Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Hebrews 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith; [The God kind of faith given by God] But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
The Passion Translation says, “My righteous ones will live from My faith. But if fear holds them back, My soul is not content with them!”
The Lord wants us as New Covenant believers to live and move and have our being ‘by faith’. Each believer has been given ‘a measure’ of faith from Jesus. How big is the measure? I will answer that question with another question… how big is our God? Suffice to say, your measure of faith is all the faith that you will ever need!
New Covenant faith is the great receiver… it receives the promises of God in the heavenly realm, and then transports them into the natural realm where they manifest materially.
The devil does not want believers to live by faith… he wants us to live by circumstances. Living by faith bypasses the enemy and places you firmly in the quantum leap, fast lane of life, where the blessings are in continual overflow. The enemy is continually attempting to hinder our faith in an attempt to get us to abandon faith, and draw back. Today’s message is on, ‘Overcoming faith’s biggest hindrances.’
Hebrews 10:35-37 says, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a little while, (and He who is coming) will come and will not tarry.”
The Greek word for ‘and He who is coming’ is ‘Érchomai’, literally meaning, ‘to come into being, to come from one place to another, or, to be established.’ It is not gender specific and the Greek word does not specifically refer to Jesus… the ‘He’ was added at the translator’s discretion. Contextually the passage is talking about receiving the promises of God by faith, through confidence and endurance.
Here is a more contextual translation of verse 35-36, “Do not lose your confidence and bold faith which has GREAT reward. For you need to endure and stick to your life of faith, so that after you have done the will of God (confidently sticking to your walk of faith), you may receive what you have been promised (in the Word). For in a short amount of time, what you have been believing for will be transferred into your possession and established. What you are in faith for will be on time and not late!”
Verse 38-39 says, “Now the righteous one shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to destruction, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” So, if we confidently stay in a place of faith with endurance, and do not draw back, all of the promises of God for us will come to pass in the exact right timing.
BIGGEST HINDRANCES TO FAITH…
1. LACK OF CONFIDENCE…
Hebrews 10:35-37 says, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.” The enemy does not want us confident, bold and fully assured… he wants us timid, in fear, doubting and circumstance led, not Spirit led, or Word led! He bombards our minds with questions… “is it really God’s will? Will I sink if I step out? Do I deserve this? What if? What if? What if?”
CONFIDENCE HAS GREAT REWARD!
The reason that the powers of darkness want us as believers to cast away our confidence is because being confident in our faith has a great reward! Confident faith pleases God and is a receiver of all that God has set aside for us as believers (if I had to make a list, it would be a very big book!” The enemy wants us defeated, discouraged, weak, poor and depressed, not blessed with every blessing, powerful, prosperous and confident. Rather fail in stepping out in faith and confidence than attempting to succeed in timidity and in caution!
HOW DO I OVERCOME LACK OF CONFIDENCE?
1 John 3:20-21 says, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”
Condemnation is the thief that is assigned to steal confidence. Romans 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus”. The reason being is that, as a believer in Christ, you are one hundred present righteous, you are forgiven, and you have been made perfect. Condemnation can only work towards believers who do not have a revelation that their righteousness is a free gift from Jesus and not something earned through works.
BE SET FREE FROM THE CONDEMNATION TRAP
BE SET FREE FROM SIN-CONSCIOUSNESS
RECEIVE A REVELATION OF GOD’S NEW COVENANT GRACE THROUGH CHRIST JESUS!
2. LACK OF ENDURANCE
The second hindrance to faith is a lack of endurance. Some believers mistakenly believe that if they have real faith, God’s promises will be instantly delivered by an angel in the image of a stalk. In our world of ‘instant everything’, many want the Lord to deliver every promise instantly. Hebrews 10:35 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”
The will of God is that we keep the faith and do not draw back… no matter how long it takes! This takes supernatural endurance… a supernatural ability to keep on keeping on, no matter how long something takes to manifest. Supernatural endurance is not passive, it is very active! Endurance holds fast to the confession of faith, it runs every mile with passion, and it increases in intensity and strength over time, instead of weakening.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, (Greek, “we must get rid of every arrow tip in us - we must let go of every wound that has pierced us”) and let us run with endurance 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
ENDURANCE COMES AS WE KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS AND HIS WORD AND, LIKE JESUS, FOCUS ON THE VICTORY JOY CELEBRATION THAT IS SET BEFORE US.
3. DRAWING BACK
The third hindrance to faith is drawing back.
Hebrews 10:38 says, “The righteous one shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to destruction.” When you draw back, withdraw, or disengage, it will always lead to destruction! Hurting, discouraged believers often draw back, withdraw and disengage from fellowship. They often isolate themselves, or even join a large church where they can remain ‘invisible’ and uninvolved. Many times people draw back by no longer attending ‘in person’ services, only watching online. (Of course, not all believers who attend services online have withdrawn, or pulled back.)
DRAWING BACK IN FAITH
DRAWING BACK IN FELLOWSHIP
DRAWING BACK IN GIVING
DRAWING BACK LEADS TO DESTRUCTION!
RATHER MISS IT FULL THROTTLE, THAN HALF HEARTEDLY STICKING TO THE SAFETY ZONE!
Matthew 11:12 (TPT) - From the moment John stepped onto the scene until now, the realm of heaven’s kingdom is bursting forth, and passionate people have taken hold of its power.
Romans 12:11 (TPT) - Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward Him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill you with excitement as you serve Him.
RUN IN FAITH WITH PASSION… RISK EVERYTHING, PUT EVERYTHING ON THE LINE… IF YOU GO DOWN, GO DOWN IN THE TITANIC, NOT IN A ROWBOAT!
CONFESSION
“I will live by faith, in Jesus Name!
My faith will not be hindered, I overcome every hindrance to faith, in Jesus Name!
I stand upon the Word of God! He delights in my prosperity and has freely given me all things!
I shall not cast away my confidence!
I will not doubt, fear, or be double-minded!
I am confident, I am fully persuaded that what He has promised, He will do!
I run the race with endurance!
I have stamina to endure as long as it takes!
I will not draw back!
I will not draw back in living, giving, or serving!
I will not draw back in fear, in discouragement, or in apathy.
I live my life passionately and in faith and confidence, and I receive my promised blessings in the timing of the Lord, in Jesus Name”
In His amazing love, Nick
