Walking With God

Spiritually Strong Person

The Bible that Transcends Time, Walking with God 2,

Spiritually Strong Person

In this world, people with strength are called strong people. In this world, a person with more wealth and power, and a higher status is called a strong person. It became a world in which 'the law of the jungle' became the truth. So, in order not to be eaten by the strong, to get out of the position of the weak, the weak struggle to acquire the wealth, power, and position that the strong has in the world, and sometimes commit crimes for it. They even call on God's name in the church and seek those very things. However, the strong, the spiritually strong person in the Bible is never the strong person the world talks about.

Someone like the moon, not the sun

The spiritually strong person in the Bible is undoubtedly a ‘man of God’. There were people who tried to become the sun with their strength and people who appeared like the sun in the Bible.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. (Gen 6:4)

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. (Gen 10:8)

These were warriors and men with fame. But the Bible points out in the very next verse that they used this power to oppose God.

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them."(Gen 6:5-7)

He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." (Gen 10:9)

The phrase 'mighty hunter before the LORD’ means that he rebelled against God. Also, the people of Israel abandoned God as king and wanted a human king, and God gave them the king they wanted, he was the king the world wanted, Saul.

He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites--a head taller than any of the others. (1Sa 9:2)

In the Bible, outstanding people like Saul appear.

In all Israel, there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. (2Sa 14:25)

Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave as you do?" He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom. (1Ki 1: 5,6)

However, in the Bible, God did not call these people a man of God, nor did He speak of them as spiritually strong people, nor did He choose them.

Jesus said that a man of God is who remains in Jesus.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Joh 15:4,5)

In this way, the Bible speaks of those who don't want to be the sun, but are like the moon, denying all their own light and only receiving and reflecting the sun's light. A person who denies himself as a king and becomes a thorough servant is called a ‘spiritually strong person’ in the Bible.

Apostle Paul, who had more pride than anyone else in the world, also confessed, ‘But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.’(Phil 3:7-9) and went on to proclaim, ‘If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.’(2Co 11:30), ‘I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.’(2Co 12:5), ‘But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’(2Co 12:9,10).

Christians are not the strongest in the world. Rather, those who do not boast of the power of the world but remain in Jesus and have the power of Jesus are called 'spiritually strong person' in the Bible. They are not those who sought and asked God in order to have the power the world is proud of and finally gained it. The spiritually strong person in the Bible is a man of God who is attached to Jesus Christ and lives in Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, and who has the kingdom of God in his heart.

Now, let’s take a look at the ‘spiritual input’ and ‘spiritual output’ of the man of God, the spiritually strong Christian, and the links between them, the ‘church’, ‘balance’, ‘priority’, and ‘constancy’.

Spiritual Input

Above everything else, the first input to become a spiritually strong person is the 'word of life.’ Just as not eating the food for the body means death, so food is said to be life, the word of the Bible, which is the spiritual food, is also ‘life’ for Christians.

When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."(Deu 32:45-47)

The human heart is always filled. Whether it is with a person or material, whether it is visible or invisible, the heart is always filled. Therefore, we must first fill our hearts with the 'word of life'. If we do not fill it with the Word first, Satan will fill that void with evil spirits.

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Mat 12:43-45)

And the second input to become a spiritual strong person is the ‘prayer of life’. Prayer is not just about telling our needs and asking for help in life. Prayer is a communication channel that God has graciously given to God's people to restore and maintain their relationship with God. Prayer is to hear God's will through God's Word, to seek God, the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit and be filled with the Holy Spirit, to seek faith and grace through prayer, and to fill our thoughts and lives with God. Just as the Word is the life we should hold on to for the rest of our lives (Deu 17:18-20), prayer is also the breath of life that should always continue (Psa 141:5, 116:1,2 / Rom 12:12 / 1Th 5:17 / Eph 6:18).

The third input for becoming a spiritual strong person is the ‘devotional books’ that preceding people of faith have compiled through their suffering, with the Word, and in faith. There are books like the treasure of the gospel found in Jesus Christ as many people of faith struggled and worried in their lives and devotion during the 2,000 years of Christianity. Some Puritan books based on Reformed theology have survived 100 or at least 50 years in bookstores. The reason it was able to exist for such a long period of time is because there is some good reason. We need to broaden our understanding of God and the kingdom of God through ‘Faith Books’ and further refine the faith we know and believe with a clear and precise approach to God’s truth.

Spiritual Output

We will never become mature people just by listening, learning, and training in our religious life. There must be output through volunteers and service. We should volunteer and serve, but not less than input, nor more than input, but just as much as we received. That way we can strike a balance. If we received grace, we need a place to share that grace in order to continue to grow.  Therefore, it is possible to go to society through the family, and to the ends of the earth through the society, but it is impossible if we live a messy life in our family and society and just go to the ends of the earth because we suddenly received grace. So together with the faith input, what is important to us is the faith output.

As a spiritually strong person, the first output of faith is ‘family’. The Bible says that husbands should rule over their wives (Gen3:16), love them (Eph 5:25,28,33/ Col 3:19), not be harsh on them (Col 3:19), but cherish them (1Pe 3:7). And wives are told to help their husband (Gen 2:18), respect them (Eph 5:33), submit to them (Eph 5:22,24/ Col 3:18), and obey them(1Pe 3:1,5). Also, parents should not exasperate their children (Eph 6:4/ Col 3:21), bring them up in training and instruction (Eph 6:4), and children should obey their parents in the Lord (Exo 20:12/ Eph 6:1/Col 3:20), and honor them (Eph 6:2). It is of course a dimension of priority to put in order not only ‘family’ but also ‘world’ and ‘the ends of the earth’ that will be dealt with in the future.

In other words, the concept of 'in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ is a matter of priorities, not necessarily going to Judea after Jerusalem is evangelized and then going to Samaria and finally to the ends of the earth. In the same way, it is not that the family should be evangelized to go out to the world, and the world evangelized to go to the ends of the earth, but apart from that, if we cannot lead a victorious life at home, victorious life in the world is difficult, and if you do not live a victorious life in the world, a life of light at the end of the earth is also difficult. A person who is filial to their parents at home obeys God's Word and lives a balanced Christian life. If we don't live a life like a parent and a child at home but live plausibly at church and in the world, our fragility will one day be revealed.

As a spiritually strong person, the second output of faith is the ‘world’. When Jesus said, 'You are the salt and light of the world,' he was referring to our identity, not our aim. He doesn't tell us to become salt and light. We are already the salt of the world and the light of the world. As Christians, we must live a life as salt and life as light, not only where we want to be, but also in our families and society to where we belong. The world is getting harsher and darker. At this time, God's people who have been trained at home and in the church are playing the roles entrusted to them in this world, in the places they should be.

As a spiritually strong person, the third output of faith is ‘the end of the earth’. Jesus sent God's people (Joh 20:21) to go into the whole world (Mar 16:15,16) and to be witnesses in all things (Luk 24:44-49/Acts 1:8) for all nations (Mat 28:18-20). God has set the goal of completing the kingdom of God and also set the means and methods, and that is 'evangelism' (1Co 1:21). Therefore, we obey because God has commanded us. This is the last command of the Lord who gave us life. God's people, who will proclaim the kingdom of God by overcoming the language and cultural barriers, will walk with God so that the world will come to know God (Zec 2:11, 8:23).

Link: Church

For a Christian strengthened through the 'Word of Life', 'Prayer of Life', and 'Devotional Book' to live a victorious life at 'home', 'world', and 'ends of the world', the ‘church’ is the training place that connects the spiritual input and the spiritual output, and the link that becomes a constant source of spiritual supply. Within the link that is the church, there are 2 pillars. Among them, there is worship on the input side of the faith and service on the output side of the faith. First, in the area of worship, if we are Christians who received spiritual input through the Word and prayer in a healthy way, we will receive more grace through worship. There is nothing lacking in emphasizing and emphasizing worship again. However, it is necessary to remember the input area that has to pre-exist. In other words, no matter how good medicine is, if there is no meal, the basic food, the medicine can become poisonous. As such, as a healthy Christian, when we first live a victorious life through spiritual input, worship becomes a bigger grace. Sometimes a medicine once or twice without a meal can be effective, but if we don't want to ruin our stomach, we must take the medicine after and with rice. It should also be noted that worship cannot simply be limited to the words ‘worship time’. Worshiping God should be more than ‘worship time’, it is a ‘life of worship’.

If worship was on the input side of the link between input and output, serving in the church, that is, volunteering, is closer to the output side. If we are charged with power through grace through worship, there should be a process of gradually discovering and building ourselves while serving according to the grace and gifts we have received within the walls of love of church. We can never say that we live as Christians by just attending worship services. Through service and volunteer work, we must grow and mature. However, it must be remembered that this output should not be confined to the church. We should train well in the church, which is a training ground to lay the groundwork, and shine in the world and also at home. Often, there are people who are good church officers, but are people with ‘bad credit (?)’ at home and at work. This is also not a healthy Christian.

Balance

Spiritually strong people should receive and enjoy God's grace through God's Word and prayer, and also share that grace by serving it. If you cannot maintain that balanced life and focus only on the input without output of service and volunteer, we will become spiritually obese and will easily get arrogant, and if we focus only on the output of service and volunteer without the input through the Word and prayer, we will soon experience exhaustion and dryness of mind. We must remember. Just as a physically healthy person refers to a person who eats well and digests well rather than a large, strong person, a spiritually strong person is a person who always fills himself with the Word and prayer, and is always balanced by serving and volunteering with the filled grace. He is a person who does not sway.

By saying, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."’(Mat 22:37-40), Jesus said that the love of God and the love for neighbors are the 'same'. Just as we need God's grace to love God, we need God's grace to love our neighbors. We cannot hate our neighbor when we say we love God, and we cannot say we don’t love God when we say we love our neighbor. These two are the same thing. As such, a strong spiritual person must balance the faith input and output. We have to enjoy God in the present moment every day, and for that, we have to constantly receive continuous input and balance it with the equivalent output. That way we can stay healthy for a long time. Being able to maintain a state that is neither too fat nor too thin is good for both physical and spiritual health.

Priority

The importance in the interrelationship between spiritual input and output and also in itself is ‘priority’. 'Output' cannot precede 'Input', 'Prayer' cannot precede 'Word of Life' in Input, and the 'Books of Faith' should not precede 'Prayer'. Also, in Output, ‘the world’ cannot precede over ‘family’, and ‘missions at the ends of the earth’ must not precede the role of salt and light in the ‘world’. Of course, these are not about the chronological order, but rather a matter of importance. It is not a time sequence that must be followed, but a priority that must be remembered and kept.

Unchanging

The spiritually strong person referred to in the Bible is a person whose 'unchangeability' has been proven. A spiritually strong person, like Saul and Solomon, does not refer to a person who has been used splendidly at one time, but is eventually passed by as if abandoned. It refers to a person who continues to fulfill the God-given role where he should be until the end, even if their beginning is not glamorous and not very prominent when being used by God. In the Christmas play, Joseph and Mary are the main characters, and having those roles would be great, but even if the given role is the donkey, in which we cannot show our face to the audience, that is also great. The important thing is that until the end of the play, the person who is given the role of the donkey must unchangingly keep his position as the donkey, as do all the actors. The Bible calls such a person a ‘spiritually strong person’.

The Bible that transcends time, Walking with God, continues.