True Spiritual Strength

Many Christians in ministry are accomplishing great things for God. There are ministers who go around preaching and telling people what they could do for God. The whole theme of their preaching concerns what mighty works of miracles, healings, prophecies and other manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit they are accomplishing for God. Everything they said is true, but it is interesting to see when they are coming to the end of what they can do. Very often in our ministry, which is given to us by God, by divine appointment, we shall come to the end of what we can do. There is a place we can come to where we can do no more.

True Scriptural Spiritual Strength

True spiritual strength is not how much we can do and how much we can exercise spiritual gifts.

Paul said, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1, NIV, emphasis added).

In the King James Version the word "failings" is replaced by the word "infirmities".

Therefore, the scriptural mark of strength is not how much you can do; essentially it is how much you bear the weaknesses and infirmities of others. It is very satisfying to be in your own ability, in your own ministry and have your own spiritual experience. But this really does not require much spiritual strength. It does require spiritual strength to bear the weaknesses of others. In fact, to be able to bear with the failings of the weak is the mark of Christian maturity. I believe spiritual strength is measured by God and by the Scripture in proportion to the degree that we are able to support and bear the weaknesses of other people. This is never easy.

This is exactly the opposite to the spirit of this evil age, which is to get what you want for yourself and let the weak take care of themselves. Once we begin to make what suits us the measure of what is right we are on a slippery path that goes downward to a horrible mess. How often we see people written off those who were born hopelessly handicapped, those who were born not more than a vegetable? What about the mentally sick? One after another they were written off in the name of humanity. That is not the Christian's answer. What about cases of abortion which in the sight of God is murder? Not merely abortion is forbidden by God, but also the attitude behind it is totally un-Christian.

Christians do not write the weak off. We don't even relegate them to an institution where we never hear about them or care about them any more. A true Christian's first motive is not to get away with as much as he could get away with legally, but to do what Jesus Christ wants him to do.

We ought not to please ourselves

According to Paul, if we please ourselves we cannot bear the weakness of others (Romans 15:1).

Every time I do anything effective for the Lord, that is acceptable to him, I begin by not pleasing myself. That is to say I must deny myself. In the scriptural sense to deny myself means to say no to myself:

Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23, NKJV, emphasis added).

To deny myself daily

The ego that is in me, that is always exerting itself saying I want, I wish, I feel and I think has to be denied on a daily basis. I have to say no to myself otherwise I cannot live the type of Christian life that is pleasing to God. It is impossible to be a self pleaser and a Christ pleaser at the same time.

To take up the cross daily

Everyday presents every Christian with an opportunity to take up his cross. If you use the opportunity you'll have a victorious day, and if you lose the opportunity you'll have a day of defeat. Someone said, "Your cross is where your will and the will of God crossed. Your cross is the thing on which you can die; it is the place you can lay down your life:

Jesus said, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again" (John 10:17, 18, NIV).

If you don't voluntarily lay down your life no one takes your life from you - you are in control of it. Your cross is the place where you can make the decision not to please yourself. If you take up your cross the ministries of God will flow out of your life. You have to do it on a daily basis. Ministries will not flow out of the life of a believer who pleases himself.

A true child of God

The distinctive mark that makes you a true child of God is having the Spirit of Christ.

Paul said, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:6, NIV).

There are a lot of Christians who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues, work miracles and preach powerful sermons but they demonstrate little or nothing of the Spirit of Christ. The mark that makes us children of God is having the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ cannot be separated from the nature and personality of Jesus Himself. It is a meek Spirit, humble and gentle Spirit; certainly not arrogant, not self-exerting or self-pleasing.

In contemporary Christianity we hear a lot of teaching of claiming your inheritance and getting what belongs to you. There is nothing wrong to receive what has been given to you. But there is a difference between thankfully receiving it and selfishly grasping it.

Many Christians abuse what John said, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers" (3 John 2).

In God's sight you don't prosper by exerting your right. The Spirit of Christ does not lay claim to any right. The Spirit of Christ is a yielding Spirit. When you yield to Christ He will prosper you, not necessarily only material prosperity but all round prosperity (good health and general well-being).

Christ as our perfect example

Christ is our supreme example of yielding:

Paul said, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Phil. 2:5 - 7, NIV, emphasis added).

Jesus is entitled to be in equality with God; it was His by divine right, but He did not grasp it. Lucifer, who became Satan, on the other hand, was not entitled to be in equality with God, he did grasp at it and he fell!

If you do not have the Spirit of Christ then you have the spirit of the world (spirit of Satan). We have to discern between true and false prophets, true and false ministers of God, and those who are serving God in Spirit and in truth and those who are not. The mark that separates the true from the false is the Spirit of Christ.

Biblical examples of yielding

The Spirit of Christ is a yielding Spirit; but the spirit of the world is a grasping spirit. All great men of God, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, had the yielding Spirit. Here are some examples:

1. The Wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 3)

Solomon did not ask for riches, he did not ask for honor or the lives of his enemies. Instead he asked God for wisdom and a hearing heart (verse 9). God was pleased and He gave him what he did not ask for as well (verses 10 to 13).

Solomon's wise judgment was immediately tested (verses 16 to 27). There were two harlots who lived in one house. Each of them brought forth a baby; each had the baby in bed with her. In the middle of the night one of the women rolled onto her baby and killed it. So in the morning there were two mothers but only one baby. Each of the mothers wanted the baby that was alive and both claimed the baby.

The case was brought before Solomon who heard the case and said there was only one thing to do - bring in a sword and cut the baby in half. The woman whose baby had died said that was right. But the real mother didn't want to see her baby die said give her the baby and let it live. Solomon said that was the real mother!

The lesson is very simple. If it is really your baby rather than see it die you let the other person have it - that is the real test of the yielding Spirit and spiritual strength! Many times in Christian services and ministries a man brought forth which is his, but somebody contested it and claimed it. Are you prepared to let go and let the other person claim what was yours? The answer lies whether you love yourself more than the baby or the baby more that yourself. The result of the test is - if you give it away you love the baby, if you claim half you don't!

2. The Story of Abraham (Genesis 12 and 13).

Abraham started his journey from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan, but he was not in full obedience to God. He took his father and nephew with him - he was not authorized to take either of them. As long as he had his father with him he only got half way - Haran. He couldn't go further until his father died (Acts 7:4).

Many of us are like Abraham. God says, come out and leave every thing behind and I will show you your inheritance. But we want to bring daddy along. Your daddy may be your denominational affiliation, a pension scheme or a situation. God says as long as you take daddy along you'll get only half way.

Abraham still had another problem - his nephew Lot. Both Abraham and Lot prospered. They had so many goods and cattle that they couldn't dwell together because there was strife between their herdsmen (Gen. 13:7). Abraham was the senior, he was the man whom God called and he was the man whom the inheritance belonged. But he had the yielding Spirit. He let Lot made his choice first. Lot chose to dwell in the plain. It is interesting to note that as soon as Abraham let Lot go, God showed him his inheritance (Gen. 13:14 - 17).

The lesson learnt is, as long as you hold on and say that's mine, I'm not letting go, you will not see what God has for you. It is the yielding Spirit that receives the inheritance and not the grasping spirit.

3. A lesson from Isaac (Genesis 22:1 - 18)

God tested Abraham's faith by asking for his son Isaac to be a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2).

The writer of Hebrews said, "By faith Abraham when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ..." (Heb. 11:17, NKJV).

One thing about Abraham was that not only he obeyed God but he obeyed Him promptly - he got up early to do it. Abrahem come the place when he was actually ready to kill the miracle child who was the only hope for his God promised inheritance. But his faith in God caused him to say to his men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad (Isaac) and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you" (Gen. 22:5, emphasis added).

If Abraham had held on to Isaac all he had gat was Isaac. When he gave Isaac up, he had got Isaac back and multiplied beyond his power to calculate.

The lesson learnt is, when God gives you something unique, something precious and something miraculous, one day He is likely to say, "I want it, give it back, kill it and lay it on the altar for me"! You have two choices - either you are going to follow the footsteps of Abraham or you are going to miss God's blessings.

I believe the biggest test of any servant of God is this - is he willing to put his ministry on the altar?

Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John 12:24, NKJV).

Each one of us is holding in our hand a little grain; God placed it there - it can be your gift, your ministry, your talent, something very precious because God gave it to you. God says if you keep it that is all you have, just one little grain. You can put your name on it, you can put a label on it, but you'll never get more. The alternative is clear, let the grain go, drop it, let it go right down into the earth and lost out of sight! But God is responsible and He has guaranteed the fruit.

I believe this is the place that is coming and coming soon. Many of us will be faced with this choice - Do I love it or do I love me?