Strengthen Yourself In The Lord [Paperback]

This book came at a time where I needed to learn how to strengthen myself in the Lord. Johnson brings out great principles and also shares portions of his life and what God taught him through them. As Johnson said, these areas that he writes about are not exhaustive, but they are areas that have been more common to him to deal with.

One area that Johnson writes about is that we need to protect ourselves from things that can distract us or discourage us, or take us away from the Word of God and His promises. I think this is very applicable today especially when we have so many differing views about things, and we can easily get distracted. Also, it seems in some circles that knowledge is their "god" but trying to accomodate every view and perspective can lead us eventually astray. We need a healthy sense of "denial". Logic and reasoning cannot be held higher than God.

Below are some great statements that Johnson made in this book:
- God is not responsible for making us reach our potential (p. 25).
- It is impossible for anyone to reach his ultimate destiny in life without learning to minister to himself (p. 27).
- My job is to trust my heavenly Father with the problems and situations I don't understand, and focus on stewarding my will to what I know to be true. My success in watching over my heart determinies the measure of Kingdom breakthrough I will experience in life (pg. 34).
- The tests that David endured were tests that specifically addressed his ability to keep focus on his identity and purpose. He was tested by coming into circumstances that directly contradicted God's Word over his life (pg. 39).
- God never sets us up to fail - only to grow (pg. 41).
- God not only prepares us for conflict, He leads us right into it (pg. 46).
- Difficulty has a way of exposing the degree to which our lives and minds have been truly transformed by a heavenly perspective for certain responses to be habitual (pg. 52-3).
- Try to live in such a way that nothing ever gets bigger than our consciousness of God's presence (pg. 60).
- It becomes really hard to stay depressed about your circumstances when you're filled with the awareness of the love and goodness that surrounds and infuses your life (pg. 61).
- By lining my physical body up with what the Word said, I brought my whole being into agreement with the truth (pg. 69).
- Desperation is not always an expression of faith (pg. 88).
- Every generation that stopped walking in their covenant with God did so because they forgot His works (pg. 111).
- The standard we set for ears also determines our ability to strengthen ourselves because strengthening ourselves begins with our choice to listen to God's voice more than any other (pg. 122).
- Not all ungodly counsel comes from the ungodly (pg. 125).

Bill Johnson has written "Strengthen yourself in The Lord" to share the tools that he has learned to use to strengthen himself in the Lord. He shares things that brought him through tough days when faced with turmoil in his own experiences.

Lessons from the Life of David encourage the reader to use initiative in discovering God's unique priority, identity, and purpose as you seek to fulfill your spiritual destiny.

Listening in prayer and meditation on the Word of God are tools that Bill urges the reader to develop. These tools allow the Lord to "open the eyes of our understanding" to release His promises to strengthen us. Solitude, humor, focus, facing failures, handling successes, and allowing the Holy Spirit to sustain through barren times are other important tools Bill recommends.

Johnson writes with clarity and conviction. Bill has the crisp writing style of a gifted communicator. This is an important book that should be read, studied, read again, and assimilated into the development of a victory plan for your life.

Wow, another great book by Bill Johnson. This book will teach you how to strengthen yourself in the Lord. We need to Rejoice, Pray and give thanksgiving.

God will bring moments into our lives when we have to stand alone in difficulty and testing without people by our sides. He wants us to learn how to encourage ourselves in the Lord. One of the ways is through praise and worship. We are to establish praise as a lifestyle.

We also need to know when to stay away from negative people. God wants us to minister to them, but not let them pull us down. Our heart is like a garden. Some people are good at planting weeds, while others plant the Kingdom. Our job is to know the difference.

Remember the Joy of the Lord is our strength and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.