Be Steadfast
& Unmovable
1 Corinthians 15:57-58
But thanks
be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in
the Lord.
My Experience, Strength
& Hope
The opening verse for
the message this week gives us a promise and a victory declaration to speak out
loud over our lives – hallelujah! Instead of saying, “I’m an addict” we can
say, “Thank You Lord that through Jesus You give me the victory and I am free from
all bondage!” Because of Jesus I will be
steadfast. I will be immovable. I will abound in the work of the Lord. I know
that my labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
My friend, that is what
applying God’s word is all about. Saying it out loud and applying it to
ourselves, by faith every day. The more verses we can pick out to say every day
the better. What is important to make note of here is that we need to hear from
the Lord every day and know what He is asking us to stand on specifically by
faith. When we hear what He says, then we can keep saying it and standing on it
knowing He will bring it to pass in our lives if we really believe it.
We can also add other
verses in His word as they apply to our day to day struggles and situations.
Really believing it and confessing it out loud will produce a harvest over
time. And even if we didn’t do so great one day, we can get back in the race
and keep on going the next day – we can be steadfast. We can be unmovable. All
we have to do is place our faith 100% on the word of God.
If we really do have
faith in God and His word, there is no reason for anyone to ever fail because
God’s word never fails. For example, if you were trying to quit smoking, you
could do something like this. Every time you pick up a cigarette you say,
“Thank You Lord, I’m free.” And every time you take a puff, say it again,
“Thank You Lord, I’m free.” Keep saying it. When you buy a pack of cigarettes,
say, “Thank You Lord, I’m free.” When you lay the pack down by your bed at
night, say, “Thank You Lord, I’m free.” In time, you will become free. This can
be applied to any form of addiction. If Jesus is your Savior, and you want to
make Him your Lord, just trust in the power and authority that He already gave
you and keep standing on His word and speak it out loud over yourself in faith.
Say what you want to see
yourself doing in the future as if it has already happened. Faith calls those
things that be not as though they already were. (Romans 4:17) There was a man who approached our pastor with this
very problem. He was addicted to smoking and did not think he could quit. He
said he could not quit smoking no matter what he tried. Our pastor asked him to
never say “I can’t” again. Then he gave him the advice I just mentioned.
Within a month, the man
approached our pastor with his face beaming and said, “I’m free!” He had quit
smoking and lost the urge to ever pick up a cigarette again! Glory to God. Our
words are more powerful than most people really think. We can do this for
anything we have been struggling with. It can be food, alcohol, drugs, you name
it.
If we keep saying His
word out loud in faith (be steadfast!) – regardless of what has happened or how
things look, in time we will see His word bud. Then it will spring forth and
produce the sweet fruit of victory in our lives. You see, God’s word is a seed.
When we plant it in our heart in faith, over time, it will begin to bud and
blossom. Our faith is what shines on the word (like the sunshine needed for any
healthy plant to grow) in our lives and causes things to happen. I have seen it
work for me again and again. If I missed it one day, I just confessed, repented
and got back up and continued to depend on God and His word again the next day.
I depend on the power of His Spirit.
We will not be able to
achieve success in our own strength. I have had to learn this the hard way to
be certain! But God’s Holy Spirit will get the job done, if we will cooperate
with Him. I can’t explain how He does it, but I stand forever amazed that He
does. Glory to His name forever! Being in His presence and working with His
word by faith really does produce results.
Conversely, if we are
watching TV, reading magazines and watching the news and weather all the time,
we will miss it. We must focus on the Lord and His word. We must spend time in
His presence. That is the best place to be after all. And there is no Christian
on this earth who does not have the power and authority over the enemy and
their flesh. They just have to use it.
The last part of today’s
verse is a command. It is something the Lord is telling us that we must do. We
must be steadfast. According to Webster’s Dictionary, this means to be devoted
to something, or loyal – firmly fixed in place. Have you ever ‘dug your heels
in’ on something? You refused to budge. Well, this is the same type of thing.
We should dig our heels in and refuse to be moved from our labor in the Lord.
We need to be unmovable – refusing to budge. Again, it is a determined effort
to remain steady on something.
If it is to overcome an
addiction, then that should be our stance. We refuse to give up until the thing
is starved to death and no longer bringing thorns into our lives. The best way
I have found to overcome an addiction – and I have had to overcome several, is
to starve it. I had to be determined to get past it. God told me I could so I
stuck with it. That is what it means to be steadfast and unmovable, abounding
in the work of the Lord.
Don’t feed the
addiction. Instead, feed your faith by speaking the word of God over yourself.
In so doing, you will find out how God gives you the ability to be steadfast
and unmovable so you can abound in the work of the Lord.
Scriptures from This Message…
This week,
we will focus a lot on the power of our words, running our race and finishing
strong – being steadfast and unmovable. For example, look at these key points about
our words…
Luke 6:45
A good man out of the good treasure of his
heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the
heart his mouth speaketh.
·
Our words should reflect our
desires
·
Our words should reflect our
confidence in the dreams we have in our hearts
·
Our conversations should be
used to magnify (make a big deal of) our dreams
·
God’s words created the world
·
Our words create our world
·
Words can link people together
·
Our words are the bridge to
our future
Next, we
need to understand that while speaking has a very strong and specific purpose,
we also need to remember that there is a time to be silent.
Look at
these points…
Proverbs
18:21
Death and
life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it
will eat its fruit.
·
We must stay silent when it
comes to revealing the damage the enemy has done
·
We must stay silent rather
than discuss the weakness of others or bring up their past
·
We must stay silent to avoid
advertising our own mistakes
Now that we have laid the groundwork to
understand the power of our words, let’s look at some scriptures about
speaking, being steadfast and always abounding in the work of the Lord…
Genesis 1 (NKJV)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth
was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was
hovering over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the
waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the
firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it
was so.
Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered
together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to
its kind, whose seed is in
itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
Then God said, “Let
there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the
night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and
let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the
earth”; and it was so.
Then God said, “Let the
waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above
the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”
Then God said, “Let the
earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and
creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.
Then God said, “Let Us
make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over
all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them. Then God blessed them, and
God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every
living thing that moves on the earth.”
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth,
and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also,
to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that
creeps on the earth, in which there
is life, I have given every
green herb for food”; and it was so.
Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
Psalm 18:29
For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my
God have I leaped over a wall.
Proverbs 4:10-13
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the
years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I
have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened;
and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction;
let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
2 Timothy 2:3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 2:12
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we
deny him, he also will deny us.
Matthew 10:22
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's
sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
1 Corinthians 3:14
If any man's work abide which he hath built
thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
Isaiah 40:28-31 (NKJV)
Have
you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding
is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no
might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the
young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Luke
14:25-33
And there went great multitudes with him: and
he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower,
sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to
finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to
finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to
build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make war against
another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with
ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else,
while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth
conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
John 17:4
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have
finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he
said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Philippians 3:12-14
Not as though I had already attained, either
were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for
which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1:9-12
For this cause we also, since the day we heard
it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with
the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with
joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me, neither count I
my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the
ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God.
Things to Consider on Your Own:
·
What have you been speaking out loud about your
life and goals?
·
What are you making large in your life through
your words and what are you diminishing by not speaking?
·
Do you fully acknowledge that the Lord can help
you when you do your part? If not, list the reasons why and take it to the Lord
in prayer. Be honest with Him and He will help you.
·
Think about some of the eternal rewards that you
will attain for being steadfast.
·
What are some immediate rewards that you are
planning to see in the natural realm as you progress through your new season of
success?
·
Will you meditate on the verses in this message
and make them personal, saying them out loud over yourself every day?
**If you would like to join our weekly call, please send an email to the following:
The3rdJohn2Program@yahoo.com
Be blessed!
Hanny
Hanny
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