3 Kinds of 'Holding' in a Hope-filled Life

Recently, I took time to meditate on the words "holds" and "holding" in the Bible, and the study blessed and encouraged me. In this Christian Life UPGRADE, I want to share what I found.

There are three kinds of "holding" in a hope-filled life. Let's explore each of these.

1. We Hold onto Jesus.

The song "Anchor" by Hillsong Worship says, "I have this hope as an anchor for my soul; Through every storm I will hold to You."

There is a sense in which we "hold" onto Christ. We anchor our lives in Jesus, our Savior; we hold on tightly to Him.

Hebrews 6:18b-19a says,

. . . we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. . . . (ESV).

What does that mean? It means we hold tight to the anchor of the promises of God for our salvation. We cling to the old rugged cross and our Lord's sacrifice for sin.

We trust in Jesus alone, believing what God has told us about sending Jesus to be the Savior (1 John 4:14), and that we will have eternal life through Him (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:40; 10:28-30; 17:3; Romans 6:23; 1 John 5:11, 13; 2:25 ).

He is our only hope.

2. God Holds onto Us.

The song "He Will Hold Me Fast" by Ada Habershon and popularized by Keith & Kristyn Getty and Selah, best exemplifies this.

"He'll not let my soul be lost, His promises shall last.

Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast."

The song reminds us that Father God will hold onto us, His redeemed children,

• when we fear our faith will fail,
• when the tempter seems to prevail, and
• when our love grows cold.

One line especially spoke to my heart. While it is crucial that I hold onto Jesus,

"I could never keep my hold,

He must hold me fast."

My salvation is not a matter of my holding out until Jesus returns, but rather on God's eternal plan and purposes, and our Heavenly Father's commitment to hold tight onto those who have trusted in His Son.

He holds us fast when we are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit—our Father's guarantee of redemption to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:11-14).

Consider the wonder of Father God taking us by the hand:

• Even if others abandon us, He takes us in and holds us close (Psalm 27:10 NLT).
• As His hand holds us, He carries us along, leading and saving us (Psalm 139:10; Isaiah 46:4 ESV).
• He takes hold of our hand and holds us up with his victorious right hand (Isaiah 41:10, 13; Psalm 63:8 ESV).
• His presence is so near that He has, in fact, engraved us on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16 ESV).

That last verse is such a comfort.

Can you imagine having your picture (Amplified), or your name (NLT) being carved into God's hands? The symbolism is so beautiful.

In Psalm 73, the seer (prophet) and psalmist, Asaph, testified to the close relationship he experienced with God, even though he had almost lost his footing spiritually (vs. 2), and even though he felt bitter, foolish, and arrogant (vv. 21-22).

Furthermore, Asaph proclaimed that even if his health failed him and his spirit grew weak, God was his forever! (v. 26)

That is truth for all of us who know the Lord. God's children belong to Him and He holds their hands (Psalm 73:23 NLT), even when they feel they are falling apart.

We are safe with God, no matter what happens in this life.

How wonderful to be firmly held onto by the Father, now and forever.

When I was a mom with young boys, I noticed the freedom they felt when I held their hands in dangerous situations. They felt protected. Their hearts were at ease.

That is the freedom we feel when we remember that Father God holds our hand. We experience peace because He is with us.

3. We Hold Fast Our Confession of Faith.

Hebrews 10:23 tells us to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (ESV).

To hold fast is to hold firmly. Confession can also be translated "profession"—what we profess.

The writer of Hebrews is saying, "Keep a firm grip on what you have professed and affirmed, that your hope, your confidence, is that God can be trusted to keep His promises."

Holding fast to our confession also means we must display our faith in God and our loyalty to Him in a public way. 

God doesn't call "secret service Christians."

We are to declare verbally (Romans 10:9) what we have believed for salvation. We must be faithful witnesses.

When we consider that God is holding us firmly, something should happen in our thoughts and emotions. We should be motivated to share what God has done in us, for us, and through us.

Philippians 2:14-16a says,

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the mist of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life . . . . (ESV).

There are two ways to look at that scripture.

First, we're to "hold fast." As we hold onto Jesus and rejoice that the Father is holding onto us, Paul says we have the responsibility to be powerful examples in our generation. And how do we do that? By "holding fast to the word of life."  

We hold firmly to what we have been taught and what we know about Jesus, who is the living Christ (1 John 1:1).

But there's another application.

The Amplified version of Philippians 2:16 reads this way: holding out and offering to everyone the word of life.

In other words, we invite those around us to receive the same hope in Jesus that we have. We do that as we witness to them with our words, not only our lives.

As we live for the Lord in practical ways, and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in conforming us to Christ's likeness, others will see God operating in us—and perhaps they will be more inclined to listen to our testimony.

The Christian life is full of hope, and we have the responsibility and joy to share with others how to know Christ.

So remember:

• We hold onto Jesus.
• Greater still, God holds onto us.
• And we hold firmly to our testimony—we hold forth the word of life to others.

Which of these kinds of "holding" do you need to focus on today?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for women's teacher and revivalist, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth at Revive Our Hearts, and is a regular columnist at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in sunny Southern California, and Dawn has traveled with Him in Pacesetter Global Outreach. They have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of D Mz at Pixabay.

6 'Holds' to Strengthen Your Life

In this Spiritual Growth UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson looks at the word "hold" and four ways to look at this word that can change and strengthen your life.

"To hold is to grasp or restrain," Dawn says, "and we see both of these meanings in our walk with the Lord."

Here are six truths about the word "hold."

1. Hold On

We're encouraged in scripture to hold on to the Lord by faith, but the reality is, He holds on to us!

Psalm 27:14 encourages us to let our hearts take courage as we "wait for the Lord." Derek Kidner calls this "holding on with naked faith"* Sometimes it is nothing but our simple faith in God that gets us through the struggles of life. The real strength is not in our faith, however, but in the object of our faith—the Lord!

At a low point of my life, when I struggled with fear, overwhelmed by circumstances, a friend shared Isaiah 41:13: "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'" I immediately felt God's comfort. Like a child walking confidently with her Daddy, I've learned to hold my Father God's hand.

God holds on to us with his righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10) and keeps us in His presence continually (Isaiah 42:6; Psalm 73:23). But we need to hold on tightly to Him—to "cling" to Him—too! (Psalm 63:8)

2. Hold Fast

The author of Hebrews tells us to "hold fast our confession" (4:14). What does that mean? We confess with our mouth concerning our salvation (Romans 10:10); we openly acknowlege Jesus and live for him with our whole being.

Because we have a Great High Priest, and we can trust Him to be our Advocate, we come boldly to God's throne of mercy in Christ (Hebrews 4:16). We "hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering" because God is faithful! (Hebrews 10:23) And because the Lord is faithful to continue to work in us, we can hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21, 24). We are forever anchored in Him.

"Troubles almost 'whelm the soul; Griefs like billows o'er me roll; Tempters seek to lure astray; Storms obscure the light of day: But in Christ I can be bold, I've an anchor that shall hold" (My Anchor Holds" by William C. Martin).

3. Hold In

God wants us to use discernment (Psalm 119:66) and hold some things in—at least until we’ve paused to think before we speak. In our culture, we're encouraged to be transparent, but we don't need to say everything we're thinking.

Some of the worst things I’ve heard have come from well-meaning Christians who just weren’t thinking. It’s things like: “God needed another angel” when a loved one has died. First, people aren’t angels; and second, that’s incredibly insensitive when someone is hurting. Even when we must confront in truth, the rule is "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).

Another example: Some have said, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Sometimes God does give us more than we can handle, to teach us to rely on Him.

When in doubt, think it out; and until God gives you beneficial words to say, hold it in!

4. Hold Out

I'm learning to hold out against temptation, looking for that "way out" that He provides (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Sometimes it's a pause—holding out—that prevents me from rushing headlong into sin.

While I'm in that "holding" pattern, I pray, I recall scriptures or I call an accountability partner. And while I'm pausing, I'm also learning to actively resist the devil and his schemes (James 4:7). For so many years I was afraid to do this, afraid of some of the excesses I saw in the spiritual warfare movement, I went to the other extreme and didn't obey God's command to submit myself to God's control and then resist the devil.

Thomas Brooks offers a list of 10 ways the Christian can resist Satan's temptations in Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices. Reviewer Tim Challies lists them here.

God promises the enemy will flee if we fight sins biblically, so determine to hold out against sin!

5. Hold Lightly

We must take time to determine what is valuable and eternal—what really matters. Even good things God gives us can consume and control us, or distract us from what is best.

When anything becomes dearer to us than the Lord (i.e., idols), we need to let God pry our hands loose so we can put that "thing" down (treasures, possessions, relationships, etc.). We need to hold lightly those things that have any potential to come between us and God.

We see this principle in Luke 12:16-21. Basically, stop laying up treasures for yourself and become rich toward God instead.

Don't misunderstand. There are some things to hold tightly: your marriage and children, for example. But even then, be sure the Lord is number one! A good rule of thumb: try to hold lightly anything you can't take with you to heaven—especially your "stuff."

6.  Hold Up

Just as Aaron and Hur held up Moses's hands in the middle of a great battle (Exodus 17:11-12), sometimes we need people to hold us up—to encourage us and hold us accountable.

We need to bear each others burdens (Galatians 6:1-2); hold each other up in prayer (James 5:16); tell each other the truth (Ephesians 4:25), and confront, exhort and "sharpen" each other (James 5:19-20; Hebrews 3:12-13; Proverbs 27:17).

But it's not just people we "hold up." In another sense, we hold up the Lord before a watching world when we lift him up. We magnify His name and mighty works. 

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" (Psalm 34:3)

When we lift up Jesus, when we show Him to be the beautiful Savior He is, He will draw people to Himself (John 12:32). This is perhaps the most important "hold" of all.

Which of these "holds" is the Lord speaking to you about today? What can you do to help these truths become a strong part of your life?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for Revive Our Hearts and a writer at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in Southern California and have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

 * Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Psalms 1-72, p. 139

Graphic of Father and Daughter at sunset, adapted, from wesharepics.