Perseverance

“Because you have kept my commandment to persevere...” (Revelation 3:10)

One of my favorite scenes from the movie Facing the Giants is the death crawl. Do you remember that scene in the movie where the coach blindfolds Brock and makes him crawl across the entire football field with his teammate on his back? There were many times that Brock wanted to quit and give up; it was straining and he felt like he had nothing left. But, his coach kept encouraging him to keep going and persevere until the end.When Brock finally made it to the end and realized he had crossed the entire field without quitting, his belief in himself, his team and his coach completely changed. He conquered something he thought was impossible and came out stronger. He persevered.

Perseverance is more than just endurance- it’s more than holding on with everything you’ve got until the end. It’s endurance combined with the absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for and fighting for will happen. Perseverance is defined in Webster’s dictionary as, “the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, in spite of difficulties, trials and obstacles.” Despite difficulties, we persevere. Despite trials, we persevere. Despite obstacles, we persevere. We persevere toward our calling. We persevere to the voice of God.We persevere to the end.

Here’s a cool analogy I heard a couple of years ago about perseverance . Our life is in God’s hands like a bow and arrow in the hand’s of an archer. The archer is aiming at something the arrow cannot see, but the archer continues to stretch and strain- aiming at the target, while the arrow says, “I can’t take it anymore!” The archer pays no attention; he goes on stretching until his eye is on the target and his purpose for the arrow is in sight. Then, he lets the arrow fly; aiming at the target.

We have to be like a bow and arrow in the hand’s of the Lord; entrusting ourself to God. Even when it’s dark and we can’t see the light and He’s stretching and straining us. Trust Him. Persevere! He has His eye on the prize. He can see the target ahead, even when we can’t. Keep going! The prize is ahead! If we could just grasp that, how much easier would it be to trust God in every situation and continue to persevere.

“Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

James explains that perseverance is the product of faith being tested. While nobody enjoys being tested and stretched in their faith, James says, “Consider it pure joy”, for perseverance makes the soul, “mature and complete.” But, we must finish. We have to complete the task ahead of us.

Is there something in your life right now where you need perseverance? We need to proclaim in confidence like Job did, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.” (Job 13:15) There is a call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work steadfastly, knowing with certainty He will never be defeated and we will come out stronger.It’s going to take everything you’ve got to persevere, but know with perfect assurance that He has his eye on the prize and He aiming you towards it.

Perseverance is strong and confident, built on the knowledge that God is perfect love. Even though we can’t physically see Him right now and don’t understand what He’s doing, we know Him. We trust Him. It’s throwing yourself completely abandoned into the arms of Christ knowing that He is who He says He is. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10)


-Hayley

Letting Go of Idols...

¹⁷As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

   ¹⁸And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

   ¹⁹"You know the commandments, 'DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"

   ²⁰And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."

   ²¹Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

   ²²But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

   ²³And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"

   ²⁴The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

   ²⁵"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

   ²⁶They were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?"

   ²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

   ²⁸Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You."

   ²⁹Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,

   ³⁰but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.

   ³¹"But many who are first will be last, and the last, first."

A long reference, I know. It's probably one you've read or heard many times before. I encourage you to go back and read through it carefully. This young guy is a pretty good guy and has followed all the commandments ever since he was little. Jesus sees his dedication and passion to find eternal life and has a love for him. He then strikes into the cord of the man and tells him to sell all he owns and give to the poor (vs 21). What happens? The young man walks away saddened because he loves all he possesses.

How many times do we find ourselves in our possessions? The new IPhone comes out and we all need to have it even though our 3G works just fine (this is coming from someone who owns both the itouch and the ipod classic). We've been consumed by consumerism and especially around this time of the year. There is so much in this text that you could dissect and get out of, but i want to focus on the last few verses. in verse 29, Jesus tells us that we will leave comforts of this world for His advancement of the Kingdom. Houses, family, friends, jobs, mp3 players, maybe even our life. This is in direct conflict with the prosperity gospel because Jesus points out here that we will lose things of this world. Depressing right? Keep reading. Jesus continues in verse 30 saying that we will receive 100 times in this PRESENT age. Jesus is speaking out to those who are broken and alone. You don't have a family? You do in Christ. You don't have a home? You are sheltered in God's grace. You may lose your life, but you shall receive eternal life in Jesus. We WILL even go through persecutions and trials, but thanks be to God who wipes the tears from our eyes when face to face with Him in eternity...

Take the next few moments, right where you're at, and think long and hard about things in your life that Jesus may be asking you to give up. Please don't read into this as a "YOU HAVE TO BE POOR TO BE A CHRISTIAN!" I'm saying that there are things in our life (sometimes good) that we close our hand around and they become an idol in our life. I know I have many, and I guarantee I will be praying about what I need to give up. God be gracious and give me strength in doing so. Do you have idols in your life? Are you putting things before God, things that sometimes aren't even bad or wrong? Are you not only willing to follow Christ's teachings (like the young rich ruler), but also give up what Christ convicts you of? Or will you walk away sad, having nothing but your idols. I would rather be rich in Christ and poor in worldly comforts. Lord, show us our heart and what we need to cleanse it of. Let us walk away from our "comforts" and find comfort and strength in You and You alone...

-Jake