Hang Onto Faith

In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38 it says, "But the righteous one will live by faith." It also says in that same chapter verse 35, "So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded." The Hebrews were struggling with trying to hang onto the promises of God and we have that same struggle today.

Sometimes we pray and pray and the answer we want doesn’t come. When that happens we can get very disappointed. Sometimes we feel like we are barely hanging on. Sometimes we can become very desperate and grow weary of holding on to the faith we have professed for so long.

I have said this in other lessons but it is worth repeating, we are in a battle for our souls and our enemy is very much alive. Much of his battling with us will be in our minds. He is the great deceiver and a liar.

When we read the news or watch it on TV most all of it is negative. The world paints a bleak future with a lot of deception and lies. The non-believer is so deceived they can’t tell the truth from a lie or they just don’t care. Think of this, if you listen to the same lies over and over again you become desensitized and after awhile you receive whatever it is as truth. It is like putting a frog, or lobster, in water, as the water heats up they don’t seem to notice and they don’t even try to get out of the water.

Don’t be deceived by the things you hear. It seems like the enemy has come in like a flood and has infiltrated every form of logic. He has even worked his way into the church and caused havoc. There are so many people that believe a lie instead of the truth. Think about the people that are dying, and have died, for what they believed was truth and it was a lie. The name of Jesus and all that He stands for is hated.

If you are not careful you will believe that our enemy is winning this battle but he is not and he never will. It may seem at times like he is running rampant and nothing can stop him but the Bible says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19) The enemy will only get so far and then he will be defeated. I want to encourage you to not loose your confidence, God will break through on your behalf and His promises will come to pass.

Let me share what the writer of Hebrews said to encourage the believers in his time and I hope it will encourage you also. Verse 32 in that same chapter says, "Remember in those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering." The writer wanted to remind the believers that even though they suffered a great deal they held their ground in the face of it all. At that time they were probably so excited they would have endured anything for the Lord. Isn’t that the way you felt at you conversion?

Then it goes on in verse 33, "Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated?" I don’t know about you, but these things happened to me and I need this reminder.

Not many of us have experienced what the Hebrew believers did according to this next verse, in verse 34 it says, "You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." The writer is encouraging these believers to remember how joyful and happy they were when they first came to believe. At that time they were ready to give up everything just to have that personal relationship with Jesus.

What about you, didn’t you feel the same way? Try to think of it like this, we may have lost some battles along the way but we haven’t lost the war. We may be very discouraged with the things we see and hear. Maybe our prayers and expectations haven’t been answered or met the way we wanted yet, but God is still on the throne and He has it all under control. In His time He will come through. Please don’t throw away your confidence and don’t give up, you will never be sorry. Hang in there and keep on keeping on. Keep the faith and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord! God bless you and have a great day!