Showing posts with label Perseverance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perseverance. Show all posts

Perseverance Is Necessary

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015 11:03 AM

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School is back in session! Most of our students, teachers, administration and staff started classes last Monday, and that means only 175 more days until summer vacation. Some of you are wondering, “How am I ever going to make to the end?” At times it can be overwhelming, think about it…papers to write, papers to grade, parent meetings, quizzes, tests, field trips, game days, snow days, exit exams, flu season, cold season, Christmas break fever, early mornings, late nights, anxiety attacks, band practice, spirit week, prom, career fair, class pets, science fair, driver’s ed, and the list goes on and on and on and…
How do we get to the end? We get to the end one day at a time. Perseverance is king when we look at a school year that begins in mid-August and lasts until the end of May. Quitting is not an option for our kids. We pray them through the tough times, we rejoice with them through the good times, and we walk them through each day giving them the assurance that we’ll always be there for them.
But the great truth of perseverance is not just for our kids, it’s for all of us; we all need it in every area of life. Perseverance isn’t just good for school days, it’s good for friendship, it’s good for worship, it’s good for exercising, it’s good for marriage, it’s good for careers, it’s good for parenting, it’s good for paying our bills, it’s good for taking care of aging relatives, it’s good for praying, and it’s good for walking with Christ.
The Bible has a lot to say on the topic of perseverance.
“…Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1b-3)
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
“…The one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22b)
Imagine where we would be if Jesus quit. In what is God prompting us to persevere?
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Persistence in Prayer

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Tuesday, June 17, 2014 4:54 PM

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We need to persevere in a lot of things…believing the gospel, taking God at His word, battling disease, building a marriage, raising kids, managing money, paying bills, mowing the grass, being a faithful friend, getting the gospel out into the community, and praying. Even when we don’t see something (or somebody) change we still stay at it. We just don’t know what God is up to; we don’t know how God is working; and we don’t know when God is going to do something. We just keep enduring, and that is what I want to remind us all about in the area of prayer…
Don’t give up! Go to God day and night. Pray on your knees (if they can take it and you know you’ll be able to get up again) and on your jog. Pray at work and at play. Pray while you’re getting ready and while driving to work (just don’t close your eyes). I’m a firm believer in people not texting while they drive, but I’m an avid believer in praying while driving.
Here are a couple of thoughts from the Apostle Paul on persistence in prayer:
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)
“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Now a reminder from me what I want us to be persistent in prayer about:
  • A spirit of unity through genuine, gospel transformation
  • 7 more families who will glorify God by serving His church (welcome Michael McCollum & Catie Smith!)
  • $60,000 gift and an increase in our offerings by $500 per week

In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never give up!”
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Don't Throw in the Towel!

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:01 AM

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Endurance is a much-desired quality. For instance, we desire possessions to endure and we want relationships to last. And this is what God wants in our relationship with Him. I find that too many "believers" check out on God early. When people don't make it to the end in discipleship it leaves me wondering whether they ever had a genuine relationship with God to begin with. I am not the judge of their eternal state, but with all the teaching in the Bible on perseverance I just can't help but think that God's design is for His children to go all the way to the end without throwing in the towel. Let me explain how I arrive at this...

First, I see in the example of Jesus this quality of endurance. Jesus went all the way to the end. Paul wrote that Jesus was obedient...to death...on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Since this was the way of our Savior then this is the way of discipleship. True followers of Jesus will go all the way to the end no matter what obstacles come their way.

Second, we are encouraged by other followers of Jesus to endure. The writer of Hebrews wrote about a "cloud of witnesses" who made it to the end, and then he appeals to us to "run with endurance the race" (Hebrews 12:1). If they made it through hardship and rejection without throwing in the towel then I am encouraged and reason, "They made it, why not me?"

Finally, and quite frankly, it scares me spitless to think of the prospect of not enduring and forfeiting eternity because I loved my sin more than I loved God! Jesus uses the phrase "the one who conquers" (i.e., "overcomes" or "perseveres") to address each of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. This leads me to believe that those who are not overcomers forfeit what He promises and that prospect is pretty damning if you read their mail.

Be an overcomer. Don't quit following Jesus just because you think something better comes along. Nothing is worth giving up on being a genuine follower of Jesus Christ.

Grace & Peace,
Scott
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