Description

Hold Fast to Your Confession 

David W Palmer

Because:

• Jesus said that you can have what you say—if his conditions are met (Mark 11:23)
• Right words are forceful (Job 6:25)
• Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21)
• The Holy Spirit says the tongue is like the bit in a horse’s mouth that can set the direction of the whole body (James 3:1–12)
• The Holy Spirit says it is like the rudder on a ship that can give direction to all who are in the vessel including the cargo
• The tongue is like a forest fire that is kindled by a very small flame
• The tongue is more unruly than a wild animal and only God can tame it 
• The lips are like the mouth of a fountain that can only put out pure water or contaminated—there is no mixture of the two that comes out pure and useable by God (James 3:1–12)

We need to purify our hearts and overflow them with good—God’s word, his character, love, and blessing. We need to yield our tongues to the Holy Spirit’s control through speaking in tongues, and we need to guard our hearts with all diligence to keep out the devil’s implanted word-seeds; devilish seeds can grow to words and actions that sabotage our lives and steer them in the wrong direction.

Once our heart is sown exclusively with good seeds from God’s word, meditation on his character, what we see and hear with him, and his Spirit, then we listen for the overflow—the harvest of the good seeds springing up from our hearts out of our mouths and through our actions. Once we begin to confess God’s word with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, it can come out with powerful boldness and be a spiritual force. This is the force of faith that pushes back the enemy:

(Matthew 11:12 DKJV)

To keep up the pressure of this invincible force—that expands the kingdom of God—we need to get a Godly confession and then stick to it: 

(Hebrews 4:14 NKJV) Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 

If we fail to “hold fast our confession,” the enemy will use his spiritual force to pressure us to pull back from what we are hoping to receive. We must use all of the ways we can to keep our confession encouraged and on fire for God. We simply must not let it even waver in the slightest from a pure confession of what God says:

(Hebrews 10:23 NKJV) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 

Here, the Holy Spirit warns us against “wavering”; he wants us to have an upright, bold, confident, consistent confession that doesn’t lean in the slightest way into agreement with the world, the flesh, or the devil. If we waver between a godly confession and any other words, we become double-souled and cannot be victors in the fight of faith: 

(James 1:6–8 NKJV)

(1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV)

This fight and warfare is very real. It is in this context that the Holy Spirit teaches us about our fight and the armoury God has given us to enable our triumph:

(2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NKJV)

(Ephesians 6:10–17 NLT)

Remember, true faith is about pure confession, persevering in it, obedience to God, expectantly looking forward to the return of Jesus, and expanding forward—definitely not shrinking back:

(Hebrews 10:23, 35–39 NKJV)

Today, I encourage you to take charge of your heart—guard it, keep it, and fill it exclusively with God, his love, and his word. Pray that God will set a watch over your mouth so that none of your “words fall to the ground” (1 Sam. 3:19 KJV). Be fully committed to holding fast to the confession with which God agrees, and refuse to allow the devil to access any of your authority through the use of your tongue; reserve it exclusively for God and his word. Then you’ll be exerting a force and brandishing a sword that will drive back the devil and his kingdom—leading to the ultimate end-of-life commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Mat. 25:21 KJV).