Remaining Confident

While listening to a religious devotional program the other day, I heard two distinct phrases from the New Testament reading out of Hebrews 10:32-39. They are from verses 35 and 39 which state, “so, don’t throw away your confidence,” and “we do not belong to those who shrink back.”

The world is difficult, challenging and obviously bent to evil and selfishness. It is rather easy sometimes to become discouraged with the state of the Church, Believers, and even our own direction of life. The urge to quit, surrender or to just flat out stop trying so hard or refraining from putting forth so much effort has come to mind for consideration.

This is where the passage in Hebrews comes to encourage us to keep the faith and stay grounded in Jesus Christ. Nothing that this world could offer us is of any worth or value in comparison to our priceless faith in Jesus Christ and spending eternity with Him. Even hardship, difficulty, disappointments, loss, and any of life’s traumas do not contain any reasonable excuse to justify giving up.

The word “confidence” is the same word translated “boldness” back in Hebrews 10:19. We must continue to live boldly for Jesus no matter what the cost and remain steadfast in our faith.

It is saying that we should never toss aside our faith in a hasty retreat simply due to persecution, ridicule, mocking, or others resistance or rejections to our beliefs. We must continue to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Just because “life isn’t fair” or misfortunes befall us is no excuse to stop going to church, associating with other believers, reading the Bible and maintaining our relationship with Jesus. We don’t “shrink back” (verse 39). That is, we don't just "walk off" on God or "take a break" from our faith. The phrase "shrink back" implies we are on the road to apostasy.

May we never become “spiritual cowards” by “returning to the world” and waving the white-flag of surrender. We never retreat. We must guard against staying quiet or blending into the world so that “nobody notices” or bothers us about being a Christian. There is a saying “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Or, would there be so little evidence that you are set free?”

We must never abandon our faith in times of difficulties, uncertainties or persecution. Let us remember that endurance shows the world that your faith is genuine and sincere. Our enduring faith rests in what Jesus has done not only in the past, but what He is doing now and will be doing well into the future.

The Bible, along with our own past experiences, contains more than enough credible evidence that we can live fully confident in God. So, remain confident...and don't "shrink back!" Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Learn from Lydia

There are a lot of interesting mentions of women in the Bible. Whether it is the Old Testament or New Testament, there are many strong, yet oddly missed, lessons from women that we can familiarize ourselves with to strengthen our faith. One such woman is named Lydia. She provides a very powerful lesson for us. We find one particular mention of her in the book of Acts. Acts 16:14 , says that Lydia “reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying.” Lydia is actually a significant person in the New Testament. She is described as “a dealer in purple goods” (Acts 16:14). Pointing that out is quite a clue. Dealing in “purple goods” was considered a luxury in the ancient world. It is probably safe to say that she was both a woman of great financial means and able to deal successfully with the influential people of her time. She was also noted as having a great gift of persuasion. I think she might have been the only perso...

Tetelestai!

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in John 19:28 and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Did you know that the word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...

Asking "What" Instead of "Why"

Life is not easy and it is not void of struggle, challenges, pain, sorrow, loss, grief, and suffering. I am sure I can come up with more words than that, but this article would soon blossom to two to three pages in length. I am sure we are familiar with the trials and frustrations of Job in the Old Testament. Some of us might even be familiar with the words of Habakuk in 1:2 , “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” When things don’t go well or something tragic or unfortunate befalls us, we are faced with the struggles of crying out to God, “why me?” “Why, God, did you let this happen?” Many times, we too, grow frustrated and angry at God, for how He chooses to work within our situations and circumstances. We sure do end up asking God a lot of “why” questions. I believe “why” could be the wrong word to be using. Asking “why” seems to imply a lack of faith, ungratefulness, and, somehow, that we think God owes us an explanation, an answer or reaso...

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