THURSDAY JANUARY 9, 2020
SUBJECT : HOLD FAST YOUR CONFESSION OF FAITH?
Memory verse: "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." (Hebrews 4 vs 14.)
READ: Hebrews 10 vs 19 - 25:
10:19: Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,10:20: by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is His flesh,
10:21: and having a High Priest over the house of God,
10:22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
10:23: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful.
10:24: And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and to good works,
10:25: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.
INTIMATION:
Our confession of faith is in what Christ wrought for us in redemption. We are new creatures, created in Christ for good works. We have significant privileges associated with our new life in Christ: (1) We have personal access to God through Christ and can draw near to Him without an elaborate system; (2) we may grow in faith, overcome doubts and questions, and deepen our relationship with God; (3) we may enjoy motivation from one another; (4) we may worship together.
Jesus mediates between God and us. As humanity’s representative, He intercedes for us before God. As God’s representative, He assures us of God’s forgiveness. Jesus is truly God and truly man, and is seated at God’s right hand, interceding for us. He is always available to hear us when we pray. In our memory verse, the Scripture advises us, as Christians, to "hold fast our confession" of faith in tune with the Word of God in the Scripture, knowing that the Scripture cannot be broken (John 10 vs 35); that what the Father says is true, and sure, already settles in heaven.
Therefore, we come to God not halfheartedly or with improper motives or pretense, but with pure, individual, and sincere worship. We can know that we have “a true heart” if we evaluate our thoughts and motives according to His Word. Christians can approach God boldly, free from “evil conscience” and in full assurance because of the work Jesus Christ did for us in redemption. We can go to God without doubting, knowing that He will hear and answer us. Under the new covenant, our hearts and consciences are cleansed completely, not partially or temporarily. Our clean consciences allow us to enter God’s presence with boldness.
As a Christian, any confession you a make is a seed sowed in like manner, and you will reap according to what you sowed. Our faith, or unbelief is determined by our confession. Few of us realize the effect of our spoken word on our own hearts, or on our Adversary. He hears us make our confession of trust, confidence, or failure, of sickness, of lack, and apparently he doesn't forget. Remember he is the our accuser before God; accusing us of our weak or negative confession, and God allows us to unconsciously go down to the level of our confession. No one ever rises above his or her confession because God is a just God.
Everybody who walks by faith will have testings. They do not come from the Father; they come from the Adversary. God may allow the testings of the Adversary to test your faith and trust in Him. But as long as the Adversary can confuse the issue, and keep you in a state of flux, you are at a disadvantage. A state of flux is a state of continual changing, of insatiability, of double mindedness. The apostle James describes a double minded man as unstable in all his ways, and let not that man think he shall receive any thing of the Lord (James 1 vs 6 - 8.). What is your confession in prayer, and after prayer? Are you holding tight to your confession during prayer as well as after prayer? Or do you confess doubt and unbelief after prayer?
When we doubt His Word, it is because we believe something else that is contrary to the Word. Our confidence may be in the arm of flesh; it may be in medicine; it may be in institutions; but whatever our confidence is in, if it contradicts the Word it destroys our faith life, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11 vs 6). Consequently, It destroys our prayers, and brings us again into bondage.
There isn't any power in all the universe that can void any statement of fact in His Word. No Word from God is void of power. He said, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55 vs 11.) If your confidence is in that unbroken, living Word, then hold fast to your confession in the face of every assaults of the enemy. Sometimes, it may appear as though the prayer is not answered, hold on to it, though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come (Habakkuk 2 vs 3). God’s ways are forever the best, and therefore, He answers in our best interests. Though it might not be the way we wanted, but He aligns our desires with His purposes. He knows the best for us in any circumstances. It is your quiet assurance in His Word that gives you the supremacy over your adversary.
Prayer: Abba Father, my trust is in You. Forever Your Word is settled in heaven. My confession is in what Christ wrought for me in redemption, and assurances of Your Word. I hold fast to these without wavering, and may nothing take this away from me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD!
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