“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5)
In a previous lesson titled “Contentment,” we studied this Scripture for its content. But there is a phrase in this verse that is so potent it can change our lives and the lives of those around us, “for He hath said.” Are we basing our lives on what the creditors say about us, what the doctors say about us, what the professors say about us, what the city demographics say about us, what our friends say about us, what our enemies say about us or even what our family says about us? Whom are we listening to?
In the secular world, there is a psychological phenomenon called the “self-fulfilling prophecy.” The gist of it is that what we believe about ourselves shapes our reality. Simplified it’s a cycle: our beliefs influence our actions toward others which impact others’ belief about us which cause their actions toward us which reinforce our beliefs about ourselves.
In every area of our lives, we have beliefs that influence us and our actions that impact ourselves and others which in turn reinforce what we believe about ourselves. It’s true that we are sinners. And sinners sin. So, we continue to sin because we cannot help but do what we are. BUT “WHAT. HE. HATH. SAID.” changes all that.
The universal church of Christ is a testimony of the fact that it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, any shade of flesh, young or old, educated or not, from this country or another or what was said and believed about who we are, we are all the same in God’s eyes. “He hath said” I took your sin to the cross and you are forgiven of past, present and future sin, cleansed and made pure by My shed blood. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace;” (Ephesians 1:7) “He hath said” you’re no longer a sinner, but a new creation. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Corinthians 5:17) We are born again of God, His children. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) Our belief in what “He hath said” not only changes the self-fulfilling prophecy about ourselves but it shatters it. We’re no longer impacted about what we believe about ourselves, but what God says about us.
And here we come to the crux of a problem. Why are there so many defeated believers? The answer is that their belief about themselves is not based on what God says about them. They either don’t know what God says about them or they don’t believe what God “hath said.” They might be basing their belief about themselves on their past or present behavior. But God is not basing His word about who we are on our behavior, but on the deeds of Jesus. And Jesus was and is righteous. “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:8) We are in Jesus and clothed in His righteousness. “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24)
There is still the problem of sin which the devil our enemy will use to describe us. Sin is defined as missing the mark. It is caused by the influence of the flesh, the world or the devil. When we are full of the Word of God, what God says is Truth, right and good, we will recognize the lies of the flesh, the world and the devil. We will not want to sin. Sin becomes loathsome to us. Yet, we will sin, but not intentionally and not premeditated. We will sin because of frustration, weakness or other factor, sin. Our flesh or our soul (mind, will, emotions) may sin, but not our spirit which has been reborn of God. (Romans 7:15-21) “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:22-23) Because we are now no longer sinners, but reborn of God holy and pure spirits, we do not enjoy sin. We will greatly regret sinning. That sin has been forgiven already, but we have to acknowledge that it is sin and confess it. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9) We must repent of that sin, surrender that sin to the Holy Spirit and make a decision to turn from it. The Lord will work in us to deliver us from that sin. (Hebrews 12:2) And He will accomplish His work in us to make us more like Him, like what “He hath said.”
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