Church Strong - Strong Convictions

So in our Church Strong seriets, we’ve looked at some of the components to becoming a strong Church. Again I’m not talking about this building or the programs that we offer, I’m talking about us individually and collectively becoming Strong in the way we live. We looked at love, the need for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the Word and building strong relationships. Today we’re going to look at having strong convictions.

According to the Webster’s Dictionary, the second definition of the word conviction is a strong belief or opinion, the state of mind of a person who is sure that what he or she believes or says is true. So in order to be a strong Christian, we need strong convictions!

Joshua 24:14–15 AMP

14 Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua’s Conviction was to Serve the Lord!

Joshua did not try to keep up with Joneses! He was going with the flow like we at times are so tempted to do. No, he had the strong conviction that everyone else could go with the flow but he and his house were going to serve the Lord. It doesn’t matter what the popular trend is. And right now there are a lot of trends that are the complete opposite of what you and I believe as Christians. No matter what the trend is, we have to have the conviction to serve the Lord and follow Him only!

Deuteronomy 30:11–20 NIV

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Strong Convictions Have Benefits!

Having the strong conviction to follow the Lord has many benefits. God will prosper and bless us with increase and cause us to have life instead of being in a rut. Which is a grave with the ends kick out!

Philippians 3:12–16 NLT

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

With Strong Convictions We Don’t Quit!

With strong convictions we never really arrive. We are never satisfied that we’re done reaching for God. Strong convictions cause us to keep on pressing on. We keep going like the Energizer Bunny. We don’t quit at all and think that we’ve paid the price. We don’t rest on our laurels and retire so to say! No we keep refining ourselves and we keep pushing to get closer to what He wants us to be.

2 Corinthians 4:7–18 NIV

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Strong Convictions Make Us See Things Differently!

Life can be tough at times but those with strong convictions operate the same no matter what they face. Persecutions, hard pressed from the obstacles that life throws at us. No friends and being left alone. It doesn’t matter, we see things as opportunities to get stronger and to grow. We’re looking at an unseen kingdom that never ends and we know that everything we can see is temporary!

Romans 8:35–39 TPT

35 Who could ever separate us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, 36 even though it is written: All day long we face death threats for your sake, God. We are considered to be nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered! 37 Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! 38 So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. 39 There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!

Strong Convictions Strengthen Our God Relationship!

When we have strong convictions, we know that we know that nothing can separate us from Him. We know that His love is so strong for us that He gives us power to be overcomers and more than conquerors. We know that absolutely nothing can separate us from His love! How do we know that? Strong Conviction. What we believe is true because God is true.