Tag: holding on

No More…

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When brokenness is healed, the recovery of wholeness is known.

When wrongs are made right, sorrow and tears are no more.

How often do we look for days like that during our living?  Alas, we are not promised the absence of these worldly foes.  The promise we do have and hold so dear is that one day their grip on us will be no more.

The thought of “no more” is a beautiful thought.  It’s not the joys of life we want to erase.  Nor the happy moments we seek an exit from.  Rather, it’s the things that squeeze our hearts with pain and despair.  The things that press upon us like a heavy weight that we can’t seem to get relief from, searing us with sadness and dread, and so we seek to get away from it as fast as we can. 

But despite it all, we have an assurance that we won’t face these days forever.  There will come a time when their mark will be but a distant memory. 

With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and His shed blood giving us access to heaven, those within the walls of that beautifully eternal city will no longer be associated with the disturbances of living that being in this flesh brings. 

There, there will be peace unimaginable and joy inexpressible.  Because there, the things we warred against and worried over in this flesh will be no more.  Instead, there the hand of our loving heavenly Father reaches out and gently and tenderly wipes the tears of what we experienced fighting through this life on earth, away. 

I try to imagine the absolute freedom that will bring.  I try to think of the final release of letting everything go from here that we dealt with, what will it be like?

It may be hard to imagine what that time of no more will look like while we are still in this flesh. So, we hold on to His promises for dear life that strengthen our daily hope for that day.  Because we know when the Bible says, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17), that promise is our very real reality when all this will pass away.

No more.  What could you do if you didn’t have to deal with _______________ no more? 

Although we are not there yet, we can foster an environment that will shore up our faith for the wonderful future that awaits us.

Some principles we can incorporate are:

  • Watch and pray.  “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).  Remain vigilant and be on guard against any detractors in contradiction of your holy destiny.
  • Feed your faith.  “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,” (Jude 1:20).  The authority of what you have coming as a holy inheritance is based on what Christ has already done, and what the Word promises is yours.  Continue to feed on that Word like a starved man seeking to be truly filled. 
  • Live honorably for that day.  “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).  Continue to live what you believe to be true and right.  Your daily steps will speak more about who you really are than a million well-to-do messages ever will.
  • And produce the Fruit of the Spirit.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).  Your living is not just for your own inheritance, but to help others see the light (Matthew 5:16) so they will be drawn to experience Him who can give them the gift of “no more,” too. 

These principles will help to keep your heart, mind, and faith concentrated on the reward ahead and not the messes of today. 

The idea of no more may seem hard to comprehend, but the realness of it is as sure as God Himself wiping every tear from your eyes.  It will come to pass.

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉!

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Habakkuk tells us, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry,” (2:3). Shortly after that in the next verse, he says, “The just shall live by his faith,” (2:4b). Every word of God for good or for bad, for happy or for sad, for those who believe or for those who don’t believe, it will come to pass! Our heavenly Father knows what He is doing. We may not always understand the pause in the plan, but wait. We may not fully comprehend how this is working out for our good, but wait. In the waiting, our faith is becoming more active and alive. In our waiting, faith is speaking on our behalf that we trust God and His perfect plan for our lives.

The Bible reminds us:

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” – Psalm 37:7

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” – Psalm 27:13, 14

So this is my declaration for today: “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” – Micah 7:7

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Uncompromising!

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Genuine. 

Real. 

No hypocrisy. 

No pretense. 

No compromising. 

Just honest to goodness, holding on to one’s integrity with every fiber of their being.  “This is what I believe, and I’m sticking to it!”  The person who governs his or her faith by these attributes is a person who is truly sold out for God.

This one will unashamedly hold on to their beliefs despite circumstances.  They are as clear as transparent glass in their true devotion to God.  What you see is what you get.  They are the same inside and out.  They are as unwavering in their faith behind closed doors as they are in the open square.  They are the same in the streets as they are in the church house.  Their walk with God doesn’t swing on the hinges of what is convenient or comfortable or safe.  They live for Him, for an audience of One, in the good times and the bad.

No backing down.  No false or phony surface worship.  Their hearts are truly tied to God in the most real of ways, and substituting for less just is not an option.  And let’s face it, in a world filled with so many things that are artificial, at the very least, one’s faith should be real.

At least, that’s what Daniel and his friends: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah believed. Chosen to enter the king’s training program designed to indoctrinate them while being held captives in Babylon, they were given favorable treatment and “a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank,” (Daniel 1:5). While all of this may sound good on the outside, on the inside some things that came with this special favor didn’t sit right with Daniel. It came with a price that Daniel was not willing to pay. The price: compromise.

So, the Bible tells us, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, not with wine which he drank . . .” (Daniel 1:8). Historically, traditionally, and according to the Law, to do so would be to participate in that which is considered unclean and not appropriate for the strict dietary guidelines of their faith.

Special privilege or not; an opportunity to advance and make life easier for himself could not and would not cause Daniel to do anything that would eat away at his conscience in his relationship with God.  Throughout his young life, he has known nothing but to adhere to the ways of his people passed down from generation to generation under the instruction of God.  Now that he was in captivity and at the disposal of the enemy’s power and influence, Daniel still persisted uncompromisingly to hold on to his belief and not waiver from what he had been taught to be right.  The enemy’s goal may have been to indoctrinate these young people with their own ways, but God was already seared on their hearts and Daniel and his friends were resolved to keep it that way. They may have been in a strange country now and under strange human leadership, but their hearts were still tied to God and His ways, and they were determined with everything in them to follow God all the way.

Following God all the way, that’s the true definition, in my opinion, of an uncompromising life. We all face decisions and choices in life that may not sit well with us. They may ask us to do things that we feel aren’t pleasing to God or we know that it’s just out and out wrong. Jesus helps us with those decisions by plainly and without apology reminding us, “No man can serve two masters . . .” (Matthew 6:24). To follow the world would be to deny God. To follow God, as Daniel and his friends did, would mean turning your back on the world, the desires, and those things that we believe would make our life easier and advantageous.

When Daniel and his friends decided to stay with God and not take the easy way out, God blessed their faithfulness: “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17). Previously, God made it known, “For them that honour me I will honour” (1 Samuel 2:30). Our God is a just God and He believes in rewarding them that diligently seek Him and His ways (Hebrews 11:6). In the end, God elevated Daniel and his friends with more.

Even if the reward isn’t as immediate. Even if we don’t see it on this side of heaven, God is still calling for uncompromising people of faith to pick up the standard of His Word and live it.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments . . .” Psalm 111:10

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