*BACKSLIDING*
Die Daily Footstool Devotional
Hebrews 2:1-4 KJVS
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. [2] For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; [3] How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him ; [4] God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
There are things we must intentionally do in order to avoid backsliding. Backsliding is simply sliding back into your "previous" or past sins. It is deception that leads us to backslide. When we falsely begin to trivialise and "oldify" things God has spoken to us before, considering them to be no longer important, we are beginning to backslide. Backsliding is dangerous. It can make us lose our precious
salvation.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;... Hebrews 1:3
If we neglect the precious salvation God is giving to us via His instructions to us, we can lose all that God wants to do for us. Yes, it can be that serious! We must fight backsliding with a lot of fierceness or else it will cheat us before we know it.
Hebrews 2:1-4 gives us some important lessons on how to avoid backsliding.
1. LISTEN MORE TO OLD MESSAGES.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Hebrews 2: 1
You must develop the habit of listening more to the things God speaks. God speaks through His Son in these last days, who also amplifies His Voice through His many servants in the churches. Listen to the messages of your pastor. Listen to the messages of your shepherd. Listen to messages that have been preached before or are being preached. Practise the habit of listening again and again to things that you have already heard before. Hearing God once on a thing is not enough. It's your job to go over what God has said over and over again, or else, you will let them slip.
Job 33:14 KJVS
For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Psalm 62:11 KJVS
God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
The moment you let what God has built within you slip by, you make room within yourself for sin because nature abhors vacuum. Something will always fill up any place that is vacant and empty. So practice holding tight to things that God has already spoken.
Hebrews 10:23, 26-27 KJVS
Let us hold fast the profession m of our faith n without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) ... For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, [27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
This is why recording of preaching sermons and messages is so important. And this is equally why you have to pay closer attention to all messages preached. They are God's direct messages to the church. They must not be trivialised.
2. PAY ATTENTION TO THE LORD'S VOICE TO YOU
When a certain scripture jumps out at you or seems to speak very loudly to you in a particular season of your life, so much so that you begin to see signs of that scripture coming to pass in your everyday activities or even in spectacular occurrences, it is a clear indication that God's Voice is coming to you directly. A person's voice indicates their direct presence, oh yes. God's Voice indicates His direct presence. Pay attention to the Voice of God. It is the Son of God who speaks directly to His children through the Holy Spirit anytime the Voice of God comes.
Disobeying the Voice of God carries very serious consequences. If even words spoken by angels were treated very seriously in the Bible, so that people who
