Give Me Strength!

“That according to the riches of (God’s) glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” Ephesians 3:16

How many times in any given 24-hour period do you wonder if you have what it takes to make it through the day? If you have children, the answer is likely at least a dozen! Actually, we all have those moments, don’t we? There’s the struggle to bite our tongues when someone criticizes us, the need to control ourselves when we are tempted in an area that we are weak, the danger of responding in anger when someone hurts one of our own. Living the Christian life takes inner strength.

Paul reminds us that the only way to have that strength is through the Holy Spirit. Notice how we get it–God grants it to us. Inner strength is not developed by getting into the gym and pumping iron. You cannot develop this strength through human effort. The word for “power” is DUNAMIS, which means supernatural power. Only God has it and only God gives it. The fact is–neither you nor I will ever have what it takes to live a victorious, consistent, godly life unless God gives us the strength to do it.

The recognition of our utter helplessness is the path to spiritual power. What did Jesus say in Matthew 5:3? “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual deficiencies and throw themselves on the mercy of God for every moment of every day. Where are you in that process? Are you constantly struggling to control yourself? Are you wrestling with the same sins, the same traps of Satan on a weekly basis? Humble yourself before the Father, and ask Him to grant you inner strength through the Holy Spirit. He loves you. He will do it.

-Pastor Mike