In our message last Sunday, entitled “The Strength Shift,” we said that we are to shift from self-strength to God’s strength. That means I have to shift from depending on my physical strength to depending on spiritual strength, on divine strength from the Lord. The base text was Mark 12:30. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.”

Now, the order of words in the Bible is not accidental, but purposeful. For example, when the Trinity is mentioned, it is always Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is because the Son submits to the will of the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Son. We see the same with human beings. We are said to be spirit, soul, and body. Man is spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a body on this side of eternity.

Then we are commanded to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength before we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. We cannot do the latter without first accomplishing the former. We have to love our neighbor as we should, as we are commanded to do, unless or until we love God as we are commanded to love Him.

So too, it is really a command to love God. We love Him with all our strength before we are to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. All past weeks, we’ve been speaking about the shifts needed in our hearts, in our souls, and in our minds. So it is not to us to love God conditionally. And we are now addressing the final shift—from physical strength to divine strength.

And the source of that strength is already available to us. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

The strength we need for every situation is available to us. We have to be conscious of the fact that Christ is in us at all times if we are to be strengthened by Him. It is Christ who lives in you, who wills and does of His good pleasure. Christ lives in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.

And Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:5: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” Our sufficiency is from God, and through Him we are able to do the good works which we were created to do. You see that in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We do not accomplish these good works through our own might. As God told Zerubbabel, He is telling us also: it is not by physical strength that we will accomplish what He has called us to do, but by divine strength. We see that in Zechariah 4:6. So he answered and said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord.”

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Even when challenges expose our weakness, divine strength is available to help us. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” That is, Jesus’ strength is made perfect in weakness. “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

As was said on Tuesday, we have to exchange our weaknesses for divine strength. And divine strength is necessary because of the enemy we face from time to time. Ephesians 6:10012 identify that enemy.

It says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We cannot fight those spiritual beings with carnal weapons. We need supernatural strength. We need divine strength. We need divine intervention. And you see that from 2 Corinthians 10:3=5: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.”

We do not war according to the flesh, and we do not fight our battles by carnal means.

So, whether you are at the top of the mountain and everything is bright and beautiful, or whether you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, where everything is dark and gloomy, know that divine strength is available to you. Make the final shift from your physical strength to God’s strength, and He will see you through every situation. Amen? Amen. Amen.

Father God, we thank You, Lord, for Your encouraging Word. You said You will never leave us nor forsake us. And sometimes the situation gets so threatening that we forget that. But I thank You that we are a community of believers, and when one of us is going through, another may remind us of Your awesome promises that are available to us.

We claim those promises and see You strengthening us and bringing us through every situation. We declare that You are the omnipotent One, the One with whom all things are possible, and there is nothing too hard for You to do. And You love us, and You have a plan—a good plan for us, a plan to prosper us. So we thank You for this Word this morning. May it be applied in every situation. We will be encouraged. We will not be downcast. Even when our spirits are downcast, we will encourage ourselves, like David did: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within me? Hope in the Lord.”

We have a hope that is sure in You, Lord Jesus. So we thank You that You are the Almighty One. You are the One who is able to provide all the strength we need to face every situation and bring us through every situation.

So we give You all the praise, all the honor, and all the glory. And as we now come to bring our prayer requests before You, God, we thank You.