Don’t Lose Your Grip

 I woke up from a dream where I was at a church and the preacher was describing a personal relationship with Jesus vs just a head knowledge of who He is. It’s been on my mind a lot the past month about thinking you're saved but not having true salvation and the people that will fall in the category of calling out “Lord! Lord!” and Him resounding “Depart from Me, I never knew you”. I lived my whole life thinking I was saved until 2020 when He revealed Himself to me. Since then, Satan still periodically attacks my confidence and tries to get me to doubt my salvation. But, standing on the Word and what it says helps. This morning durning my quiet time I asked Him to speak to me and give me a word to boost my confidence and assurance. I talked with Him about my struggles that I'm having as I sit here praying and waiting, but seeing nothing happen. He knocked out two birds with one stone with a couple verses in Hebrews that happened to be in a footnote of my daily Proverb. 

“Run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." 

This gives me confidence that since He initiated my faith, He will perfect it and trusting Him to do that takes the sting out of Satan's attacks.

During my quiet time, God brought me to Hebrews 10:19-39 and spoke directly to my heart through this passage. If anyone struggles with wondering if your salvation is genuine, my advice is to remember that its not on you anyway. You can't earn it. All you need is a sincere heart fully trusting in Him. He takes care of the rest. 

Hebrews 10:22 says "let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. " 

Sincere heart, Christ's blood. It’s that simple. 

I also really like v23 "let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise."  

Hope has to be held on tightly to. Anyone who has been in a seemingly hopeless situation can attest to just how quickly hope can slip through your fingers if you don't have a firm hold on it. Remembering God can be trusted to keep His promises is what will keep you from losing your grip.

Back to Satan's attacks on questioning salvation. It ties really well into my concern not only to make sure I'm right, but make sure others don't blindly end up on the wrong side when Jesus returns. Satan's attack on my faith these last couple weeks really led to some self reflection that I think we could all benefit from. The most comforting thing for me that He revealed this morning was tangible evidence of what a sincere heart looks like. 

A desire to not sin. 

Hebrews 10:26 is a really good self evaluation verse. 

"Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God's judgement and the raging fire that will consume His enemies."

 If we have a sincere heart we won't be okay knowing something is wrong and deliberately doing it anyway. Which is why one of the most telling fruits of true salvation is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Hebrews 35-39 really spoke to me about my struggles in this waiting phase. And it was verses 35-36 when I could clearly tell He was speaking to me and silencing Satan’s lies. 

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Its so cool to come to Him with struggles or attacks from the enemy and Him walk you through every point. Kill the lies, build you up with confidence, then give you what you really need after all the fluff is cut. 

Now check out how these verses in chapter 10 tie beautifully into chapter 12 where you’ll see God give us clear instruction on how to follow through with this sort of endurance by following the example Christ sets for us. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross. We can hold onto that same hope. The joy awaiting us in eternity with Him and remembering all He went through . My problems are nothing compared to the agony and humiliation He suffered. Focus on this and verse 3 says “we won't become weary and give up”. It definitely takes all the wind out of my sails when focusing on my problems, so the key to patient endurance is focusing on how Jesus endured what He did. The prize was worth the pain for Him, and if we shift our priorities the same is true for us. 

 “So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong." Hebrews 12:12

He reminded me in v12 that He knows I'm tired but people are watching and followed that up with a warning in verses 14-15

"Work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grades of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” 

These two verses are powerful. After shedding lies, building me up, and giving me confident assurance, He leaves me with this reminder: Work. Work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life. None of this is easy. His word is reminding me it’s not supposed to be. The urgency behind work is so that we can look after each other and make sure none of us go without receiving God’s free gift of grace. We can't do that if bitterness grows in our hearts. Notice it says bitterness grows to trouble you, corrupting MANY. Negativity is powerful. And it affects others more than yourself. We have to build each other up while evaluating ourselves to make sure no bitterness takes root within.

This morning God really came through in my frustrated prayers.

James tells us that if anyone lacks wisdom, to ask God who gives freely without reproach. Two chapters this morning touched on every issue I came to God with in my prayers. It’s so encouraging to come to Him and He freely give us those moments where the Word is so clear that we know for certain He is speaking to us. Especially when you start in proverbs and get redirected all the way to Hebrews by "coincidence" There are no coincidences when dealing with God. He's there. He's  listening, and He's ready to talk it out with you if you come to Him with your real feelings and concerns. He already knows what's in your heart. Pour it out. He can handle it. We want our children to come to us with their problems and our heavenly Father is no different with us. Find someone to encourage and let's look after each other so nobody fails to receive God’s grace. Time is short, Jesus is coming back. Let's make sure our sphere of influence leads people to Jesus and remember to keep a firm grip on His promises and our hope that comes from them.