Hold On To What You Have

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Monday April 14, 2008

In the book of Revelation, Jesus told the church in Thyatira, "Hold on to what you have until I come!"

Revelation 2:24,25 (NIV)
24. Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25. Only hold on to what you have until I come.

Why would Jesus tell them to "hold on" to what they already have? Isn't it already theirs?

We get a little more insight from Hebrews 4:14.

Hebrews 4:14 (NIV)
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Why do we need to "hold firmly to the faith we profess?"

BECAUSE THE DEVIL IS OUT TO STEAL OUR FAITH!

John 10:10 (NIV)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Satan is behind every "thief" that comes to try to steal our faith from us!

Our FAITH is our weapon against the enemy; that can beat him EVERY TIME! Without our faith in God's Word, not only will we lack confidence against the devil, but we won't see situations through the eyes of God, and we'll therefore see problems as coming from somewhere other than the devil!

James 4:7 (NIV)
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Notice that God doesn't tell us to resist the person who "did you wrong!" We are to resist the DEVIL! Our struggle is against HIM, NOT "flesh and blood"!

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

When we come up against the attacks of the spiritual forces of evil, our FAITH is our SHIELD!

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish ALL the flaming arrows of the evil one.

That means that the devil's first target is our FAITH! He wants to steal our FAITH, thus leaving us defenseless against him!

So how CAN he steal our faith?

Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

That's right, the devil steals our faith by preventing us from HEARING God's Word! Faith COMES FROM hearing God's Word! That's why Jesus spent so much time teaching:

Luke 20:1 (NIV)
One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.

Matthew 9:35 (NIV)
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Jesus didn't just PREACH (proclaim), He TAUGHT (explained)! He knew that His teaching would help people "HOLD ONTO" what they already had! Most of those who followed Him already believed in Him; they just needed to HEAR the Word of God, and Jesus was the source that filled that need!

Lets not let the devil hinder us from studying God's Word and hearing Bible-based teaching! Lets RESIST the devil and just GO FOR IT!

PRAYER
Father, thank you for Your precious Word, that builds my faith whenever I study it or hear it taught correctly. Thank you for forgiving all my sins, cancelling the law that stood against me, and defeating satan, so I can have victory over him in my life. Help me to hear Your voice clearly so I can follow Your path for my life.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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