August 18 – The Strengths of Righteousness

21“The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me."
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25 "And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.” – 2 Samuel 22:21 & 25 (ESV)

Context is important. Referencing God’s strength and might by saying He is our rock and fortress appears frequently in the Psalms of David and others. But this song was written to remember the deliverance God gave him from all his enemies. It could be that David finished this song near the end of his reign. Once they were at war with the Philistines and not ordinary Philistines in this case. David’s army was up against the giants of Gath – the same tribe which Goliath came from. This occasion there were four giants and one in particular is identified in this way; “And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants.” (2 Samuel 21:20) With God’s might and provision, David's nephew, Johnathan defeated this monster. David’s army prevailed. David was not claiming to be righteous or sinless in any absolute sense. Rather, David believed God, and was considered righteous by faith. He desired to please the Lord and obey His commands. Thus he was blameless when compared with his enemies.

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September 25 – Confident to Persevere

“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.” Hebrews 10: 35-36 (NIV)

We who have chosen to believe realize that we come to God by faith. Our Christian life is a life of faith and our confidence is in our God, in His goodness and in His love for us.  He has given us many promises in the Bible. So our verse today is a reminder to us that we need to maintain our confidence in God and in His promises. We don't just trust in God for a while and then change our minds when things don't seem to be going right for us. Living by faith is for always and it is for all situations. God's promises are good for every circumstance and situation. Our God is always with us and is true, faithful and loving. That's a promise from Him and He who promises will never fail.

September 3 – Confidence Rewarded

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” Hebrews 10:35 (NIV)

We share two verses from the book of Hebrews. The first reminds us of the promise that God's is faithful to his promises. He will fulfill and complete what he has promised to do. To believe this we have confidence in God and His word. Our second verse is about our confidence in God. We are so glad that our God has revealed Himself to us through several ways and He continues to make His presence real to us each day. When we hear of God's love for us in sending His Son to this world and then to the cross we are drawn to Him. We believe in His Son as our Savior and He gives to us eternal life. We hold fast our confession of the hope that this is true. What a wonderful promise that is. We put our confidence in what God tell us in the Bible about His plans for us in eternity. He also promises His daily presence and His constant providing for all of our needs every day.  As we trust Him each day He shows us His love and His faithfulness.

February 24 - Richly Rewarded

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” Hebrews 10:35 (NIV)

Today we are reminded once again that the Bible teaches us that the basis of our Christian life is faith in God and His word. We say that we are saved by faith and that we live by faith. So our verse that we have read today is a repeat of that same principle. Earlier in this chapter in verse 23 the writer of Hebrews has encouraged us to hold on to our confession of hope without wavering and now we are warned not to throw away our confidence. Confidence in God is really trusting Him and believing what He has told us. It also means to rely on His promises.  God asks us to keep on trusting in Him no matter what happens in our lives. He promises to reward those who trust Him and our verse says we’ll be richly rewarded.  That the kind of God we have so let’s remember today to maintain our confidence and our confession and we will be rewarded.

September 2

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” Hebrews 10:35 (NIV)

Our God knows that we are often tempted to be discouraged. He has, therefore given us words to encourage us. Confidence, of course is a synonym of faith, and it is basic to our Christian life. When we become discouraged it is because our faith is becoming shaky and our confidence and reliance upon God is disturbed. What these words tell us is that God knows when our confidence in Him is being affected. He is encouraging us to keep our confidence unshakeable. And it means so much to Him that we maintain our confidence firm and strong. The power of this kind of faith will bring us through to God’s glory.