ASSIGNMENTS 1. Once a day read over this material and read or sing the song. 2. Keep the scripture where you will see it often each day. 3. Make a list of the reasons to remain faithful and what you can do to hold on to your faith. 4. Write about a time you were tempted to let go and how you overcame it. 5. Plan to share with the class ideas about bolstering your confidence. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C DAILY BIBLE VERSES AND PRAYER THOUGHTS MONDAY - VERSES: 2 Kings 18:19-22; Proverbs 3:26; 14:26 PRAYER THOUGHT: Oh Great Rock, help me have the strength, confidence, and courage to keep my anchor securely on You even during the difficult times. TUESDAY - VERSES: Job 31:24-28; Proverbs 21:22 PRAYER THOUGHT: Father, help me to know that my confidence should not be in worldly things. WEDNESDAY - VERSES: Judges 9:26,28-31,34,37-40; Psalm 118:8-9 PRAYER THOUGHT: Master, help me to learn not to put my confidence in men. THURSDAY - VERSES: Proverbs 25:19; Jeremiah 48:13 PRAYER THOUGHT: Shield and Defender of the Righteous, help me remember that putting confidence in the wrong things will cause trouble and shame. FRIDAY - VERSES: Isaiah 30:15; Ezekiel 28:26; John 20:27-29 PRAYER THOUGHT: Loving Creator, help me to understand that you want me to have confidence and not doubt. SATURDAY - VERSES: Ephesians 3:11-13; Hebrews 3:5-6,14-15; 1 John 5:13-15 PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, help me be confident in Christ as I should be. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Never put a question mark where God put a period. - John Rice C C C C C C C C C C C C C C HOW OFTEN! How often we trust each other, And only doubt our Lord. We take the word of mortals, And yet distrust His word; But, oh, what light and glory Would shine o'er all our days, If we always would remember God means just what He says. SPIRITUAL HEALTH REGIMEN - WEEK 88 CONFIDENCE - 4-13-14 to 4-19-14 SCRIPTURE - Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. COMMENT – We all have times when we feel weak and are tempted to give up. Some do give up and go back into the world. Each of us individually must safeguard his or her soul with the confidence that comes from being in Christ. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C SONG - WE HAVE AN ANCHOR 1) Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift, or firm remain? CHORUS) We have an anchor that keeps the soul Steadfast and sure while the billows roll, Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love. 2) It is safely moored, ‘twill the storm withstand, For ‘tis well secured by the Savior's hand; And the cables passed from His heart to mine, Can defy the blast, thru strength divine. 3) It will firmly hold in the straits of fear, When the breakers have told the reef is near, Tho' the tempest rave and the wild winds blow, Not an angry wave shall our bark o'erflow. 4) It will surely hold in the floods of death, When the waters cold chill our latest breath, On the rising tide it can never fail, While our hopes abide within the veil. 5) When our eyes behold thru the gath'ring night The city of gold, our harbor bright, We shall anchor fast by the heav'nly shore, With the storms all past forevermore. THOUGHTS C C C C C C C C C C C C C C If you were asked how sure you are that you are right with God today, could you give it a 20%, 50%, 75%, 90% or could you confidently trust your savior and say 100%. Or maybe, you know you are not right, but you want to hope He won't notice. (1 John 5:11-15) And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. {12} He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. {13} These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. {14} And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: {15} And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Former French prime minister Georges Clemenceau fought many duels with various rivals. On one occasion, he surprised his second by asking the attendant at a Paris railroad station for a one-way ticket to the duel. "Isn't that a little pessimistic?" asked the second. "Not at all," Clemenceau replied. "I always use my opponent's return ticket for the trip back." - Today in the Word, August, 1997, p. 35 C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Frank Lloyd Wright is among the most innovative architects this country ever produced. But his fame wasn't limited to the United States. About 100 years ago, Japan asked Wright to design a hotel for Tokyo that would be capable of surviving an earthquake. When the architect visited Japan to see where the Imperial Hotel was to be built, he was appalled to find only about eight feet of earth on the site. Beneath that was 60 feet of soft mud that slipped and shook like jelly. Every test hole he dug filled up immediately with water. A lesser man probably would have given up right there. But not Frank Lloyd Wright. Since the hotel was going to rest on fluid ground, Wright decided to build it like a ship. Instead of trying to keep the structure from moving during a quake, he incorporated features that would allow the hotel to ride out the shock without damage. Supports were sunk into the soft mud, and sections of the foundation were cantilevered from the supports. The rooms were built in sections like a train and hinged together. Water pipes and electric lines, usually the first to shear off in an earthquake, were hung in vertical shafts where they could sway freely if necessary. Wright knew that the major cause of destruction after an earthquake was fire, because water lines are apt to be broken in the ground and there is no way to put the fire out. So he insisted on a large outdoor pool in the courtyard of his hotel, "just in case." On September 1, 1923, Tokyo had the greatest earthquake in its history. There were fires all over the city, and 140,000 people died. Back in the U.S., news reports were slow coming in. One newspaper wanted to print the story that the Imperial Hotel had been destroyed, as rumor had it. But when a reporter called Frank Lloyd Wright, he said that they could print the story if they wished, but they would only have to retract it later. He knew the hotel would not collapse. Shortly afterward, Wright got a telegram from Japan. The Imperial Hotel was completely undamaged. Not only that -- it had provided a home for hundreds of people. And when fires that raged all around the hotel threatened to spread, bucket brigades kept the structure wetted down with water from the hotel's pool. The Imperial Hotel isn't there anymore. It was finally torn down in the 1960s to be replaced by a more modern structure. Bits & Pieces, January 7, 1993, pp. 11-14. The laws of nature that God established were the reason Wright was able to be confident that his work would stand. We can be just as confident in God's spiritual laws. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; (13) Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. (14) If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. C C C C C C C C C C C C C C DON'T THROW IT AWAY INTRODUCTION A. HEBREWS 10:35-39 B. EVER THROW OUT SOMETHING YOU LATER NEEDED? L. S. - DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE BECAUSE... I. THERE IS A GREAT _________________. V. 35 II. YOU NEED ____________ TO RECEIVE THE PROMISE. V. 36 III. _____________ WILL COME AGAIN. V. 37 IV. GOD IS _______ _______________ WITH THOSE WHO DRAW BACK. V. 38 V. THOSE WHO DRAW BACK ARE ________________. V. 39 CONCLUSION: DON'T THROW IT AWAY INTRODUCTION: A. HEBREWS 10:35-39 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. (36) For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (37) For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. (38) Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. B. EVER THROW OUT SOMETHING YOU LATER NEEDED? L. S. - DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE BECAUSE... I. THERE IS A GREAT REWARD. V. 35 A. Matthew 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. B. Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. (23) Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. C. Colossians 3:23-24 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (24) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. D. Hebrews 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; (25) Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (26) Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. E. 2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. F. Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. II. YOU NEED PATIENCE TO RECEIVE THE PROMISE. V. 36 A. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; (3) Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; (4) Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. B. 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: (5) Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: C. Hebrews 6:11-12 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: (12) That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. III. JESUS WILL COME AGAIN. V. 37 A. Jude 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (15) To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. B. 2 Peter 3:10-12 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (11) Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (12) Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? C. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-9 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (4) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (5) Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (7) For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. (8) But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (9) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, IV. GOD IS NOT PLEASED WITH THOSE WHO DRAW BACK. V. 38 A. Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. B. Luke 17:31-33 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. (32) Remember Lot's wife. (33) Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. C. Acts 7:39-43 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, (40) Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. (41) And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. (42) Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? (43) Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. V. THOSE WHO DRAW BACK ARE DESTROYED. V. 39 A. Revelation 21:7-8 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (8) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. B. Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. CONCLUSION: A. SUMMARY REWARD RECEPTION RETURN REPROBATE REPERCUSSION B. Hebrews 12:1-6 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (4) Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (5) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.