Bill Johnson - Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life

Strengthen Yourself

in the

Lord

How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life

by

Bill Johnson

Dedication

I dedicate this book to Randy Clark: Your humility, integrity, and passion for God has affected millions of peopleand I am one. Your encouragement and support has been monumental in my life. Thank you for your friendship and for the example you have been to me in stewarding the life of miracles. Thanks, Randy.

Thanks to Dann Farrelly and Pam Spinosi for your editorial help, again. Thanks to Mary Walker and Judy Franklin for your constant encouragement and help in putting this book together. Special thanks to Allison Armerding for helping me with the actual writing of this book. You are all priceless!

In many decades of ministry across the world, I have discovered that people, whatever their background, have two primary questions: Who am I? and What is my purpose? Bill Johnson masterfully answers these questions as he shares the tools that the Lord has taught him to use to strengthen himself. This great pastors insights will show you how God has equipped you with all the tools necessary to fulfill your destiny. Whatever dire circumstances you have gone through, this book will help you lay hold of Gods provision to finish the journey in victory as you strengthen yourself in the Lord.

Dr. Mahesh Chavda Author, The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting

In the midst of a world of chaos and confusion in the atmosphere around us, the enemy attempts to develop a plan to take advantage of us. One key to our lives is not allowing seeming defeats, discouragements, and robbing strategies of the enemy to overtake us and create a failure mentality in our thought process. In Strengthen Yourself in the Lord: How to Release the Hidden Power of God in Your Life, Bill Johnson has created a way of thinking to help you develop a victory plan for your life. This book will cause you to develop a mentality of blessing, being blessed, celebration, and praise that will unlock the BEST that the Lord has for you in the future!

Dr. Chuck D. Pierce President, Glory of Zion International, Inc.

Vice President, Global Harvest Ministries

Bills new book provides rich, powerful encouragement for every Christian fighting for spiritual survival, and that would include most of us at some point. But more than that, Bill points the way forward for all of us who want to press on toward our high calling in Jesus, not allowing anything to hold us back from our destiny. Bill speaks from experience, and his life, relationships and the testimonies that follow his ministry are evidence that he knows the way...

Rolland and Heidi Baker Iris Ministries

Bill Johnsons toolbag is loaded with the necessary equipment to build a life of faith and blessing. I was assured that no ministry that walks in the measure of revelation that Bill does is accidental, and once again, I see the practical ways that the Father has sustained him and advanced him in a most remarkable and gifted ministry. I believe it is the basis for who he is and what he does.

Bishop Joseph L. Garlington

Contents

Introduction

Its time to be strong and of great courage. I dont know that there has ever been a time when courage and faith were more needed. But I dont say this because of the darkness of the hour. That is a given. I say it because of the realm of Gods promises that linger over the Church, waiting for someone to see itto believe itto say yes to what could be!

To live in courage requires encouragement. And sometimes the only one to encourage you is you. Not knowing how to strengthen ourselves has cost the Church dearly. It is the key to promotion! It is what turned Davids darkest hour into the backdfjor to the throne room. And it will be the same for you. When you learn how to strengthen yourself, you will reach your destiny, fulfill your God-born dreams, and become a person who can accurately represent Jesus re-presenting Jesus to the world.

Chapter 1

The Secret to David's Promotion

If you want to kill giants, follow a giant killer!

K ing David towers above all other Old Testament figures in this sensehe is remembered not so much for the greatness of his actions, but for the greatness of his heart for God. His passionate heart set him apart in Gods eyes long before he ever won great military victories, before he revolutionized the nature of worship in Israel, or even ushered in Israels Golden Age of economic and spiritual prosperity. While David was still in obscurity, God saw that he was a man after His own heart. (See Acts 13:22.)

What was the evidence of Davids heart after God? Scripture indicates two primary aspects of Davids life before he was anointed king. First, when nobody was looking, when nobody was calling prayer meetings or leading a revival in Judah, David was pouring out his heart in worship and prayer to God in the fields where he tended his fathers sheep. With no one around, his pursuit of God was motivated by nothing but a desire to know God for His own sake.

Davids relationship with the Lord was highly unusual for his day because the entire paradigm for worship in Israel at the time was focused on the sacrifice of animals to temporarily deal with sin, and not the sacrifice of praise from the heart. His heart led him beyond the letter of the law to the heart of the Lord, Himself. Secondly, Davids battles against the lion and the bear revealed his heart for God because he relied completely on God for victory. This trust indicated that Davids heart for the Lord was not something that changed according to his circumstances. He had integrity of heart. (See 1 Sam. 17:37.)

Groomed to Reign

God did not bring the man after His heart straight from the pasture to the palace. Incredibly, David did not assume the throne until 10-13 years after Samuel had anointed him to be king. In those interim years, David endured more difficulty, persecution, and rejection than many of us face in a lifetime. He probably didnt expect it to take so long to become king.

In contrast, Saul, the previous king, had no such difficulty; he was crowned very shortly after being anointed by Samuel. But God did not want another King Saul. While Saul was truly the best man Israel had to offer when they demanded a king (see 1 Sam. 8:6), his heart had not been groomed through testing before he assumed the throne. As king, Saul was entrusted with a measure of anointing to lead the armies of Israel to victory and shepherd the people. Yet, without the strength of character that only comes by winning private battles, these public victories exposed the previously hidden weakness of Sauls heart toward God. That weakness, combined with his growing appetite for the favor of man, led him to bring glory to himself and disobey the Lord. Sauls untested heart allowed that which was given to make him successful, to ultimately destroy him.

So David, even though he already possessed a heart for the Lord, was led into years of testing that groomed him to handle the glory and responsibility of the throne. The scriptural account of this season in Davids life is filled with lessons on the kinds of character tests we all face on the road to fulfilling our destiny in God. But the real questionwhat is it about David that ultimately qualifies him to become king? What brings about the moment in which God says, OK, now youre ready? I would like to suggest that it was Davids ability to do something in the face of the deepest betrayal and rejection imaginable. When he stood completely alone, that is when David strengthened himself in the Lord his God (1 Sam. 30:6).

The Role of Rejection

Seeing the progression in the tests David faced is valuable for understanding the significance of this choice that became the tipping point for his being enthroned as king. The following is a Readers Digest version of Davids life in the years after he was anointed.