In today’s podcast, we are going to be talking strength — being strong in the Lord. We’re talking about strength to run your race — talking about going from one level of strength to another, a higher level of strength. You know the scripture says that Jesus’ followers are to be ‘strong in the Lord.’ Did you know that a person’s mental attitude has an almost unbelievable effect on his strength levels, both physical and psychological? The British psychiatrist, J.A. Hadfield, gives a striking illustration of this fact in his booklet, The Psychology of Power. “I asked three people,” he wrote, “to submit themselves to test the effect of mental suggestion on their strength, which was measured by gripping a dynamometer.” A dynamometer is a device used to measure power. They were to grip the dynamometer with all their strength under three different sets of conditions. The first test was normal conditions. The average grip was 101 pounds. Then Hadfield tested them after he had hypnotized them and told them that they were very weak. Their average grip this time was only 29 pounds. In the third test, Dr. Hadfield told them under hypnosis that they were very strong. The average grip jumped to 142 pounds.¹ Now, I am not a hypnosis advocate, but it is noteworthy that they became physically stronger when suggested that people were strong. When the suggestion was that you were pretty weak, the results followed that very suggestion. Why People Who Are Strong in the Lord Thrive, that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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#S3-015: How the Mighty Names of God Energize Your Life [Podcast]

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Episode Resources

You can find more information on the subject of ‘Who Jesus Is’ by clicking on the links above.

1. Encountering Jesus in Your Everyday Life.
2. #S4-005: What to Do When Your Family Thinks Your Nuts about Jesus [Podcast] 
3. #S3-030: Do You Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus? [Podcast]
4. #S1-033: Three Things Jesus Did that You Can Do [Podcast]
5. #S1-020: What Happens When You Encounter Jesus? [Podcast]
6. #S5-010: Just Who Is Jesus to You? [Podcast]
7. #S5-011: The Zoe Life of God in the Person of Jesus [Podcast]
8. #S5-012: Seven Witnesses to the Mission of Jesus [Podcast]

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Strong Thoughts on the Subject of Being Strong in the Lord

Psalm 84:5–7 (ESV) — 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

• Did you hear the expression, ‘they go from strength to strength?’
• Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
• One level of strength to the next.
• Going from one level of strength to the next is there for the asking, and with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

Minister Bob Russell wrote about a father who watched through the kitchen window as his small son attempted to lift a large stone out of his sandbox. The boy was frustrated as he wrestled with the heavy object because he just couldn’t get enough leverage to lift it over the side. Finally the boy gave up and sat down dejectedly on the edge of the sandbox with his head in his hands. The father went outside and asked, “What’s wrong, Son? Can’t you lift that rock out?” “No, sir,” the boy said, “I can’t do it.” “Have you used all the strength that’s available to you?” the father asked. “Yes, sir,” the boy replied. “No, you haven’t,” the father said. “You haven’t asked me to help you.”²

Being Strong in the Lord: Seeking God’s Strength

• The scripture says, ‘Blessed are those whose strength is in you.’
• Doesn’t that sound like Ephesians six?

Ephesians 6:10 (ESV) — 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

• The Amplified translation has it as.

Ephesians 6:10 (AMP) — 10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].

• Now, add to this verse in Ephesians 6, this verse in 1 Chronicles.

1 Chronicles 16:11 (ESV) — 11 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

• I’m sure you have heard the admonition expressed in church circles concerning ‘seeking the Lord’ — haven’t you?
• People say things like, ‘You know I’m seeking the Lord about this or that….’
• Or if you are making an important decision, you might hear, ‘Well, you need to seek God about that.’
• But, have you ever heard that you need to seek strength at the same time as you seek the Lord?
• That’s what that verse said, ‘Seek the Lord, AND’ — ‘and’ is a connector.
• Seek the Lord AND His strength.
• Now, ask yourself why?
• Why do I need to seek strength at the same time that I am seeking the Lord?
• Could it be that you need strength, courage, and boldness to give action to the answer He gives to your heart?
• That you need to be strong to hear as well as strong to obey?
• That’s one scriptural possibility, but there are also others.

Psalm 27:8 (ESV) — 8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

• Seeking God or seeking His face connects you with the glory of God – His very Presence.
• Listen to Paul on this very thought.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV) — 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

• You see, the glory of God is in the face — the face of Jesus.
• To seek God is to seek His face and is also to seek His glory.
• So, seeking the Lord connects you to His Presence.
• And, you know the verse about Presence, right?

Psalm 16:11 (ESV) — 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

• So, now you’re seeking the Lord, you’re in contact with His Presence that radiates from His face, and guess what?
• You’re happy about it.
• In fact, you’re more than happy about it; you are deeply satisfied way down in the inner parts of your being.
• Joy begins to shoot up out of you like a geyser in Yellowstone.
• Man, you’re feeling good.
• What’s the by-product of all of this now?

Nehemiah 8:10 (ESV) — 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

• You can see readily how all of this ties together.
• I’m talking about thriving because you are strong in the Lord.
• So, you acquire a measure of strength just by hanging out at the Throne Room.
• As the prophet Isaiah said:

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) — 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

• Seek the Lord AND His strength so that you will be strong to do what He reveals to you to do in your seeking.
• With that strength in tow – strengthened with might by His Spirit in your inner man – you can head off a make a difference in life.
• You come to a place in life like the Valley of Baca, and you turn that place with the strength of God, by being strong in the Lord, radiating through you, into springs of water.
• Even in the weak moments of life, powerfully strong stirring trans-formative strength is available.

Being Strong in the Lord: Thriving in the Valley of Baca

• So, what is this place called Baca?
• Psalm 84, we’ve already quoted it.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

• Psalm 84 was one of the Psalms written by the Sons of Korah.
• Now, you know the name Korah from the book of Numbers.
• His family got cross-wise with the Lord and with Moses.
• Do you remember Korah’s rebellion?

Numbers 16:1–5 (ESV) — 1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face…

• Dropdown now to verse nineteen.

Numbers 16:19–21,28 (ESV) — 19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. 20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment…”28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.” 31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

• So that’s this same family line here in the Psalms, but it’s this family hundreds of years later.
• This family has improved generationally.
• They are worshiping God now — they are doorkeepers in the house of God.
• There’s hope for everybody.
• Now, the sons of Korah wrote several psalms.
• They penned Psalm 42 all the way through Psalm 49.
• Add to that Psalm 84, 85, 87, and 88.
• These Psalms were written during the time period when Nebuchadnezzer, King of Babylon, destroyed Solomon’s Temple.
• You know the Temple that David, his father, set aside material to build.
• The Lord wouldn’t allow David to build it because he was a man of blood, a man of war.
• So, his son built it.
• Well, the children of Israel broke covenant with the Lord over, and over, and, over, and over, and over again — like a whole lot of ‘overs.’
• Finally, judgment came, and the Temple was destroyed, and the people carried off into captivity.
• Fast forward several decades and Cyrus King of Persia overcomes Babylon and allows the children of Israel to rebuild the Temple.
• This is the second temple — so if you ever hear the phrase ‘Second Temple Judaism,’ that all started during this period.
• So, they rebuilt the temple, but it was nothing like the first one — if for no other reason, there was no Ark of Covenant — it was gone.
• There were no Ten Commandments tables; they were in the Ark along with Aaron’s rod that budded.
• In fact, when some of the people who had worshiped in the first Temple saw the second, they cried and shook their heads because of the lost glory.
• Now Herod the king reconstructed this second temple later on in and around the time of Jesus.
• He doubled the size of the plot — and that’s the Herod the Great was — he was a builder.

John 2:18–21 (ESV) — 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

• Herod’s building project was a huge work.
• So these people referenced in Psalm 84 are on their way to the Temple, the Second Temple, to worship.
• They are coming in the strength of God — they said so.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you…

• They come to the Valley of Baca.
• They have to pass through it to get to Jerusalem.
• So, this Valley of Baca, what is it?
• It was a dry place, a nasty, gloomy kind of ‘you don’t want to be there’ kind of place.
• Baca was a gloomy, narrow valley where a black stream of water flowed out of the rocks in which graves were dug.
• The valley may have been so-called because it was lined with tombs, according to the New Bible Dictionary.³
• And, so we have a valley of death — a place of dying — a putrid piece of real estate because you know death is awful — there is nothing good about it.
• The scripture is pretty plain about death — it’s a foe to be fought.

1 Corinthians 15:26 (AMP) — 26 The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death.

• David had some real-life experience with this kind of valley before.

Psalm 23:4 (AMP) — 4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.

• Paul also visited a place like this in his ministry.
• Paul reached out to God at a super low point in his life because he was in that place.

2 Corinthians 12:8–10 (AMP) — 8 Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me; 9 But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! 10 So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).

• What about you?
• Metaphorically, have you been in that place in your Christian walk?
• You are just walking along minding your business, and all of a sudden – you’re in the Valley of Weeping?
• I was in that place in 2001, when Sharon had a brain aneurysm.
• But by the strength of God, He brought her out, Glory to God.
• And so we have, this Valley of Baca.
• This place, this area, is also called a place of Weeping.
• In either case, it’s a gloomy nasty place that people had to pass through to get to Jerusalem.
• And what happens?
• These Second Temple worshipers, these sons of Korah, are making a pilgrimage to this place.
• Because their strength is in God, they take that nasty, gloomy, putrid, death-dealing place, and they turn it into springs of cool flowing water.
• The same can happen for you.
• By being strong in the Lord, you can thrive.
• You can transform the Valley of Baca into springs of calm, peaceful, beautifully flowing water.

Being Strong in the Lord: Strength in the Valley of Rephaim

• Now this Valley of Baca was also near the Valley of Rephaim.
• Let’s talk about that valley and the concept of thriving with the strength of God.
• This valley is mentioned on several occasions in the Bible.
• Here is one such place in the book of Second Samuel.

2 Samuel 5:17–21 (ESV) — 17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 19 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” 20 And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. 21 And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

• So, David’s epoch Kingdom rule was established by God in the Valley of Rephaim.
• You know Rephaim were giants.
• So, the Valley of Rephaim was a piece of real estate named after or known for really tall people.
• Now, when I say giants, that’s what I mean — physically tall, hugely tall – skyscraper kind of folk.
• We are talking ten-foot-tall, 13 foot tall — big people.
• Goliath was nine feet, nine and 1/2 inches tall.
• Og, King of Basham, had a bed that was 13 feet tall — giants.
• So, there were giant obstacles literally that David had to overcome.
• The Lord was more than a match for that obstacle.
• David was a man of prayer — He was a man of strength — he was a warrior.
• He was strong in the Lord.

Psalm 144:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

• So, you see, the Lord delivered the enemy into David’s hand, but David had to fight the battle.
• It takes strength to fight.
• Now, there’s more to the Valley of Rephaim because later on in David’s reign, his own mighty men were responsible for a breakthrough in the Valley of Rephaim.

Being Strong in the Lord: David’s Mighty Men

• Now, let’s talk about the concept of ‘mighty men’ first.
• Mighty Men is a designation for super-soldiers.
• According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, they were warriors who were stronger and more agile in combat than ordinary men.
• Physical strength was probably combined with an inner strength or courage to make them stand out as powerful people of their times.⁴
• Now, David had some mighty men in his army.
• David’s group started with 400 guys; you find that reference in 1 Samuel 22:2.

1 Samuel 22:2 (ESV) — 2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

• Later on, his numbers of army swelled to six hundred.
• You find that reference in 1 Samuel 27:2.
• These men were loyal to David.
• They were fierce fighters who helped him secure the kingdom after Saul’s death through their skill in battle.

1 Chronicles 11:10 (AMP) — 10 Now these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who strongly supported him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

• Out of these 600 men, there were 30 that stood head shoulders above the others in terms of fighting ability.

2 Samuel 23:8 (AMP) — 8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the Three [heroes], known also as Adino the Eznite; he wielded his spear and went against 800 men, who were slain at one time.

2 Samuel 23:13–16 (ESV) — 13 And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 15 And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord

• This breakthrough took place in the Valley of Rephaim.
• And, it was these mighty men who were responsible for that breakthrough.
• It takes strength pouring out of mighty men to have a breakthrough.
• Notice God’s recipe for being strong in the Lord – going from one level of strength to another.
• You start with strength, His strength, and then apply it to a specific situation, something that presents itself as a trial or test that produces ‘weeping.’
• When the power of God surges to your rescue, delivering you, you go to a new level in your confidence in God.
• You are strong in the Lord.
• You understand that all things are indeed possible to those who believe.

#S3-021: Want Victory? Look at Jesus Shocking Geographic Throwdown [Podcast]

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