Be Steadfast

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (I Peter 5:10)

Good morning, my friend…

It is my pleasure to be here with you today, and I pray my message to you will bring peace, hope, and victory in your life in the days, weeks, and years to come. This seems to be one of the harder lessons for all of us to learn, yet it yields amazing results.

The word I would like to center in on today is the last word of the verse: steadfast. I took this verse today from the NIV version of the Bible, but there is another verse that echoes this sentiment: 1 Corinthians 15:58, and it reads, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” For some reason, this word unmoveable, steadfast, is really speaking to me today. It comes from the combination of two definitions: “stede” which means place, and “faest” meaning fixed. Our two brothers in the Lord (Peter and Paul) are reminding us of the importance of being solid, fixed, and never-changing in Christ.

It doesn’t take long looking at the world around us to realize that most of the things we see, most of the people we watch, most of the rhetoric we hear are just shadows, just empty reverberations of our own desires. People tell us what we want to hear in order to court our favor, they do things for us (maybe even against their own principles) to woo us, and everything in this world changes. In the Army I was taught Psychological Warfare – the art of appearing to be in one place while wreaking havoc somewhere else. Of shaping public opinion by twisting the facts to match my plans, of getting inside peoples’ minds and toying with them. For example, you may be a follower of a particular politician who, this term, might identify as a Republican (or a Conservative). Yet checking their voting record or political career, you might discover that they are merely echoing the sentiments their constituents want to hear while doing what they REALLY want behind the scenes. We have all had friends who have changed over the years and drifted away. I live in the Midwest, so looking out the window of my office I see leaves on the trees that just a few weeks ago were green and lush now turning brown and falling off the leaves. There is a common statement, in fact, that says “Change is inevitable.” Not so for the child of God.

Sure, there are things I used to believe that have adjusted over time – that is normal with maturing in the faith. My core beliefs, however, have never faltered. Even when I was living as a scum-sucking heathen I knew that God is in control of everything – that He, alone, is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere-present. I have also always acknowledged that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, that He came to the world to save us, that He is the only way to the Father and the only means by which I expect to gain access to heaven. I have also always known that the Holy Spirit (also known as the Spirit of Christ) was sent into my heart to guide me into all truth, to convict me of sin, and to make sure that I hear the voice of my Father. Together, the Three of Them have only my best interest at heart and that as long as I stay close to Them my life is infinitely better. These, along with other core beliefs I hold dear, have never changed. It is the “fringe” beliefs that change with time – beliefs about God’s will for my healing, beliefs about gifts of the Spirit, beliefs about God’s desire to bless me and give me favor. These have matured and become another part of that central core which doesn’t move.

In a world that is ever-changing, we are all seeking something solid to hold onto. People change, our lives change, we change, and nature itself teaches us of change. I encourage you today to seek out those core beliefs you hold to be true about God. Dig deep. Test those beliefs (those thoughts) and see if they really are set in stone in your heart. Then test them against the Word of God to see if they are true. In our lives we have facts that we defend because they “feel” right but all the while they are merely opinions. But how many of us have really sat down and tested them to see if they are defensible and deserve our energy, or are they things we have heard or learned from others?

Build your life on the Word. Build your life on Christ. Base your beliefs on Truth. Be unshakeable. Be unmoveable. Be strengthened in your inner being. Stand firm in the faith. Let your words come from a place of KNOWING. I will close with the words of John (found in 3 John 1:2): “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

Be blessed.