Supplements to become Strong

We need to step up in all areas of life. Let this message put fire
under your be…… to motivate you to step up to new levels in life.
Go higher, be stronger, go deeper in all areas of our life.
Progress, increase, grow, be fruitful – are supposed to be normal to
a believer.

When God gave mandate to Adam, He said, “be fruitful, multiply,

increase and fill the earth…”

Psalm 84:6,7
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[a]
7
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion

Romans 1:17
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.

2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord.

The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a
weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear?
Proverbs 18:14

These five principles have become essential elements in our daily

lives — and they have resulted in our being continually
strengthened to accomplish the tasks the Holy Spirit has entrusted
to us. These five elements are very simple, but if you will do them
faithfully, I am fully convinced that your life will be strengthened in
every way.
1. Every day spend time with God in the morning.
In Psalm 5:3, David wrote of his commitment to spend time with
God every morning. He said, “My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto
thee, and will look up.”

I want you to particularly notice the italicized portion of this verse:

“…and will look up.” I have learned that if we don’t begin our day by
“looking up,” our natural tendency is to start by looking down. By the
time we read our text messages on our mobile devices each
morning, read our emails, answer a few phone calls, listen to the
morning news, or simply contemplate everything that is on our “to
do” list for that day — our emotions can pull us into a downward
spiral before we ever even leave home!

David understood this. He was surrounded with enemies outside his

home and even among his own family members. David knew that
he needed to start each morning “looking up” before his flesh had
an opportunity to take him down.
Similarly, you need to start every day with the Lord “looking up.”
You accomplish this by focusing your attention on the Word each
morning and by spending some concentrated time in prayer.
Making the Lord and His Word your first focus each day will be a
lifeline for your spiritual strength. Ignore this element of your
spiritual walk, and you’ll end up troubled, nervous, worried, and
lacking spiritual power in your life. Make this a daily habit, and you’ll
be at peace. You’ll be infused with confidence, and you’ll
experience power to overcome the daily problems you face in life.
Making a commitment to do this may require that you get up earlier
or that you to go to bed earlier. But making the Lord your first
focus every day will absolutely change your life.
I tend to start every day of my life exactly as I am suggesting to you.
When I wake up, I grab my cup of tea, sit down with my Bible, and
immediately begin to put God’s Word into my heart and soul. It
feeds me, keeps me on track, and helps my heart stay tender
before the Lord.
One day without God’s Word is all it takes for the hardening
process to begin in your heart. That’s why it’s so crucial that you
hold yourself as an alert watchman on the walls of your heart,
carefully guarding what comes in its “gates.” Proverbs 4:20-23
states the divine warning concerning this: “My son, attend to my
words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart
from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they
are life unto them that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of
life.”
And while you’re already sitting there with your Bible, you should
take time to pray! That’s a crucial part of “looking up” to get your
heart set on the Lord at the beginning of the day. Philippians 4:6
says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God.”

The word “everything” is from the Greek panti, and it

embraces everything. It is an all-inclusive word — including
the finest, most minute details.

My advice is that you:

• Pray before you read your Bible, and ask the Holy Spirit to
speak to you.
• Pray as you read your Bible, and ask the Holy Spirit to plant
what you are reading deep into your heart and soul.
• Pray every day for a few minutes with your spouse.
• Pray with your children before they leave the house.
• Pray before you drive your car or travel on any other means of
transportation.
I have implemented these simple guidelines in my own prayer life,
and they have added great strength to my walk with God.
In First Thessalonians 5:17, Paul tells us to “pray without
ceasing.” The words “without ceasing” come from the Greek
word adialeiptos, which means without interruption, without
taking a break, or continuously. The only way you can do this is
to develop a lifestyle of prayer. Starting early in the morning is the
best way to get started — and then you can keep it up throughout
the rest of the day.
Caroline Leaf: “It takes 21 days to destroy an old thought, 21
days to build new one and 21 days to build a support structure
that will make the new one keep living.”

2. Every day spend time feeding your spirit on other godly

sources.
When Paul was in prison writing the last letter he would write, he
told Timothy, “When you come…bring my books…” (2 Timothy
4:13 NLT).
Paul asked for books — books he could read to strengthen his own
spirit as he waited in prison for his execution. Paul was filled with
revelation and knew the Lord better than any of us, yet he still
longed to read and to grow as he waited to depart to be with the
Lord. He could have said, “Forget it — I’ll be in Heaven soon
anyway!” But Paul understood that as long as he was alive, he
needed to feed his spirit.

Never forget that growing people are reading people. It’s usually
true that people who are stagnant in life don’t spend much time
reading what others have written.
It is simply a fact that reading is like fertilizer to a garden. The more
you read good books, the more your mind and spirit expand and
your inward capacity grows. And it doesn’t have to be hours upon
hours of reading. It can be a chapter a day from a book that causes
you to dig deeper or that challenges your mind and spirit to grow.
The point is to make a deliberate effort to read on a regular basis in
order to bring growth to your spirit and mind.

If you are an auditory learner (one who listens) more than a reader,
you can do the same thing by taking a few minutes each day to
listen to an audio series or audio books as you drive your car or
work around your house. Why not use the valuable time you spend
in your car to feed your spirit and produce strength in your life?
What you put into your mind will determine what you think,
what you believe, and, ultimately, what will happen in your life.
That principle can work both negatively or positively, so apply it to
your advantage by regularly reading or listening to words that will lift
your spirit and help change your circumstances to conform to God’s
will. If you say you don’t have time to do that, I suggest that you log
( systematic recording) the time you spend watching television or
browsing unnecessarily in a given week — programs that do
nothing to nurture and grow your life spiritually. You’ll see that you
really do have time to invest in your own spirit by feeding on other
godly sources.

3. Every day spend some time in quietness.

Proverbs 27:19 says, “As in water face answereth to face, so
the heart of man to man.” Just as you see your reflection when
you look into a pool of water, you can see and hear your own heart
when you get quiet enough to listen.
I am convinced that the failure to do this is one reason people get
confused in life. They get so busy that they no longer are in touch
with themselves — what they believe, what they need, and what
they feel. Instead, they just keep moving through life like robots.
But you need times of deep contemplation in order to stay in touch
with your own heart. Perhaps journaling will help you process your
thoughts, as it does for some people, and articulate your ongoing
conversations with God.
In Psalm 37:4, David wrote, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and
he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” We all want the
desires of our hearts — but if we are not in touch with our hearts,
how can we even know what those desires are? The fact is that
much activity with no pause leads to spiritual dullness and
confusion. You need a few minutes of “quiet” every day.
Where can you find a time and place for quiet contemplation? If you
don’t have a place to be quiet, consider these possibilities:
• Take a walk to let the quietness of the outdoors become a
sanctuary for your spirit.
• Get up before other people in your house are awake and let
that time of quietness fill your soul with peace.
• Go into the bathroom, if necessary, and shut the door!
I am working on rebuilding this habit. There was a time when I used
to spend great quantity of time to listen to my heart and journal my
communion with God. It helps to chase away inner turbulence and
to bring the peace of God to the forefront of my mind.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” God
commands us to be still because He knows how much we need this
for the health of our spirits and souls.
To get started spending time in quietness each day as a habit,
consider setting aside even as little as five minutes every day to be
alone and allow God to minister strength to you through a
concentrated time of quietness.

4. Every day spend some time with those who strengthen you.
Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another.…” People tend to think this verse refers to attending
church, and that’s true. You need to be faithful to attend church;
after all, you are a part of the Body! Your church family needs you,
and you need what others have to give you. In the Body of Christ,
there is a mutual exchange of strength that occurs in fellowshipping
with other believers that you absolutely need.
However, for me personally, I need more than a weekly meeting
with an auditorium full of people. That corporate worship time is
essential, but I also need people who speak into my life — to
encourage me, to check on me, and to hold me accountable in
various areas of my life. These times of fellowship can be done by
telephone, by email, by Skype, or by a number of means that are
available today — or by the old-fashioned way of personally
meeting together!
There are some people who speak deeply into my life — and I
speak with at least once a week. With all that I am required to give
of myself to others, I have found a great need to have people who
impart spiritual wisdom and insight into my life. It helps keep me
strong and healthy. The primary one who does this is Meribeni —
but in addition to my precious wife, I have come to treasure these
men who fill this vital role in my life.
These men remind me of God’s faithfulness. They remind me to
keep my eyes on Jesus, and they encourage me to keep marching
forward in obedience to Jesus’ call on my life. Yes, I could probably
do it without them, but I’m so thankful I don’t have to! I deliberately
and purposefully stay in touch with these precious men. I don’t wait
for them to call me. I actively pursue these relationships, because I
know I need them and that God wants to strengthen me through
them.
Who speaks into your life with this kind of authority? These types of
relationships need to be identified, pursued, developed, and
maintained, for they will serve to make you stronger in your walk
with God.

5. Every day take time to stop throughout the day to

acknowledge God.
Psalm 119:164 says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee
because of thy righteous judgments.” This is something you can
stop and do several times a day that requires almost no effort. But I
promise — doing so will radically change your life.
I personally take pauses throughout each day to recognize God’s
presence in my life. I have a program on my mobile device that
“Hourmate” intermittently throughout the day — and regardless of
where I am or what I am doing, when I hear that “Hourmate,” I
pause to recognize God’s presence in my life and to thank Him for
being in control.
When so much seems to be going on beyond your control, it’s good
to pause and acknowledge that God is on the throne and is
righteous in all His judgments — regardless of what you see, what
you feel, or what others are doing or are failing to do. Pausing to
recognize this at various points throughout your day will energize
your atmosphere and keep you “connected” in your soul to the
Living One!
There is nothing more important than your relationship with God.
Please prayerfully consider how you can implement these five life-
changing elements in your life every day. Making these five
principles a part of our daily lives will add so much strength to your
life as well.