STAY IN THE HOUSE!

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death. It's a mouthful, huh? :)

Hebrews 3:12-14 tells us:
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end

One way we keep feeding our faith is to remain faithful to the House of God.
Hebrews 10:23, 24, 25 tells us:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The Greek word for assembling is:
episunagoge (ep-ee-soon-ag-o-gay')
A complete collection, a meeting for worship, assembling or gathering together.
To collect upon the same place together.

It interests me to be seeing churches closing their doors for Sunday evening and/or Wednesday evening worship/study. It's often under the guise of "family time". Many are busy pursing their own plans in their lives, so much so that Sunday a.m. is plenty for them, because they live such "busy" lives. It seems to be a landmark that speaks of those that do not make use of Matthew 6:33, because of the pressures in life and goals they've set for themselves, and the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. Too much to do and too little time to do it in.

With our lives so crowded with things that put pressure on our time, it will not avail ourselve to: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering
With the bustle of our lives that would crowd out communion with the Lord, and assembling ourselves together.....
The promises of God will become a distant memory.
Healing will become a distant memory.
Deliverance will become a distant memory.
Walking in holiness will become a distant memory.
Walking in the sweetness of fellowship with the Lord, will become a distant memory.
The voice of the Lord will become a distant memory.....
Because the voice of everything around us will begin to take first place in our lives.
STAY IN THE HOUSE!!!

This is not to be taking place of our own time with the Lord each day...but it will stir us into love, good works, obedience to the Word of God, and help to remind us that we're not the "big dog" in our lives. Jesus is not only to be our Savior, He's to be our Lord.

Each member of the Body of Christ has gifts and callings in their lives, and they are suppose to fit jointly together to those around them...being the Lords hand extended to one another. We will not receive those benefits if we are not "assembling" together.

God's Word warns us that there will be a great falling away in the end times, "apostasy". None of us are immune to such a thing. We're told repetedly to GUARD OUR HEARTS, to stand fast, to hold fast to what we have, that no one may take our crown, not to draw back, to continue in the faith. He's even gone so far as to say in:
Hebrews 3:6
Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

I Corinthians 15:2
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.

Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Colossians 1:23
if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Mark 13:13
And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

....and many many more Scriptures speak of the same.

I've always thought it interesting that the Lord equates us with "sheep" in His Word. LOL Sheep are really DUMB animals. We need to understand our own fraility and inability outside of God.

I've decided to FOLLOW THE LORD, I CHOOSE to be faithful, this is something that we can and should ALL DO. Am not speaking from a holier than thou attitude, but I'm saying that it's a CHOICE to remain faithful to ALL that the Lord KNOWS will keep us strong in our faith and in our walk with Him.

I want to encourage us all to STAY IN THE HOUSE!!!!

Father, I ask You to HELP US!!!! Help us to remain faithful to that which You KNOW will keep us strong in our faith, and with our walk with You. Help us to PUT YOU FIRST in our lives. In Jesus' Name.