To Christ Encouraging Hearts

To Christ Encouraging Hearts

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

- Hebrews 3:12-14

No words could be truer for someone whose eyes had been opened to the truth. Whether it is someone who just understood for the first time or someone whose heart had been hardened after first believing and whose hard-shell over the heart had finally been cracked open – like the cracking of a window, enjoying a fresh breeze of air, in a hot and humid house.

Everyone has fallen away from God; you fell away when Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. Even after believing for the first time, after first realizing - that this world is more than what it seems, that there is a spiritual reality, a God, a savior, and true life – many fall right back into the life they first knew, they fall back into a “default” way of living. Just as a dog will return to its vomit, we will often return to old ways, the ways before we entered into the reality of the spiritual pulls and throws of deceivers – the prince of darkness and things which follow him.

Whether you have fallen away or not, it is having Him as the source that is important. Coming to God, “clinging” to him and seeking him, this will have to happen and have to be if any of us are to be called “friends of God,” and to really be a believer.

Sin has a way of distancing us from God, the counter-action of our steps of faith and pushing off the path of purpose that God has planned for us – plans he devised even before we were born, before we gave up our stubborn ways and opened our hearts to the living God. And this is why Hebrews says that we must encourage one another daily, as long as we are alive and breathing – this is our “Today.” This is because sin really does harden us if left unchecked. When we allow sin to linger in our hearts, our hearts will become calloused due to the simple fact that we did not correct it. Sin has the power to destroy even the closest of relationships to God, to anyone really, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Encourage each other to be strong in Christ, because when our own strength withers and gives out from exhaustion and confusion, it will be the strength of God through fellow believers – our family in Christ – that will help us to withstand whatever the enemy throws at us. Do not give in to the lies of the enemy; do not believe the doubts in your own head, just because you think it does not mean it’s true. Our best source of truth comes from God; it comes from his word – The Bible.

Remember that sins deceitfulness is that when we fall, or give in to temptation, we think that we should give up and roll over, perhaps even to crawl into a hole and die. This is not true, it is not God’s truth, and his truth and what he says and thinks should matter above all else, even above our own thoughts and disabling inner babblings.

Can you recollect your mind set, thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the time when you first believed? Do you recall your confidence in Christ, even though you were just saved, the zeal and joy you experienced diving into God’s word, attending church, and speaking to friends and loved ones of your new found faith? Bring back that freshness and newness into your life, take confidence in Christ just as David did as he faced Goliath. Encourage each other and remind each other of what God has done, and what he will do, everyday.

Be blessed and encouraged through whatever trials and hardships you may be facing. You are not alone, for at the least God is there and his Holy Spirit dwells in all who believe and acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

with much Encouragement,

Ikaika Mossman