A Strong Spirit Will Sustain You
23
doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” What do good ministers do? They nourish you and build
you up in the words of faith. That doesn’t mean every sermon has to be on the subject of faith,
but every sermon is from faith, out of faith, in faith, and to faith. Faith is of the spirit. It’s not
mental. You don’t believe God with your mind. The mind is involved in it, but faith is not of the
mind.
Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart man believes...” With what do you believe God? I’m not
talking about your physical blood pump. You can’t believe God with your physical heart any
more than you can believe God with your kidney or with your lung. He’s talking about your
spirit, the inner part of your being—what you are and who you are. You believe God with your
heart. Faith is not mental. It’s not just based on what you know. You can know a lot and be full
of fear and doubt. You can know and quote several scriptures and be full of fear. Faith is of the
heart. Can you recognize a person whose spirit is strong and whose faith is strong? It’s not
intellectual; it’s spiritual, but it’s real.
I’m going to give you some very basic indicators of a strong spirit, and they will help you to
monitor yourself and to know what’s working and what’s not. There are indications, obvious
indicators, that show whether you’re getting stronger or getting weaker. Thank God there’s
something you can do about it. “Nourished up,” he said, “in the words of faith.” First Timothy
4:7 says, “Refuse profane and old wives’ fables...” He talked about two different things that
you’re eating spiritually: words of faith or a bunch of junk that’s not worth anything. The more
serious your situation, the more selective you ought to be about what you are seeing. Listen to
the direction of taking God’s medicine. “My son attend to my words.” (Proverbs 4:20) Attend to
His words.
How many Christians have attended to the doctor’s words instead? I thank God for doctors;
don’t misunderstand me. But many times, they’re just looking at the natural, and they are telling
people that nothing can be done, there’s no hope, or it’s in the last stage. People go home and
think only about those words, and they ignore God’s words. It makes their spirit weak. It drains
them, and they need something to nourish them.
Now, let me say it again, “I thank God for doctors.” If it wasn’t for doctors, nurses, and
medicine, many of us wouldn’t be alive. Do whatever the Lord tells you to do about letting the
doctor or the medicine or the operation help you, but don’t let any man’s word be your last word.
Follow the directions and attend to His words.
What did He say? Did He say anything about you living a long time and being satisfied or being
healed or being delivered? Then that is what you have to keep in front of your eyes. Don’t let
them depart from your eyes. You’ve got to keep it there night and day, and take it, because that
will feed life right into your spirit. It will strengthen you inside. It’s the difference between living
and dying young, prematurely.
You get your spirit strong the same way you get your physical body strong—by eating and
exercising, but eating
spirit
food and exercising
spiritually
.
