WE have been teaching on the second major hindrance to receiving from God which we have identified as doubt and last week we left off saying that one of the ways to deal with doubt is by taking a righteous position and not wavering from it.
We said that you must have a position; take a position on God’s word. Make up your mind that you are a believer and that you are going to believe God. Yes your position will be contested but that contention will give you greater strength and will move heaven to operate on your behalf. As it is written, how long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Many of us got born again at a time when being born a again was not popular in Nigeria. Despite the fact that people thought we were weird, we took it a step further and started speaking in other tongues. These positions cost us at the time but now it is like it has made us the toast because we have demonstrated that we are consistent and that which we have stood for has proven to be the truth of God’s word.
You must have a position; like Elijah asked, how long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. When you take the position to stand with God’s word, you are brought into a place of power in your life.
My sisters, do not fling around and play around three or four brothers; take a position. Do not sit down looking at the brother with your natural eyes trying to examine his future; you are a spiritual person so pray to God and listen to your heart. Watch his character and his consistency in things and then commit when you are satisfied.
I tell you my wife took a position on me when I had nothing but a vision and a consistent life. Then it might have looked like she only took a chance on me but it was not really a chance because she studied my character and consistency.
We say in marriage counselling often that one of a woman’s greatest need is financial security. Now I am not saying that you must have a hundred million dollars in the bank, but that you must first have a vision which you are pursuing and are consistently demonstrating the pursuit with all your speech and actions.
There has to be consistency in your character and that must not be affected by feelings or circumstances. You cannot let your joy and happiness be dictated by things around you. The word of God should be your joy. For some people, a little problem can cause them not to come to church. That is a shame sorry to say.
Heb. 10:19-23 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God;
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. Now look at this verse; because of all Jesus has done for us, because of His shed blood and because of all that His sacrifice has made available to us, the Bible says Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
This verse says “hold fast”; keep doing what God has told you to do except or until He speaks and tells you different. The word says hold fast the profession of our faith (another translation says the confession of our faith) without wavering.
This means you are always saying the same thing. They ask you how you are today and you reply, the Lord is good and his mercies endure forever. They ask you the same thing tomorrow and your answer is the same: the Lord is good and His mercies endure forever. You do not put any “buts” there because though there may be things that you are going through, you know that the Lord who is good with mercies that endure forever is working on the issue therefore you insist on your confession.
Because you know what Jesus has done for you and because you know that you are the victor, because you know the end from the beginning and that you are coming out on top, hold fast to your confession of faith.
God gives you a business idea and you invest time and money in it but it flops; you try something else but that one flops too. Then you try to form some partnerships but it crumbles; as long as it was God who spoke to you, I tell you my brother, hold fast. Stay with it because everything will be tried. Everything will be proven.
Listen to your heart and if the peace of God is still there stay with it and start building another team. Start trusting God again for new partnerships. Whatever it is, hold fast without wavering because as it is written, He that has promised is faithful.
Because of what you know about Him, hold fast to your confession of faith. Do not waver or shift in your opinion. If you see yourself as a multimillionaire, keep seeing it so. You see yourself as a billionaire, keep seeing it so. You see yourself married, keep seeing it so; hold fast to it knowing that He that has promised is faithful.
I read a leadership book some time ago where a Pastor of a Lutheran church interviewed close to a hundred people in top leadership positions from all spheres of life to find out what the common denominator for their success was. These were people who were outstandingly successful.
What he found out was that these individuals are those who have developed the strength of character and ability to hold on to a vision or goal even when it seems like nothing good is going to come out of it. This pastor said that for those kinds of people, unseen forces come to their help.
I tell you when it seems like you are down and out, keep holding on and before you know what is happening, out of the woodwork, unseen forces will come to your aid. This pastor said that resilience is the most exceptional skill of leadership and he found it to be the common denominator among all those at the top in all spheres of life.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;).
After you have dealt with your fears and are still dealing with your fears (because it is something that you have to keep dealing with), the next thing you have to keep dealing with is your doubts. Again you may ask, how do I keep dealing with my doubts? The simple answer is, by being single minded.
Make up your mind to be single minded. Begin to practice in other areas of your life: when you are talking with your friends, take positions based on knowledge and truth and do not stand neutral. At the end of the day, that is where you will find the respect and the honour that you are looking for.
To be continued…
