His Heart, My Home

Hebrews 13:5b, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition He, [God] Himself, has said, “I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree, leave you helpless, nor forsake, nor let you down (relax my hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

We saw in our previous post of Hebrews 13:5b that God (Father, Son and Spirit) has given us a blood-ratified guarantee (far stronger than an iron-clad guarantee!) that He will never, never, never leave us, nor forsake us.

Let’s focus very narrowly just on the word “leave” in this verse. And let’s invite Holy Spirit to give us more revelation knowledge of the absolute security we have in Christ.

The word translated as leave in the NKJV of Hebrews 13:5b is the Greek word “aniemi”. This word is only used four times in the entire New Testament, but it is incredibly rich in its meaning and scope.

Here are some of the multi-layered meanings of “aniemi”: to leave; to let down; to give up; to fail to uphold; to release; to let go; to let sink; to slacken; to loosen; to neglect

Studying both the Amplified Bible and the Strong’s Concordance definitions of the word “aniemi” will help us discover the awesome strength of God’s commitment to us.

GOD WILL NEVER, NEVER, NEVER:

LEAVE US / LET US DOWN
God will never “leave us hanging.” He will never let us down. He will never disappoint us by failing to deliver on a promise that He has made. He actively watches over His Word to perform it in our lives. (Jeremiah 1:12, Amplified Bible) His watchful care for us is constant.

FAIL US
God will never fail us no matter how many times we fail Him. Our unfaithfulness does not negate the faithfulness of God. Even if we are faithless, God remains true to His nature, ever-faithful.
(2 Timothy 2:13)

LET US GO / GIVE US UP
God will never give us up. He will not surrender us, nor hand us over to our enemies. We’ve been bought with a price, the blood of God Himself! (Acts 20:28) We now belong to God; spirit, soul, and body. (1 Corinthians 6:20 and John 10:28)
He has purchased us and called us by His name. We are His! (Isaiah 43:1)

Recently, while I was meditating on the phrase “God will not give us up”, Holy Spirit “flipped the script” on me, changing the word order. I saw this truth from a different angle. Not only will God never give us up, but also “God will never give up on us!” He will never lose faith in us. He will always believe the best in us! What a wonderfully loving and faithful God!

FAIL TO SUPPORT AND UPHOLD US
God will never leave us without support. When I think of the word support, the first thing I think of are those giant steel support beams in an architectural structure, like a skyscraper. The beams bear the weight of the building, and keep it upright. They are designed and engineered to withstand strong winds and even earthquakes.

The word support also means to keep one from losing courage and fainting. The Lord is our support-structure. He bears the weight of our burdens and keeps us standing upright. He gives us the ability to withstand the shakings and storms of life. He constantly encourages us, so that we are never overwhelmed, and always victorious, even in the midst of great difficulties.

NEGLECT US / LEAVE US HELPLESS
God will never neglect us. He will never leave us helpless. Holy Spirit is our Helper, and He is always there to help us in our weaknesses. (Romans 8:26) He is “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” So we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

We can sum it all up with this powerful personal faith declaration:

Psalm 46:1-3, The Passion Translation

“God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge!

You’re a proven help in time of trouble – more than enough, and always available whenever I need you.

So I will never fear, even if every structure of support were to crumble away.

I will not fear, even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains, and casting them into the sea.

For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode my faith in you!”