Strengthening Yourself in the Lord: A Spiritual Journey

so David and his men came to the city so David and his men went out to uh do battle and there it was so they came back to their city and their city was burned with fire and their wives and all of their kids had been taken so David Goes to battle comes back and his city is burned down and his wife wives I guess you could have wives back then plural and sons and daughters and they'd been taken captive then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and they wept and until they had no more strength in them no more power to weep can you imagine sitting there and you see I mean basically life is over your life as you know it is over now David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him [00:50:40]

but instead he strengthened himself in the Lord and when we hear that word strengthen sometimes we think of physical strength muscle of course or bodily strength but it was actually endurance inside it was strengthening himself he remembered who God was he remembered what his purpose and what his calling was as well to strengthen yourself in the Lord begins with desire and it's followed by a decision [00:59:52]

my soul Longs yes it even faints for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God he is emotionally engaged he he he is have you ever been so excited to get somewhere whether it's a church or a conference or a worship set something where your your soul longs it even faints there's such a a desire to to be there and ex and there's God Almighty in his house and you're excited to be there [00:56:56]

do you fight for it or do you Let It Fade Away do you contend for it or do you complain do you pursue God or do you postpone a deeper relationship Wesley L Dell said it takes more than a busy Church a friendly church or even an Evangelical Church to impact a community for Christ it must be a church of Blaze on fire for God most Christians Experiencing God I'm sorry for most Christians Experiencing God is either elusive or frightening [00:06:34]

the greatest hindrance to Drawing Near to God is our satisfaction without him let that kind of sink in a little bit let the let the steak marinade is that not true the greatest hindrance to Drawing Near to God is our satisfaction without him if we're satisfied without him we're not going to draw near to him when it's getting cold out in the evenings and mornings you don't want to get up and go outside in your shorts why cuz you're satisfied in the warmth the house [00:07:46]

Hezekiah remember King Hezekiah when he cleansed out the temple it actually the Bible records that the people had turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord it says that so the people turn their their face away from God's Tabernacle but now we have this psalmist saying I'm pointing I'm actually drawing toward your Tabernacle and it means to gaze upon to Cast Your Eyes Upon God and there is a CH a choice there we either can draw closer to God and we can press in or we can turn our backs on this incredible experience [00:05:48]

so they pass through the valley of baka they make it to a spring well let me I I'm excited about this word that word means sorrow so they pass through the valley of sorrow but they make it into a spring so as they're walking they are going through the have you heard that word word Valley throughout scripture sometimes uh we hear where valleys are challenging Mountaintop experiences or David though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil so as they go through the valley of Sorrow the valley of discouragement they make it a spring [00:18:38]

so they take what is a discouraging thing they take what is a frustration or a failure and they say God I know this is a stepping stone not a stumbling block and I'm going to strengthen myself in the Lord I'm going to encourage myself and I'm going to make it a spring a spring of Living Water a spring of excitement and joy and there are times where you can you you you don't work it up and be fake but you can say Lord you know what I'm going through this is difficult this is a valley sorrow this is a very challenging situation but I'm going to I'm going to use it to push myself closer to you [00:19:31]

blessed is the man whose strength is in you whose heart is set on pilgrimage blessed are those who dwell in your house they will be praising you you know we can't get away from this concept throughout Psalms and even other books of the Bible where there's a a heartbeat towards praise that we should be first and foremost we should be worshippers we should be praying we should be worshiping that's why Jesus said my house is a House of Prayer God's house is a House of Prayer primarily it's a House of Prayer not necessarily preaching [00:15:08]

a choice must be made to seek or to sulk to Fan the Flames or to blow them out to strengthen yourself or weaken your pursuit in God isn't that true a choice must be made there's so much power in choosing the right choice am I going to seek you God or am I going to sulk am I going to Fan the Flames of the Holy Spirit or am I going to blow them out am I going to strengthen myself or weaken my pursuit of God [00:27:22]

ask for that strength God your word says that it's possible for me to strengthen myself in you show me what that looks like and of course we know I'm not going to repeat it again but we know what those disciplines are praying when I don't feel like it reading when I don't feel like it the word and applying the word when I don't feel like it so all those things uh making a wrong right making repenting uh asking for forgiveness and Lord give me a broken tender heart Heart A Heart of Love and and and you're pursuing those things and God begins to strengthen you [00:30:12]

to strengthen yourself in the Lord it does not come naturally it comes supernaturally you have to number one what I would do is say Lord I've drifted I've become co cold I've become callous I'm I'm on the floor like he said uh the enemies knock me down and it's hard to get back up God would you strengthen me would you strengthen me and just like in order to strengthen yourself physically you know you ever get sick or something you have to eat to strengthen yourself spiritually you have to eat on God's word God's word is food [00:37:12]