How to be Steadfast in the Lord – Part 3 By Dr. Pradeep Stephen
Welcome to the God of Wonders Radio Program. Please listen as we hear the message “How to be Steadfast in the Lord - Part 3.”
That fruit will last contrary to the charity work that comes from lives that are philanthropic in nature, they want to do something as good citizens for others but they don’t have the living union with Christ, therefore their works will eventually perish. But when you have the living faith, it says in Titus 3, and the good works flow from that and that is good and profitable to all men. God wants that. Finally to avoid backsliding by degrees going back and not forward with God, we must live a life of praise and thanksgiving. There must be that habitual thanksgiving attitude, an attitude of thanksgiving, as someone said an attitude of gratitude in all things. Not for all things necessarily but in all things - that "Lord you know what I need and Lord you will work everything for my good regardless of how adverse it seems." The Lord got up from that boat during the storm and when He rebuked that storm and calmed it. His question to the disciples was “Where is your faith?” The reason He said that was in essence and in effect to say, “Don’t you know that I’m here everything will be alright. Don’t look at the adverse circumstances I am with you, you will be fine.” This faith prompts in us an attitude of thanksgiving. Even if the worst news comes to us, we have to say Lord I will bless Your name and I thank You that You are still in control. Lord, You will have me overcome it. That attitude keeps me steadfast and immovable in the Lord - very essential to continue with God in a victorious manner.
The first thing is to give attendance to reading, second thing is to give attendance to prayer, have this regular and have it with faith, third thing is maintaining holy fellowship with like-minded believers who are also wanting to become like Jesus and want to get that crown from the Lord, and the fourth thing is make sure that you obey all that the Lord has spoken to you.
There are some things that are general in the Bible that applies to everyone, then there is an another category that’s very specific and individuals need to hear the Lord on what He wants them to do at any particular junction in their lives. He may say to one person, "Go to this city." To the other person He’ll say, "I forbid you to go that city; I want you to go to this city." So obedience is important both in the general commandments and the whole Word of God, moral and ethical, and all those things but also specific directions from the Divine Spirit of God telling you what to do at any particular point in your life. When I have that obedience as the fourth staple in my life, then I will remain steadfast, I can’t go wrong. Praise God! There is victory and consistent victory if only we have these things in our lives.
The last thing is to live a life of praise and thanksgiving as I said. A habitual training of myself to say, "Bad news has come, an evil forecast, but I still choose to praise the Living God." Because I have faith that He is with me in the storm. He will calm it. I know and I will believe Him and praise Him for it ahead of time. That will get me through all of the obstacles and keep me unmoved or immovable. I won’t be shaken. David said I will not be greatly shaken. I won’t be shaken because I will believe my God that He will get me through this. Ephesians 5:20 about praising it says this, giving thanks always for all things unto God. Now when He says all things we clarify that we said not for all things in the sense that for the bad things. For example, if you have a crash with the automobile and you have lost so much in damages that is not a good thing, however, God can redeem that and use that for good. But I don’t thank God for the crash, I thank God in those circumstances, say “Lord I still praise you through this thing, because I know you will work it out for good.” So, that is the King James rendering, here it says, giving thanks always for all things, but we would say in all things unto God in the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When someone dies, a child dies of a terminal illness, is that a good thing? No. Death is a bad thing, but death is swallowed up in victory! So God comes and His resurrection life will raise that innocent child up one day. So through their adversity victory will come because God is there. Another benefit might be that God can redeem that sorrowful event - such that others may be drawn; perhaps, very often the family members themselves closer to the Lord leaving a lifestyle that would have landed them in hell. Now they can join that child in heaven. These are things that we can’t explain or necessarily understand at those points in life. But as we have a life of praising God in all things, God will work everything for our good.
So the Lord helps us to have carefulness to these five things:
1. Reading the Word 2. Prayer 3. Holy Fellowship 4. Obedience 5. Life of Praise
After the carefulness to these things, is the commitment that can come forth. See when I am careful on a regular basis that I read and prayed today - I was in the Word of God today and I had a quality time with the Lord that routine will help me to develop a commitment. It will help me to make a decision to commit to the Lord that this will become my lifestyle. I will read, I will pray, seek out Godly fellowship, you see the effort involved. It is not automatic. That’s why the Apostle says give attendance to the reading. In other words, don’t neglect it, make sure you pray. Make sure you live a life of thanksgiving, seek out don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together with the brethren. Make sure you give thanks to God, be careful to obey all these things. Why does the Spirit of God come so often and so specifically to tell us to do, do, do – it is because it’s our responsibility to do. God will do everything for us except obey for us. Christ obeyed the Father and fulfilled every point, every "jot and tittle" was fulfilled as for the prophecies up to that point, the Lord fulfilled. His obedience freed me from my destruction that came because of my disobedience. But once He has freed me He will not continue to assign His obedience to my life automatically, so that I don’t need to obey. It’s up to me now. God says having rescued you, “I’m giving a charge and a responsibility to be careful to maintain the good works, give attendance to certain things. It’s up to you, the choice is yours, if you make the right choice everyday and you are consistent, that regular routine will give you the impetus to make a commitment that, “Lord, this will become my lifestyle.” The commitment is a contract in essence saying to God, “Lord I read this contract that I will do these things before You.” I’m committed to doing these things, I’m saying to God, “I’m agreeing to do this before you.” A commitment is a contract that no matter what the circumstances in life, what the conditions of situation, I will persevere steadfast with the Lord.
That commitment that issues from a carefulness to the things of God will lead to a character which is an attendance to the moral and ethical standards that are right before God and I’m embracing that to make that part of me. Now, I’m becoming solidified in the right ways of the Lord. See the carefulness is the initial, I begin to pay attention to the details God is laying out. I take it very seriously. That gives me the opportunity to become committed to Him that I will not let this go, I made a contract with the Lord, I will do these things, and then I will become that character that God can say I can trust him, I can trust her not to forsake Me. Now the character will begin to solidify all of the moral and ethical judgments that I have made a choice for before God. It’ll become part of me and ingrained in me. I’ll become that person, where I will have that victory because I have developed that habitual obedience to God.
That character will lead not to condemnation but to a coronation. A coronation is enthroning someone. When someone gets put into the throne as a king, he are enthroned, he is coronated, they have a big ceremony and there is a coronation. They crown him, they give him all of the rights and privileges and the authority at that point. Do you know what the Lord Jesus said to us? He said, "to him that overcomes in Revelation 3:21, I will grant to sit on my throne, even as I also overcame and I’m set with my Father in His throne." What an awesome and ultimate reward for the Christian that it is not just passing through avoiding the bullets from the devil as it were, but it is a coronation that’s waiting! That’s why Paul said that crown of righteousness is laid up for me because I fought the good fight, I finished my course and it was with joy and that crown is not for me only lest we should say, "That was the Paul; He was incredible. I don’t know if I can ever attain to that: fastings voluntary, involuntary, being shipwrecked, being whipped, stoned all these things!" But Paul says Jesus is my example. Jesus who lives in me, the Christ that’s in me - the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:” With Christ living in me, I will head to the throne of Christ one day to be crowned by the Living Christ himself. We examine ourselves to be sure, to be sure that we are walking with the Lord. So when I have the complacency, it’s going to lead to compromising the Word of God, because I feel okay, I don’t need to be careful anymore. I will by and by compromise. That compromise will lead to a life of confusion where I won’t even know the right way anymore. Let alone lead others to the right way, but I call myself a Christian. God knows that human heart and that person knows very well that they are backslidden, but they’ll put on a show. But God will judge in the end. That’s the danger. What follows from that confusion is that their own heart condemns them; God who is greater sees it already, a condemnation results. But as I have said - Praise God! - if you find yourself in that state or any one of those stages, you can say it to the Lord, "Father forgive me for becoming worldly again, for being self-satisfied. Lord, I do not want to lose my soul. Lord, I want to fulfill your purposes!"
Our gracious Heavenly Father, we praise and magnify your wonderful name for giving your Holy Son Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins when He died on the cross 2000 years ago. Lord, we thank you for blessing your children with peace, the peace that comes from walking with You day after day, gracious Father strengthen the listeners and help them to ever be steadfast in You. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
Friends you may write us via email at: contact@elbethelinternationalministries.org
Or by mail :
El bethel International Ministries
Post office Box 966,
Goshen, New York, 10924, USA
