“We Do Not Belong to those Who Shrink Back and are Destroyed”

a woman with determined expression in position to run a race

By Carol Doyel –

The above title is based on the verse found in Hebrews 10:39.  It’s a very powerful word that God has been highlighting over the last week or so. As I began to study Hebrews 10 and 11 God began to give me more revelation. I believe God wants to encourage the body of Christ to not shrink back in this hour, but rather, rise up in the confidence we’ve been given or should have in Christ.

As women of faith we are called to not shrink back but instead, to live by faith, by the righteousness we have in Christ.  As women saved by grace we are to walk out and work out our salvation, to run the race and not shrink back from what God is calling us to do and be!

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This is an hour that the body of Christ and each one of us in Christ need to take our position to fulfill God’s plans on earth as declared in heaven. What does this mean?  It means that before time began there were things appointed and a divine plan of which God’s Word is based on as well as fulfills. It’s so profound but yet so simple when you take the time to ask God to give you revelation and understanding.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, John 1:1 KJV. So from the beginning there was a plan, just as Jesus was always part of the plan and was with God from the beginning so were we as Psalm 139:16 reveals, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

PAUSE or SELAH – Read that verse again, “Your eyes (God’s eyes) saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written (all the names of those hidden in Christ), the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”  I believe it is undeniable that if we are in Christ and our names are written in the book referred to in Psalm 139, and as mentioned in Revelation 20 as the “book of life”, then we were in fact hidden in Christ and have a destiny and a divine purpose here on earth.

Unfortunately, some of us due to free will may not experience God’s desired plan for our lives as was the case in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and due to disobedience they hid and shrunk back, and for some their days may be cut short for reasons I do not understand BUT I know God redeems those who are lost or whose lives are cut short to fulfill His plans and purposes and ultimately will work all things together for good, of which the enemy intended for evil.

If you believe the Word of God – The Bible, then it stands that you were created in the image of God and by grace you were saved by faith of which we each have been given a measure to help us in our walk and to fulfill our calling, the Word says the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable – Romans 11:29.

We have salvation but we will not experience or live out the life of which we were given access to through the cross and Jesus’ sacrifice, the life described as “abundant life”, if we shrink back.

So I want to encourage you in your walk to rise up in what you know to be your calling and in your gifts by doing the following:

  1. First you must know who you are and whose you are!
  2. Take hold of the hope that lies before you – Hebrews 6:18
  3. Trust God and walk in faith.
  4. Possess the land and authority in which we have been given in Christ
  5. Press on with diligence, godly wisdom and perseverance.
  6. Continue to run the race so you can finish strong!

Here’s a verse that I believe will encourage you to posses what is rightly yours if you are willing to lay aside the things that can ensnare you so easily,

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the price of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

When you are in a race one of the worst things you can do is to look back, so do not get distracted by things of the world, your past, or your weakness, because we know in our weakness Christ is made strong and can be more easily seen in and through us. If people see our success or accomplishments as a result of our own perfection versus our dependence and confidence in Christ, then they will try to mimic our success by relying on their own strength instead of seeking God.

We need to point them to Christ by being authentic and not hiding our weaknesses or sin, by showing them that we are overcomers by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony, so that they might not shrink back and be destroyed, but rather press on by running the good race in which we are gifted, equipped and called to do!

 

Carol Doyel is Editor-in-Chief and Founder of LivingBetter50.com. She is a graduate of The Full Gospel Bible Institute and has a passion for women’s ministries, issues and lives. She and her husband of 25+ years have three grown kids and three grandchildren.  They currently reside in southern CA. Her desire is to inspire women to live better physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

 

 

 

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“We Do Not Belong to those Who Shrink Back and are Destroyed”
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