Belief to Convictions
Many believe in their heads, but it have not dropped down into their heart.
Belief must be mixed with action (Hebrews 4:1-2) “let us therefore be careful,
less a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to
come short of it. For to us was the gospel preached as well as to them (the
Israelites in the wilderness), but the word preached did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in them that heard it”. The Bible says “we having the
same spirit of faith according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I
spoken, we also believe and therefore speak” (II Corinthians 4:13). Jesus said
“whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does them, I will show you
to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house, and dig deep, and laid
the foundation on a rock and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently
upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock” (Luke
6:47-48). James tells us “be you doers of the word, and not to be a hearer only,
deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). The word of God is seed, you have
to plant it in your heart and mix faith with it.
Beliefs have to be backed up by scripture; you hear people saying “I don’t
believe in hell”, but that’s not based on scripture. Jesus spoke many times
about hell, and we know that Jesus did not lie. Jesus said in Luke 4:4 “that man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”. We have to give the
word of God first place in our lives.
Waiting is a test of faith, you are not waiting for God to do something, Jesus
said “it is finished”; you are waiting for the devil to get his hands off of it. Daniel
was fasting and praying three full weeks and the angel came and told him “fear
not Daniel, for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and
to chasten yourself before your God, you words were heard, and I am come for
your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and
twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me (Daniel
10:12-13).
Never let time cause you to give up, remember if God said it, it will come to
pass. We have to know in whom we believe. The Bible gives us many examples
of people who believed and went on to conviction. Noah built the ark and it took
120 years, the people all around him thought that he was crazy. David was
anointed king of Israel, and even though king Saul was trying to kill him, he
stayed focus on God. There were 2 times that he could have killed king Saul,
but he didn’t and waited on God. Joseph had a dream and told it to his
brothers, and even though they tried to destroy it by selling him into slavery, the
dream came to pass. Joseph remained faithful even though he went through
much trouble. After being sold into slavery, he was accused falsely and landed
in jail, but God was with him through it all. Our relationship with God has to be
so strong, that we know when God speaks to us and then hold on to that word.
Conviction – choosing what is right in the midst of wrong. Resolve is a strong
word that means o be devoted to principles and to be committed to a course of
action. When Daniel resolved not to defile himself, he was being true to a
lifelong determination to do what was right and not to give in to the pressures
around him (Daniel 1:8-21). Because of conviction of Daniel and the other
three commitment to God’s ways, God gave them favor with the eunuch and the
outcome was that after 10 days of eating vegetables and water, their
countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did
eat the portion of the king’s food.
We too, are often assaulted by pressures to compromise our standards and live
more like the world around us. Merely wanting God’s will and way is not enough
to stand against the onslaught of temptation, like Daniel we must resolve to
obey God. Sometimes you will have to stand alone.
Convictions requires thoughtful preparation. It is easier to resist temptation if
you have thought through your convictions well before the temptation arrives.
Decide that you will follow the Lord. Daniel and his friends made their decision
to be faithful before they were faced with the king’s delicacies, so they did not
hesitate to stick with their convictions. If you believe that the Bible is the word of
God, then go on to conviction and live by it. Make a determination that as you
read the word of God and the Spirit convicts you, be obedient and make the
change by obeying the word.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 14, 2008
Many believe in their heads, but it have not dropped down into their heart.
Belief must be mixed with action (Hebrews 4:1-2) “let us therefore be careful,
less a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to
come short of it. For to us was the gospel preached as well as to them (the
Israelites in the wilderness), but the word preached did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in them that heard it”. The Bible says “we having the
same spirit of faith according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I
spoken, we also believe and therefore speak” (II Corinthians 4:13). Jesus said
“whosoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings, and does them, I will show you
to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house, and dig deep, and laid
the foundation on a rock and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently
upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock” (Luke
6:47-48). James tells us “be you doers of the word, and not to be a hearer only,
deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). The word of God is seed, you have
to plant it in your heart and mix faith with it.
Beliefs have to be backed up by scripture; you hear people saying “I don’t
believe in hell”, but that’s not based on scripture. Jesus spoke many times
about hell, and we know that Jesus did not lie. Jesus said in Luke 4:4 “that man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”. We have to give the
word of God first place in our lives.
Waiting is a test of faith, you are not waiting for God to do something, Jesus
said “it is finished”; you are waiting for the devil to get his hands off of it. Daniel
was fasting and praying three full weeks and the angel came and told him “fear
not Daniel, for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and
to chasten yourself before your God, you words were heard, and I am come for
your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and
twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me (Daniel
10:12-13).
Never let time cause you to give up, remember if God said it, it will come to
pass. We have to know in whom we believe. The Bible gives us many examples
of people who believed and went on to conviction. Noah built the ark and it took
120 years, the people all around him thought that he was crazy. David was
anointed king of Israel, and even though king Saul was trying to kill him, he
stayed focus on God. There were 2 times that he could have killed king Saul,
but he didn’t and waited on God. Joseph had a dream and told it to his
brothers, and even though they tried to destroy it by selling him into slavery, the
dream came to pass. Joseph remained faithful even though he went through
much trouble. After being sold into slavery, he was accused falsely and landed
in jail, but God was with him through it all. Our relationship with God has to be
so strong, that we know when God speaks to us and then hold on to that word.
Conviction – choosing what is right in the midst of wrong. Resolve is a strong
word that means o be devoted to principles and to be committed to a course of
action. When Daniel resolved not to defile himself, he was being true to a
lifelong determination to do what was right and not to give in to the pressures
around him (Daniel 1:8-21). Because of conviction of Daniel and the other
three commitment to God’s ways, God gave them favor with the eunuch and the
outcome was that after 10 days of eating vegetables and water, their
countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did
eat the portion of the king’s food.
We too, are often assaulted by pressures to compromise our standards and live
more like the world around us. Merely wanting God’s will and way is not enough
to stand against the onslaught of temptation, like Daniel we must resolve to
obey God. Sometimes you will have to stand alone.
Convictions requires thoughtful preparation. It is easier to resist temptation if
you have thought through your convictions well before the temptation arrives.
Decide that you will follow the Lord. Daniel and his friends made their decision
to be faithful before they were faced with the king’s delicacies, so they did not
hesitate to stick with their convictions. If you believe that the Bible is the word of
God, then go on to conviction and live by it. Make a determination that as you
read the word of God and the Spirit convicts you, be obedient and make the
change by obeying the word.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 14, 2008
