Hold Onto Your Faith

 

    Hebrews 10:35

Hold onto, and maintain your confidence, your assurance, for it holds a great reward. 

HOLDING ONTO OUR FAITH

    Holding onto our faith and maintaining our faith are two separate actions. 
     To hold onto something is to hold it close to our chest with both arms and hands supporting whatever we are carrying in front of us. But it also requires us to have strong backs in order to carry it in an upright position. 
      Our legs may get wobbly beneath the weight of whatever it is we are carrying, but even if we stumble, we cannot allow ourselves to fall, for then it is possible that whatever we are carrying could drop out of its holding position. 
     To hold onto our faith in Christ is to keep it in our hearts and our thoughts at all times. It is to reject anything, however seemingly minor, that would cause us to drop our faith in Christ, cause us to doubt or even disavow our faith in Christ. We must hold onto our faith in Christ Jesus even when everyone is against us, or seems to be against us. 

MAINTAINING OUR FAITH
     To maintain our faith in Christ Jesus is to continue to believe that God's Word is Faithful and True. It is to know that you know that you know this fact. Fear has no place in faith. Doubt has no place in faith in Christ. Even death has no place in faith. 
     To maintain our faith in Jesus Christ is to be obedient to The Word of God and the Voice of The Holy Spirit. It is to seek God daily in prayer and in reading His Word for ourselves. It is also to hear God's Word being spoken by God's anointed ministers. 
     Jesus tells us to "love one another as I have loved you". How does Jesus love us? Amazingly. With a neverending Love. Unconditionally. It is God's nature to love. We know this because we know that "God is Love". 
     And then Jesus tells us to "Love your neighbor as yourself". How do we love ourselves? Well, we make sure we are fed and clothed and housed and healthy. Are our neighbors? And just who is my neighbor? Anyone I meet on this road of life is my neighbor. How can I love them like I love myself? I can pray for them. I'm praying to a powerful, loving God, Who can meet the needs I cannot.

PRAYER OF FAITH FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
     Dear Heavenly Father, 
Thank You for this day and everything in it. Thank You for the many blessings You have given me today. Thank You for clean water, good food, clothes to wear, shoes on my feet. Thank You for Jesus in my heart, a Bible to read, and The Holy Spirit in my life. 
Father, bless those who have none of my benefits, that their needs would be met according to Your Word, Your Will and Your Spirit. 
Strengthen Your people where we stand, Lord, in prison and out. Bind our wounds, heal our diseases and raise our dead to the astonishment, frustration, salvation and deliverance of those who persecute and kill us for Your Name's sake, that Your kingdom would increase and Your Name be glorified.
     In Jesus' Wonderful Name, Amen. 

HYMN OF THE DAY

  BLESSED ASSURANCE
(Fanny Crosby - ca. 1873)
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
    O, what a foretaste of glory divine!
    Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
    born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
    visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
    angels descending, bring from above
    echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
    I in my Savior am happy and blest;
    watching and waiting, looking above,
    filled with His goodness, lost in His love. [Refrain]

OUR HOPE OF SALVATION

     Our confidence, our assurance, our faith in Jesus Christ as our Hope of Salvation is a major stepping stone in receiving a great reward at the end of our journey. 
     Knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life now, and living in His Name now, is the preemptive basis of my life in eternity. It is living a life filled with wonder and awe, even when I navigate unexpected events, with the full knowledge that God still loves me and is with me through it all. 
     Having this kind of faith in Christ is the most important decision any person will ever make in their entire life. It is more important than choosing a mate. More important than finding the right place to live in. More important than whether or not to have children. More important than a job, or even a job promotion. It is even more important than familial ties and who our friends are. 
     The best thing that can come from believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior is the knowledge that when this life is over, and I cross death's threshold, I will be face to face with my Lord and Savior forevermore. 
     But the second best thing that can happen because of what I believe and refuse to stop doing? The people in my family will give their hearts to Christ Jesus, too.

Heart & Soul - -To Love My Neighbor

 

Mark 12:31

"The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is not another commandment greater than these."

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 4139

Neighbor: near, nearby

From the Greek word 'plésion' (pronounced play-see'-on): friend, any other person irrespective of race or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet.

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

    When a question that is asked every time this commandment is brought up, it is good to have the correct answer. And Jesus gave it in Luke 10:25-37 (The Good Samaritan).

One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.
But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’
Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
“The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

    Who is my neighbor? You. You are my neighbor. You are just as much my neighbor as the person living next door to me, just as much as the person(s) living with me. Anyone other than myself is my neighbor. 

HOW DO I LOVE MY NEIGHBOR?

    It's rather simple, really. The first five commandments tell us how to love God, the second five, how to love each other. Unless we do the first five, the second five will be impossible. Yes, we can still be nice to each other, even tolerant, to a degree, of each other. But unless we love God first, we cannot love our neighbor as ourselves, nor can we love each other the way God loves us. 

    God loves us and love comes from God. 1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

    God loves us because God IS love. 1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

    God extended His love towards mankind through the person of Jesus Christ, His Word Whom He wrapped in flesh and sent to die in our place, that the ones who believe this might have eternal life and live with God forever. John 13:34 "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another."

    An all-encompassing Love which covers all faults, all sins, all transgressions, all iniquities, all wrong-doings is how God loves us and how we are to love each other. Matthew 6:14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you."

To love my neighbor is to forgive my neighbor. 

 Matthew 6:12.

   To love my neighbor is to show mercy to my neighbor.

 Matthew 18:33.

    To love my neighbor is to not carry a grudge against my neighbor, nor to take vengeance against my neighbor. 

  Leviticus 19:18.

To love my neighbor is to tell them the truth and not lie.

   Ephesians 4:25

To love my neighbor is to forgive immediately after being angry at them.

  Ephesians 4:26-27

To love my neighbor is live with honor and not take what is not mine.

  Ephesians 4:28

To love my neighbor is to edify my neighbor, building them up and not tearing them down.

   Ephesians 4:29

To love my neighbor is to not grieve the Holy Spirit.

  Ephesians 4:30

    To love my neighbor is to be kind and tenderhearted to one another. 

   Ephesians 4:31-32.

AS MYSELF

    How do we love ourselves? Not everyone loves their self. We are always trying to change what we do not like about ourselves. Ultimately, we can only change so much of what we do not like. We need God to change us on the inside, in our hearts. Will be content with ourselves right away? Probably not. While some changes appear instant, the point of fact is that even the smallest change requires time.

    The selfies we are so prone to taking only show the external changes in our faces and bodies. What if we took a selfie of our hearts? Do you think that would be just as wonderful to look at? It would if God's reflection showed in it. 

    Some of us find it hard to forgive ourselves when we've done something wrong, when we've sinned. I tell you, don't let the devil bring you down to his level. God has promised to forgive you when you admit to Him that you've sinned against Him. We are washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ in whom we believe. 

    God forgives us. We forgive ourselves. We forgive each other. 

God loves us. We love ourselves. We love each other. This love is evident in how we behave towards each other; the words we choose to use to one another; the attitudes (how we think) we have towards others. All of this is an expression of love towards God, an obedience to His command to "Love One Another".

LOVING MY NEIGHBOR 

Jesus At The Center

Jesus Got Ahold of My Life

Loving God, Loving Each Other

Break Every Chain

We Will Stand