March 15, 2011
Revelation 2:2 I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false
Two times in this passage in Revelation patience was used with endurance. This is the first time I’ve encountered this in my word study of endurance. And quite frankly it scares me to death…I can deal with just endurance much better than knowing I have to be patient about it too!! I can look out at my life and knowing the things that might come my way and be prepared to face it; yet, knowing I have to patient and quiet through them adds an extra burden to me. I look at patience as quietly accepting any and all things that might come our way. I guess what I’m trying to say is, that knowing that I could scream my way through a trial makes enduring seem easier!
Showing posts with label My Journey of Endurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Journey of Endurance. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Running Our Race...
March 14, 2011
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
“Endurance is the steady determination to keep going despite the temptation to slow down or give up (MSB).” I really like this definition of endurance. It paints a great picture. I laugh each time I put on my horrendous running shoes, my shorts and shirt and grab my phone and earphones to go running. I laugh because that is so out of character for me. I’ve never been an athletic type of gal; I never played basketball and P.E. was pure torture to me. So, that God would so change my desires and make me a runner is funny to me! Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a marathoner or anything; I huff and puff, I barely make the meager miles around my back yard. However, with each step I know that God is teaching me something. He is teaching me to keep going; He is teaching me to make myself keep going. He is using my new-found love of running to show me how to make myself do something that it really doesn’t want to do. Each morning when I come in drenched in sweat, and proud of it; He teaches me that living the “faith-filled life is a demanding, grueling effort.” In this verse Paul uses the Greek word for “agony”; that word alone tells us that sometimes we will be called to walk paths filled with pain, but we never walk alone, or run alone as the case may be
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
“Endurance is the steady determination to keep going despite the temptation to slow down or give up (MSB).” I really like this definition of endurance. It paints a great picture. I laugh each time I put on my horrendous running shoes, my shorts and shirt and grab my phone and earphones to go running. I laugh because that is so out of character for me. I’ve never been an athletic type of gal; I never played basketball and P.E. was pure torture to me. So, that God would so change my desires and make me a runner is funny to me! Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a marathoner or anything; I huff and puff, I barely make the meager miles around my back yard. However, with each step I know that God is teaching me something. He is teaching me to keep going; He is teaching me to make myself keep going. He is using my new-found love of running to show me how to make myself do something that it really doesn’t want to do. Each morning when I come in drenched in sweat, and proud of it; He teaches me that living the “faith-filled life is a demanding, grueling effort.” In this verse Paul uses the Greek word for “agony”; that word alone tells us that sometimes we will be called to walk paths filled with pain, but we never walk alone, or run alone as the case may be
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Being Prepared...
March 12, 2011
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised
God is being totally up front with us here…He is telling us we will need endurance. He is letting us know that some things we will go through will be hard or difficult. This being the case, we should not be surprised when hard times come our way. In fact, we should prepare for them. We should be daily going to God’s word, hiding it in our hearts for battle. Not only is God alerting us to bad days ahead; He is also giving us what we need to endure. He is giving us His power, His strength, His patience. He is also giving us the reward of salvation.
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised
God is being totally up front with us here…He is telling us we will need endurance. He is letting us know that some things we will go through will be hard or difficult. This being the case, we should not be surprised when hard times come our way. In fact, we should prepare for them. We should be daily going to God’s word, hiding it in our hearts for battle. Not only is God alerting us to bad days ahead; He is also giving us what we need to endure. He is giving us His power, His strength, His patience. He is also giving us the reward of salvation.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Friday, March 11, 2011
Living in His Power...
March 10, 2011
Colossians 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy
I love the first part of this verse…”power according to HIS glorious might…), not mine or yours but HIS. What comfort and freedom there is in knowing that we will not have to depend on what we can do, but on what His strength will enable us to do. The NKJV uses the word longsuffering and the ESV uses the word endurance in the second part of this verse. I’m not sure but I think that perhaps longsuffering gives a better description to what the verse is referring to. According to MSB, the terms patience, endurance (longsuffering) are called to be our attitude during trials. For us trials are a daily experience, I mean is there a day that goes by without some type of trial? True some are worse than others. Patience is used to refer to how we deal with difficult circumstances and endurance (longsuffering) is used to refer to how we deal with difficult people. I love how God knew in our lives we would encounter times and people that would try us; He knew that left on our own we could not handle the hard situations or the hard people in our lives. So, He gave to us His strength to help us.
Colossians 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy
I love the first part of this verse…”power according to HIS glorious might…), not mine or yours but HIS. What comfort and freedom there is in knowing that we will not have to depend on what we can do, but on what His strength will enable us to do. The NKJV uses the word longsuffering and the ESV uses the word endurance in the second part of this verse. I’m not sure but I think that perhaps longsuffering gives a better description to what the verse is referring to. According to MSB, the terms patience, endurance (longsuffering) are called to be our attitude during trials. For us trials are a daily experience, I mean is there a day that goes by without some type of trial? True some are worse than others. Patience is used to refer to how we deal with difficult circumstances and endurance (longsuffering) is used to refer to how we deal with difficult people. I love how God knew in our lives we would encounter times and people that would try us; He knew that left on our own we could not handle the hard situations or the hard people in our lives. So, He gave to us His strength to help us.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Actions Really do Speak Louder...
March 8, 2011
2 Corinthians 6:4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities
How can we convince the lost world that what we say about God is really true? “The patient endurance of character (MSB)” while in the midst of turmoil. How we react to what the world would see as tragedy will tell if what we say with our mouths we really believe in our hearts. This is our proof. This is our legacy to our children if when they see things not going just right if we react in ways that reflect our godly character. It’s sort of like that vase your mom had growing up, and when you threw the ball and broke it, you never could get it back to normal. If we have a negative reaction; it’s hard to come back from. This is why it’s very important to take every thought, and every word captive. To own it; to make sure that nothing but edifying words will come out of it. And once again I’ll end with acknowledging that this is hard!
2 Corinthians 6:4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities
How can we convince the lost world that what we say about God is really true? “The patient endurance of character (MSB)” while in the midst of turmoil. How we react to what the world would see as tragedy will tell if what we say with our mouths we really believe in our hearts. This is our proof. This is our legacy to our children if when they see things not going just right if we react in ways that reflect our godly character. It’s sort of like that vase your mom had growing up, and when you threw the ball and broke it, you never could get it back to normal. If we have a negative reaction; it’s hard to come back from. This is why it’s very important to take every thought, and every word captive. To own it; to make sure that nothing but edifying words will come out of it. And once again I’ll end with acknowledging that this is hard!
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Monday, March 7, 2011
A New Spin on Endurance...
March 7, 2011
Romans 15:5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus
I found this verse surprising in light of my former verses on endurance. At first glance one would think this isn’t a good example of enduring, yet, if you think about your relationships with others it really is. When more than one person gets together for anything there can be friction; even if all of those persons are professing believers. Yet, in Romans 15:6 scripture says “That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” this is why we endeavor to get along with those who annoy us, and perhaps why they endeavor to get along with us! To quote MacArthur “Paul urges the strong and weak despite their differing views on these non-essential issues, to pursue loving, spiritual harmony in regard to matters on which the Bible is silent.” And how difficult this is for us to do sometimes! It’s easy for us to want to apply what the Holy Spirit has taught us in certain areas to everyone. We just can’t do that. God calls us all too different paths; what He denies one person He will give to another. These are not under our control or influence. Whether or not we agree, unless it is clear scripture is being disobeyed, and we can prove it; we have to stay out of things that are not our business. That’s how we live peaceably with others. Is this easy? NO, NO, NO! Perhaps this is why endurance is necessary.
Romans 15:5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus
I found this verse surprising in light of my former verses on endurance. At first glance one would think this isn’t a good example of enduring, yet, if you think about your relationships with others it really is. When more than one person gets together for anything there can be friction; even if all of those persons are professing believers. Yet, in Romans 15:6 scripture says “That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” this is why we endeavor to get along with those who annoy us, and perhaps why they endeavor to get along with us! To quote MacArthur “Paul urges the strong and weak despite their differing views on these non-essential issues, to pursue loving, spiritual harmony in regard to matters on which the Bible is silent.” And how difficult this is for us to do sometimes! It’s easy for us to want to apply what the Holy Spirit has taught us in certain areas to everyone. We just can’t do that. God calls us all too different paths; what He denies one person He will give to another. These are not under our control or influence. Whether or not we agree, unless it is clear scripture is being disobeyed, and we can prove it; we have to stay out of things that are not our business. That’s how we live peaceably with others. Is this easy? NO, NO, NO! Perhaps this is why endurance is necessary.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Refreshing...
March 5, 2011
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
For Christmas my children got these cool little things in their stockings; they were sponges in the shape of pirates and princesses and when we put them in water, they expanded to well over three times their size. Our hearts are like those toys, as we live our lives, and let’s face it, life is hard, life is painful, life can even sometimes be brutal; life drains our hearts till it is small and shriveled and can’t hold anything else. Yet, as we daily pour God’s Word into it; it grows and grows and expands. A funny things happens after that, life still has its problems, and still hurts, yet, we are able to manage. We are able to handle the problems and not break under the strain. There’s a funny thing about peace; peace isn’t the absence of problems, instead, it’s a calm in the midst of your problems.
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
For Christmas my children got these cool little things in their stockings; they were sponges in the shape of pirates and princesses and when we put them in water, they expanded to well over three times their size. Our hearts are like those toys, as we live our lives, and let’s face it, life is hard, life is painful, life can even sometimes be brutal; life drains our hearts till it is small and shriveled and can’t hold anything else. Yet, as we daily pour God’s Word into it; it grows and grows and expands. A funny things happens after that, life still has its problems, and still hurts, yet, we are able to manage. We are able to handle the problems and not break under the strain. There’s a funny thing about peace; peace isn’t the absence of problems, instead, it’s a calm in the midst of your problems.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Proof of Endurance...
March 3, 2011
Romans 5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
The Greek word for character simply means “proof” (according to MSB, I don’t really know Greek.) This word was used to determine the qualities of metal, their purity. This is what tribulation produces in us; this is the result of enduring, Christian Character. A character that shines through the pain of your tribulations for all to see; we rarely “suffer in silence”, most likely someone knows of our problems. Our Godly or Ungodly behavior will be noticed by someone, and most likely by the little ones who live with us. What will they see? Will they see someone who rests in the sovereignty of God or will they see someone who wails at the “injustice” experienced. We are responsible for our actions; we are responsible for what character our tribulations produce. We may not have any control over what those tribulations look like, that is in the realm of God, but we are very much in control of what others see.
Romans 5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
The Greek word for character simply means “proof” (according to MSB, I don’t really know Greek.) This word was used to determine the qualities of metal, their purity. This is what tribulation produces in us; this is the result of enduring, Christian Character. A character that shines through the pain of your tribulations for all to see; we rarely “suffer in silence”, most likely someone knows of our problems. Our Godly or Ungodly behavior will be noticed by someone, and most likely by the little ones who live with us. What will they see? Will they see someone who rests in the sovereignty of God or will they see someone who wails at the “injustice” experienced. We are responsible for our actions; we are responsible for what character our tribulations produce. We may not have any control over what those tribulations look like, that is in the realm of God, but we are very much in control of what others see.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Obedience + Suffering+= Endurance
Romans 5:3 more that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance
As I got out my trusty MacArthur Study Bible to read about this verse, I realized that this verse did not exactly mean what I thought. My mind immediately ran to the problems of daily life or perhaps the BIG deal things that occasionally loom over our horizons. Yet, here scripture is speaking more specifically. According to the MSB this verse if referring to, “Not the normal pressures of living, but the inevitable troubles that come to followers of Christ because of their relationship with Him.” This refers to the problems caused when we just obey God’s will for our lives and try to explain that to a world that has no understanding of why we would obey. These situations produce endurance; how can we ever expect endurance to be present in our lives if we consistently refuse to obey God in the difficult situations. If we never step out and do what He wants; to live a life of just honoring God’s will for our families.
As I got out my trusty MacArthur Study Bible to read about this verse, I realized that this verse did not exactly mean what I thought. My mind immediately ran to the problems of daily life or perhaps the BIG deal things that occasionally loom over our horizons. Yet, here scripture is speaking more specifically. According to the MSB this verse if referring to, “Not the normal pressures of living, but the inevitable troubles that come to followers of Christ because of their relationship with Him.” This refers to the problems caused when we just obey God’s will for our lives and try to explain that to a world that has no understanding of why we would obey. These situations produce endurance; how can we ever expect endurance to be present in our lives if we consistently refuse to obey God in the difficult situations. If we never step out and do what He wants; to live a life of just honoring God’s will for our families.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Holding Fast...
March 1, 2011
Luke 21:19 By your endurance you will gain your lives
Matthew 24:13 but he who endures to the end shall be saved…
As I read these verses on endurance this morning, how very glad I was to know that my salvation is dependent on God not me. As my recent life can attest to, if my endurance secured my salvation I’d be in trouble. However, that is not what these verses are suggesting. Instead, God keeps and secures our perseverance. Jeremiah 32:40 says, “I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” I’m not passive in my endurance, however, I have responsibilities in order to maintain or holdfast to what I know. This is where I have fallen; where I have failed in the area of holding fast.
Luke 21:19 By your endurance you will gain your lives
Matthew 24:13 but he who endures to the end shall be saved…
As I read these verses on endurance this morning, how very glad I was to know that my salvation is dependent on God not me. As my recent life can attest to, if my endurance secured my salvation I’d be in trouble. However, that is not what these verses are suggesting. Instead, God keeps and secures our perseverance. Jeremiah 32:40 says, “I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” I’m not passive in my endurance, however, I have responsibilities in order to maintain or holdfast to what I know. This is where I have fallen; where I have failed in the area of holding fast.
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Pain of Pride...
February 28, 2011
Lamentations 3:18 so I say, “My endurance has perished…”
Yesterday in small group, our great teacher, Amy, made several statements about endurance, and as God’s providence works, so did last week’s small group lesson. So as I was sitting in both of those lessons, I knew that I no longer have or maybe never had the endurance that I once prided myself on. Yes, I said pride. I’m not sure if I realized that I had pride in my heart of how “great for God” I could be, but there’s no denying that I did. When God decides to reveal areas of pride in your life…oh, how it hurts. I decided maybe I needed to study what this word endure means. By definition it means “The ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions.” My first stop to learning what scripture says about endurance is Lamentations. And how appropriate it is because I feel just like this…”my endurance has perished.”
Lamentations 3:18 so I say, “My endurance has perished…”
Yesterday in small group, our great teacher, Amy, made several statements about endurance, and as God’s providence works, so did last week’s small group lesson. So as I was sitting in both of those lessons, I knew that I no longer have or maybe never had the endurance that I once prided myself on. Yes, I said pride. I’m not sure if I realized that I had pride in my heart of how “great for God” I could be, but there’s no denying that I did. When God decides to reveal areas of pride in your life…oh, how it hurts. I decided maybe I needed to study what this word endure means. By definition it means “The ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions.” My first stop to learning what scripture says about endurance is Lamentations. And how appropriate it is because I feel just like this…”my endurance has perished.”
Labels:
My Journey of Endurance
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)