March On in STRENGTH!

Strength is the word for today.  What is it to be a woman of strength?  It is my hope that we will be strong in our God, without fear, and without the need to control.  I heard David Jeremiah say that the curse for Eve at the fall was the need to control.  More on that another time.  

I am strong, when I release my cares to God; when I trust Him, and know that ALL things work together for good.   

Loving God increases strength.  

There is a difference between having strength from trusting God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and the fleshly efforts to be strong, that builds a wall around one’s heart.  Have you noticed strong women who have a hardness, and even a sharpness to them.   It is like hard sharp callouses that develop from much wear and tear to the heart.     Sometimes that woman I notice is me!  

Deborah was a woman of strength, a judge, a prophet, and a leader of armies.  Her strength came from her confidence in the Lord God Almighty.  In the height of battle she encouraged herself and sang, “Oh my soul, March on in strength!”  

It is a phrase I use often.  

Of course the Proverbs 31 woman was a woman of strength, and I noticed today for the first time that God encourages us to lift weights!  

“She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.” (Proverbs 31:17 Amplified) 

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, 
and she laughs without fear of the future.”  (Proverbs 31:25, NIV)

I want to be dressed up in the beauty and elegance of the clothes of strength and dignity, and honor!   It is a much better look than leathers with spikes.

 

Declarations:

Father God, our LORD and savior, I join my prayer with the other mighty women of God (and a few men too!) and we stand in agreement with Your Word, and Your promises.  With the authority You have given us through Your Holy Spirit who dwells in us, we declare and decree the powerful Word of God:  

• We gird ourselves with strength!  

• We declare that we are clothed with strength and dignity, and we laugh without fear of the future.  (Proverbs 31:25)

• We declare that the men and women You have appointed for Kingdom marriages, “have the strength to stick it out over the long haul - not the grim strength of gritting our teeth, but the glory-strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy... (Colossians 1:11 The Message) 

• “And we thank the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that He has for us.”  (Colossians 1:12 The Message)

• We declare blessings on ourselves and the men, because our strength is in You!  We have set our hearts on a pilgrimage, and we have passed through the Valley of Weeping.  We receive your rains, that cover the dry places in our lives with pools of blessings!  We go from strength to strength!  and thank You that the Holy Spirit gives us endless energy and boundless strength!  (Psalm 85:5-7)

• We declare over the Men of Strength,  “Be Empowered through your union with Jesus Christ!  Draw your strength from Him, that strength which His boundless might provides.” (Ephesians 6:10 Amplified)

• And for ourselves we SING, “Oh my soul, March on in Strength!”  (The Song of Deborah, Judges 5:21b)

One of the 4 Hebrew words for MAN in the Old Testament is “Geber”, and the Strong’s 1397 definition is:  

“A champion, hero, warrior, mighty man; a man in all his strength.  This word describes a man of strength or bravery, and is derived from the verb gabar, ‘to be strong.”  An intensive form of geber is gibbor, meaning ‘champion’ or ‘mighty man of valor’ as in Judges 6:12.  The word also appears in the phrase ‘El Gibbor’ (“The Mighty God”), which might be translated, ‘God the Champion’, this title appears in Isaiah 9:6 in reference to the Messiah.”

And lastly, my prayer for you (and one you might all continue to pray for the person God is preparing for you) from Ephesians 1:15, The Message:  

“I ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly the utter extravagance of His work in us who trust Him - endless energy, boundless strength!”  

AMEN!  

Expecting to be amazed ~

Barbara 

© Barbara Nelson – 2011