Contend

 

I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people.  (Jude 1:3 NIV) 

The word contend, in the Greek, comes from a root word meaning, “to struggle, compete for a prize, fight, labor fervently, strive.” (Strong, 1983)

The woman who reached out for the hem of Jesus’s robe had faith that when she touched it, she’d be healed.  She knew the power was in Jesus, and when her faith, as it were, touched the power, she was healed.

The power of God, manifested through Jesus when He walked on the earth, was made available to all of us at the cross.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV) 

The word saved in this verse is the Greek word sozo, which means, “to save, deliver, protect, heal, make whole.” (Strong, 1983)

There is power at the cross for salvation, deliverance, protection, healing, and restoration.  In other words, there is power at the cross for everything we need.

One verse is really all we need to grow our faith: 

By His stripes we were healed (see 1 Peter 2:24)

This verse points back to Jesus’s stripes, His blood, the cross, where all the power is. 

As we say it and say it and say it (Joshua 1:8), hear it and hear it and hear it (Romans 10:17), faith will grow. 

The more we say it and hear it, the more confident we become that it is true.  

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

And when this confidence, this faith, grows enough to touch His power, we have the manifestation.

By His stripes, I was _______

Don’t just say it lightly, contend for the victory, like the warrior you are.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17)

References:

Strong, James. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original, with References to the English Words. Baker Book House, 1983.

 

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com.  The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.