secondhand.”

*Let’s compare Joash with Josiah.

*2 Chr. 34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images. ⁴ Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, ⁷ he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

Contrast these two statements...

*2 Chr. 24:14 ...As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.

*2 Chr. 34:33 Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their fathers.

*A person strong in Spirit has the right kind of confidence.

Confidence can be categorized in three ways: no confidence, self confidence and godly confidence.

A person strong in Spirit has godly confidence.

*1 Sam. 17:45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

*A person strong in Spirit rises above adversity.

*Pr. 24:10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!

*Pr. 18:14 A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

*How do you become strong in Spirit?

*You have to know Jesus, not just know about Him.

*Gen. 6:9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

*The Word of God has to be precious to you.

If God says it, that’s the end of it!

* 1 Pet. 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

*You must learn to pour your heart out to God like water.

*Lam. 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.