What It Means to Have a Strong Spirit Proverbs 18:14
In a world filled with pressure, sickness, and emotional stress, the Bible reveals a powerful truth: your inner strength determines your ability to overcome. Proverbs 18:14 says, “The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble,” showing us that a strong spirit is essential for healing, endurance, and victorious Christian living. In this episode of Light on Life, we explore what it truly means to have a strong spirit, how God—not human effort—is the source of that strength, and how you can be continually strengthened through His Word, prayer in the Spirit, and the presence of Jesus in your inner man. If you want to stand firm in times of adversity, walk in divine healing, and live with unshakable spiritual power, this teaching will show you how to build and maintain a strong spirit according to God’s design.
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Accept the Challenge
Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.This week’s call is:
Be strong in the Lord.’ What do the words ‘in the Lord’ imply? ‘In the Lord’ means’ it’s His strength, not yours. Retire from trying to be strong in and of yourself and instead receive God's strength.
Join the Conversation
Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.This week’s question is:
Question: What does the phrase 'be strong in the Lord mean to you? How have you walked out this verse of scripture in your life? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 48 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 44 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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Podcast Notes:
Prayer
Well, welcome again.
Let’s pray.
Father God, thank you for the strength that only comes by your hand. You make us strong. You make us fit for the battle. You strengthen our hands and our hearts. Strength is your way. It’s the Jesus way. It’s heaven’s way — thank you that it’s our way. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
A Strong Spirit and Divine Healing
You know, we have recorded several podcasts on ‘Methods of Divine Healing.’
Did you know that ‘inner strength’ is a contributing factor to healing?
We have scriptural evidence for that assertion.
One of the wisest men to ever walk the Planet said.
Proverbs 18:14 (ESV) — 14 A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?
The Hebrew word ‘endure’ has the basic meaning “to stand” or to stand firm.[2. William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 213.]
The word also means to sustain.
So, a strong spirit causes one to stand firm.
I like the Amplified Translation on this.
Proverbs 18:14 (AMP) — 14 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?
Obviously, a strong spirit is what you want.
Ephesians 6:10 (ESV) — 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
The word ‘be strong’ is the one we want to look at and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
‘Be strong’ means to cause to be able to function or do something.
The TNT translation of the Bible gives us the following sense.
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might’ is translated as ‘draw upon the Lord’s power and let him supply you with his mighty strength.’
‘Be strong’ is a verb in the passive voice and should be translated as “be continually strengthened.”
Since the verb is passive, that means you are not the one actively engaged in trying to generate this strength.
You are not generating it — you are receiving this strength into your spirit.
This ‘strong in the Lord’ strength is not something you add to your long ‘to do’ list of things you need to get accomplished.
The grammar is passive.
That means the action of the verb is being done to you.
You are allowing this strength to happen in you.
If the verb were active, than you would be the one actively trying to be strong. Just like the opening illustration where the father came along the son to supply the strength that he needed to move the rock.
Since it’s passive, you are the one receiving this strength from outside yourself.
Now, read this part again: ‘Be strong in the Lord.’
What do the words ‘in the Lord’ imply?
‘In the Lord’ means’ it’s His strength, not yours.
Again, God’s generating the strength not you.
If you’re the one trying to increase in strength, that speaks of you generating the effort.
Another way to look at this is by looking at a person who decides they want to get in shape.
They go to the gym and begin to lift weights.
This person is generating the effort to become strong.
The individuals discipline comes to bear.
They eat right; they exercise.
This individual is the source of the endeavor.
Of course, the discipline and consistency are God-kind of traits.
You can’t work up the strength you need to stand up against devils, demons, and evil spirits.
You can’t work up the strength to stand against sickness.
This strength comes from on High and it comes into your spirit so you can stand firm.
This strength rises out of being filled with God in your spirit.
I’m talking about the strong spirit of a man.
How does a child of God receive this much needed strength?
A Strong Spirit Comes By Building Yourself Up
Strength comes via acquisition.
How does a two-year-old become stronger?
What about a 12-year-old?
How about a 24-year-old?
What about any age where a person begins to apply him or herself to becoming stronger than they are?
Strength comes by doing not just dreaming.
You can’t dream your way into strength.
There’s application that must take place.
You have to push against resistance to become stronger.
Think about working out in a gym — making your body push against the resistance that weights provide is a method, that over time, makes you stronger.
Can we say it this way? — a strong spirit comes by building yourself up.
Jude 20 (ESV) — 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
The Greek word ‘building’ was used, prior to the New Testament, to mean building houses, temples, pyramids.[2. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 137.]
The New American Bible translates the word ‘building’ as ‘to grow strong.
Louw Nida says the word means’ ‘to strengthen or to make more able.’
I’m talking about a strong spirit here.
The Greek grammar shows that this ‘building up’ that we are to do is in the present tense.
That means this process of construction refers to a continual action.
Meaning, we never arrive at ultimate strength but we keep growing in that direction.
Every day that goes by, we keep pressing for strength.
So, we are talking about developing an inner maturity, [emphasis on developing].
We’re talking about growing spiritually, [emphasis on growing] in the things of God. [3. J. Harold Greenlee, An Exegetical Summary of Jude, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2008), 69.
A Strong Spirit Starts with a Measure of Strength
BDAG, which is my go to lexicon of choice, adds that the word ‘building’ means to build something on something already built.[4. William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 387.]
Now, this is a critical point.
So, we are talking about increasing something that’s already existing.
You already have some strength, but you’re building on top of it.
Again, go back to the illustration of the strength capabilities of a two-year-old.
A two-year old can lift something — they can lift a spoon, a teddy bear or a plush toy — they can lift something — they have a small measure of strength.
The same thing with the boy trying to life the rock out of the sandbox.
Here’s what you need to see and be encouraged by.
Strength is part of your being.
You’re not coming from a place of zero strength.
You are already a redeemed child of God.
You’re not a weakling — nor are you feeble in your faith.
You’ve already believed God for the greatest miracle ever, the new birth.
The Word of God has eneterd into your heart.
A measure of the God-kind of faith already exists in your spirit.
You couldn’t have been saved without it.
Jesus is your Lord — God is your heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit is your guide.
So, don’t look at yourself as a debilitated person just trying to get by.
“If I could only be strong like so and so.”
There you go, comparing yourself to others which the scripture says is not wise.
No, this same ’so and so person that you think is so strong’ has to build themselves up just you need to build yourself up.
You never arrive.
So instead of comparing yourself to some one else, instead see yourself as a growing believer.
Understand that you are a person of strength who is becoming stronger day by day via the Word of God.
By your simple study of God’s Word, you are building yourself up on your most holy faith.
Did you get that?
Straighten out your preception of your spirit.
Your spiritual house is not some old broken down shack in the backwoods of humanity.
A Strong Spirit: From One Level to Another
The psalmist declared in Psalm eighty-four.
Psalm 84:5–7 (ESV) — 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
We’re talking about strength today.
…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.
You go from strength to strength — from one level of strength to another.
Well, you may say, “I don’t feel very strong.”
What does feeling have to do with it?
You are a pristine building of God built on the foundation which is Jesus Christ.
It’s not a feeling — it’s a knowing.
You know and you act accordingly.
This knowledge is the solid rock upon which you are building, growing and developing.
Strong Spirit and the Word ‘Beloved’
Now, let’s go back to Jude 20 for a moment.
Jude 20 (ESV) — 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
Notice how Jude references the hearers of this epistle.
He calls them ‘beloved.’
Do you think of yourself as ‘beloved?’
That’s what you are ‘beloved’.
What does that mean?
The Greek word ‘beloved’ pertains to one who is in a very special relationship with another.
The word is used sixty-one times in the New Testament.
Jude considers his hearers as ‘beloved’ — in special relationship with him.
Did you know that God the Father called His Son Jesus ‘beloved’ as well?
Matthew 3:17 (ESV) — 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
So, the Father God called the Son ‘beloved’ meaning He has a special relationship with Jesus.
Now, Romans one, verse seven should knock your socks off.
Romans 1:7 (KJV 1900) — 7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The saints are ‘beloved’ of God the Father.
That means you — little old you — God has a special relationship with you.
This is who you are — ‘beloved’ — an individual greatly loved by God.
It’s the ‘beloved’ that are stepping forward and building themselves up.
They are doing it for love sake.
They’re doing it because they are in special relationship with God.
Now, let’s get to the how of all of this ‘building up.’
A Strong Spirit and Holy Faith
I’m still talking about a strong spirit here.
First, Jude says we are to build ourself up in your most holy faith.
Wow! Look at that descriptor — don’t miss it — your MOST HOLY faith.
Is that cool or what?
Your Father in heaven, says that the faith that you are trusting Him with is most holy and you are to build on that.
So, how do you build on that faith?
The same way you got the faith initially.
Romans 10:17 (ESV) — 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
So, if you are going to build yourself up on your most holy faith then you need to build yourself up on what produces holy faith.
And, that can only be one thing — the Word of God.
A Strong Spirit and Praying in the Spirit
But there’s yet another part to this.
We’re the beloved who are building ourselves up in our most holy faith but we are also doing something elese.
We are praying in the Holy Spirit.
What is that praying in the Spirit about?
Well, it is pray by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Praying by the inspiration of the Spirit can take two forms.
This prayer can come out of you in a known tongue — it can come out of you in an unknown tongue.
That is in a tongue unknown to you.
In the scripture, this is called speaking in other tongues.
Acts 2:4 (ESV) — 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Listen to it again — But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.
So, you can build yourself up via the Word of God and you can do the same via praying in the Spirit.
Praying in the Spirit means your spirit man is praying.
1 Corinthians 14:14 (ESV) — 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.
This praying in the Spirit is a powerful kind of praying that builds you up.
1 Corinthians 14:4 (ESV) — 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
I’m still talking about the strong spirit of a man.
So, why does praying with other tongues build you up?
Well, faith is involved.
You must trust God by stretching out and allowing Him to fill your mouth.
You can’t speak in other tongues on your own.
It’s the Holy Spirit in your spirit that gives you the utterance.
You must yield — you must trust — you must stretch out.
A Strong Spirit: God Is the Ultimate Source
You must know that God is the main source of strength.
Psalm 73:26 (ESV) — 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.Psalm 29:11 (NASB95) — 11 The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.
A Strong Spirit Praying for Strength
So, with all this going for you, how can you not be a person of strength?
You have a Bible that you can act on and grow.
Your spirit is in contact with God who is the ultimate source of strength.
Psalm 24:8 (ESV) — 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
The Lord is strong and mighty.
He is strength magnified.
And you can build yourself up by praying in the Spirit.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians.
Have you heard about it?
In chapter three, and verse sixteen.
Ephesians 3:14–18 (ESV) — 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
A Strong Spirit and Confessing Strength
Joel 3:10 (ESV) — 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
Let the weak say they are strong.
The scripture didn’t say ‘wait until you get strong and then say you’re strong.’
It said, ‘say you are strong while you are weak.’
You can talk your way into strength.
A Strong Spirit and Doing the Word
Can I encourage you today to put the Word of God into operation?
Be a doer of the Word.
Think of yourself in that vein.
Say that, “I’m a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.’
I was listening to my Bible this week on the way home from working out.
And I was in the book of Second Kings and this story of Josiah.
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign as a king in Judah, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem.
That’s what Second Kings twenty-two says.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father.
Now, if you drop to verse eight.
2 Kings 22:8 (ESV) — 8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
Now isn’t that an intriguing statement?
‘I have found the Book of the Law.’
What does that mean? — That it was lost or out of circulation?
No, it was available but it was being ignored.
You see Josiah’s father Manasseh reigned 57 years before Josiah and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
Manasseh ignored the Word to such an extent that no remebered that the scriptures even existed.
Now, scholars believe that the book they found was the book of Deuteronomy.
That book had been removed from its place by the side of the Ark.
Deuteronomy 31:26 (ESV) — 26 “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.
So here is Josiah.
He was eight years old when he became king.
He didn’t know anything about the book of Deuteronomy — the law.
Now, he is twenty-six years old.
2 Kings 22:10–11 (ESV) — 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
So, you see Josiah was king for 18 years and he was completely ignorant of the Law.
I’m talking about acting on the Word here.
But, as soon as he found out about it, he adjusted — he acted.
He repented.
Josiah inquired about the Word.
That’s the attitude we must have.
There’s a lot in the Bible that you don’t know but once you find out — adjust!
Now this is what the Lord said about Josiah’s corrective action.
2 Kings 22:15–11 (ESV) — 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD,
That’s Josiah.
thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’ ” And they brought back word to the king.
Repentance and humility is a good model to follow.
Isaiah 66:2 (ESV) — 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
There’s a lot of things about God that we may not know.
We may not know that a strong spirit is what God wants for your life.
But you’re finding this out now because you listened to this podcast.
So, humble yourself and act on the Word.
Look up these scriptures on your own.
Make them a part of your life.
Be convinced your own self.
Make the Word of God your own.
Now Father God, thank you once again that strength is available from the God of strength. We set our hearts and minds to act on the Word — to be doers of it in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
What It Means to Have a Strong Spirit
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.