Confidence + Perseverance = Reward

Hebrews 10:34-39 – “You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”

“So do not throw away your confidence.” Wow…what a great statement. “You need to persevere so that…you will receive what he has promised.”

Confidence + Perseverance = Reward

When our confidence and our perseverance are aligned with the will of God we will receive our reward. That is a promise I can sink my teeth into.

What does it mean for us? How does this play out in our world today?

I think the first few sentences of this passage bring this into our own world in which we live. It tells us that in spite of the prison and confiscation of property that these people held onto their confidence. They persevered. And they never lost sight of the reward that awaited them. What reward is that? It tells us the reward is the one he promised.

How important to know what promises are given to us in scripture so that we can believe and have faith in them and not lose sight of them. Some homework for you today…study the promises given us in scripture. But for the sake of today “Word” know that the promises given to us by God are good. In fact all of them are good. A God that is only good and has no evil within him is not going to promise his creation bad things for persevering in his ways.

So why do so many seemingly miss out on these promises? Why are there good people all over living good lives, but yet struggling day after day? Let me ask you this…Paul (the presumed writer of Hebrews), was writing to people who had loved ones in prison and had just had their property confiscated…yet he was commending their confidence and their perseverance and telling them their reward was on its way. The big difference is this…these folks had not taken the victim mentality I talked about a few days ago. In fact many of them I am sure were living with the champion mentality…in spite of what their circumstances were screaming at them.

Our mindset is not to be determined by the physical circumstances surrounding us. Our mindset is to be set by the promises given us in the Word of God. Our mindset should be the mindset of God. That is why scripture tells us we have “the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16) On the way to the cross did Jesus see himself as a victim or as a champion? When he was standing before Pontius Pilate did he see himself as one defeated or as The Champion? Even while he hung on the cross…was he a victim or was he even then still showing people the amazing life that awaited someone just moments before their physical body expired?

These are the examples of the champion mentality we are called to. These are examples of what Confidence + Perseverance = Reward really means.

Embrace it. Live it. Reap it.

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved