Persevering With PurposeSample

Day 2: Profess His Promises

We often see that what we profess also becomes prominent in our lives.

How we talk has a direct influence on our walk. And what we think inherently influences what we say and do as well. This is not some mind over matter psychology or prosperity Gospel. Instead, it is the truth of how our thoughts, our words, and our actions influence our daily lives. And the sum of our daily lives collectively impacts our lives over the months, seasons, and years to come.

Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that the power of life and death is in our tongue. Thus, what we continually profess builds major constructs in our mental and spiritual state. It not only becomes the belief system we act and speak from, but it actually has the power to determine the course of our lives. This is not because we magically speak things into being, but because we are in fact constantly reminding ourselves what we truly believe about ourselves, and about God.

Think about this for a moment: According to the account of creation, God created the universe by the power of His words. According to the same account in Genesis 1 and 2, we were created in His image, bearing his resemblance and a certain amount of His authority over the world He placed us in. Therefore, it is safe to acknowledge that your words have the power to create. Not the power to create physical objects or beings from dust and dreams. You cannot call a rainbow pony into existence or activate an unlimited bank account simply by professing a belief in it. But our words can create spiritual strongholds and mental blocks in our lives and the lives of others.

So, when the author of Hebrews is encouraging the church to persevere in faith by holding unswervingly to the hope we profess, the challenge is inherently to mind what we say and how we speak about our beliefs and circumstances. Just in the very next chapter we are also reminded that faith is confidence in what we hope for (this very hope we profess) and certainty about the unseen (the promises we are still waiting on God for) (Hebrews 11:1). And it’s the unseen things that influence our mental and spiritual state the most, isn’t it?

Many of us fail to persevere because we have lost hope. Whether it is the hope that the world can still be a better place, the hope that our lives will improve, the hope that our futures will be different, or even the hope that God is true and faithful. Our hope is bruised and battered, often leading us to quietly quit or openly just give up.

Yet, our hope can be reconstructed. Hope can be reconstructed when we start professing our beliefs again. And these beliefs are to be built on God’s Word, which inevitably also include His promises. Faith and hope are only wishful thinking if they are not based on what God says and promises. Our thoughts and words carry this weight into action. This is how what we profess becomes another pillar of perseverance.

Our circumstances might not change because we speak and think positively. But our perspective will, which will influence the way we can continue to persevere.

So let us reconstruct our hope again. Let us build our true beliefs on God’s Word, professing its power over our lives. Let us persevere faithfully with an unseizing grip on God’s purpose for our lives. Let us hold firmly to His promise of faithfulness and keep enduring.

And let us profess our faith – in thought, word and deed – that even though we don’t always know what we’re doing, where we’re heading, or how we’ll get there. . .God does!