24th July 2006- Don't Let Your Faith Slip

Don't Let Your Faith Slip
By Kenneth Copeland

Something very serious has been happening to the Body of Christ. We've often let the things which we have heard, the message of faith and righteousness, slip.

I'm not just talking about those believers who've been so surrounded by religion that they've never heard about the power that's theirs in Christ Jesus. I'm talking about those of us who have heard the Word and have known the thrill of living by faith.

In my own life, for example, there were times when I'd pray for healing. I'd say all the right words, "Thank God, I believe I receive..." and all that. But inside I'd be thinking, "I wonder why God isn't healing me?"

You see, even though I'd said that I believed I was healed, I hadn't really. I'd staggered at the promise of God, believing what my body told me instead of the Word of God.

I don't care how long you've been a believer or how long you've been practicing the principles of faith. You can easily slip into unbelief about the promises of God. And, when you do, it will cost you dearly.

"But if slipping into unbelief is so easy," you may say, "how can we avoid it?"

Hebrews 4:11 tells us: "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

We must labor! Not by working with our hands and feet or struggling to get God to do something, but by spending time in God's Word--hanging onto the promises of God by faith day after day. We must labor by hearkening to the Word and refusing to let it slip.

Don't get casual about the Word. Don't make the mistake of thinking, "Oh I know all that faith stuff. I know how to receive my healing." Don't slack off or one of these days the devil will catch you unprepared and steal you blind.

Instead, dig more deeply in the Word than ever. Labor! Be diligent to keep your faith from slipping--and you won't have to fall!

• Point to Ponder: We've often let the things which we have heard, the message of faith and righteousness slip, falling into disbelief. This will cost us dearly.

• Verse: We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Hebrews 2:1)

• Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:23-39

• What you can do about it: We must spend time in God's Word--hanging onto the promises of God by faith day after day.

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Scripture Reading (Hebrews 10:23-39):

10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
10:26
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
10:28
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
10:29
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
10:30
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
10:31
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
10:32
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.
10:33
Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.
10:34
You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
10:35
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
10:36
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
10:37
For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay.
10:38
But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."
10:39
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
New International Version

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