Tag Archives: perseverance

This is ONLY a Test!

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in Christian growth

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

sv3a6heu1v5d9ubr9ke3

I remember when I was younger hearing that annoying loud sound that would come across the TV followed by a message that said, “This is a test, this is ONLY a test of the emergency broadcast system…”

I often wish I could hear that sound as I go through life and have those moments that seem difficult.  Perhaps then, I would remember that THIS IS ONLY A TEST!

I don’t know too many people who enjoy test taking, yet it is an ordinary part of the world we live in. It begins at the moment we are born with an Apgar test, which quickly summarized the general health of the newborn. Tests are an integral part of our educations system.  We take a test before we are licensed to drive a car, and many endure all kinds of medical tests throughout the course of life to assess proper function of human anatomy and physiology.

Even though we are so familiar with all these kinds of tests we experience in our natural lives, it is often unsettling when we encounter a spiritual test. These can come in many forms.  Some examples of common tests we encounter are relational challenges with family members and loved ones, health issues, and financial concerns.

We read this from the book of James:

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12 NLT

A healthy perspective on the benefits of enduring a test can aid us in our perseverance during them. Three possible reasons for a test are:

  1. TO DETERMINE AN AREA OF WEAKNESS: I already mentioned a great example of this concept. Medical tests are often performed to identify something in the human body that needs attention. By finding the weakness, often treatment can be administered to correct the problem.
  2. To REFINE: Times of testing can be related to “going through the fire”. When you heat up certain metals with fire, a refining process happens causing the impurities or unwanted contents to rise to the surface so they can be removed.
  3. TO PROMOTE: A test is used in all education to determine the appropriateness of promotion. We advance through the school system one grade at a time with passing scores on tests. Higher education is no different, the more elite the profession the greater the difficulty of the test.

How does all of this apply to our spiritual life? First and foremost, let me state that the reason for the test may be unknown and undeserved.  Some tests we encounter in this life are a result of our own actions, but many are simply a consequence of the fallen world we live in.  Regardless of the reason, there can be many benefits spiritually, just as the other examples listed above.

Spiritual weakness is easily identified and impurities often rise to the surface during the seasons we walk through that are difficult. These realizations afford us the opportunity to take action and make corrections.  These are the times that our character and our integrity are more fully developed.

Promotion is also critical in our spiritual walk. We are never to become stagnant, nor should we ever retire on this side of heaven.  We are to be consistently transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

I believe the enemy uses tests to defeat Christians, but God can bring good from these trials and use them to better prepare you for promotion.

So the next time you hear that annoying sound the test brings……just stop and say, “THIS IS A TEST, THIS IS ONLY A TEST!

  •  Remember that a test is an opportunity for you to assess what you know, and learn from where you are weak and grow!
  • The greater the calling or the destiny, the more difficult the test!
  • In your spiritual walk, failing a test is not the end, the teacher gives make up tests!
  • Prepare for the test, expect the test, and review the answers frequently, because the teacher is often silent during the test!
  • Respond to the test do not react to it!
Advertisement

Persevere!

27 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Perseverance

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

IMG_0314Perseverance is a word we don’t always like, because if you are to persevere, you must need to push through some kind of difficulty, opposition, or delay.  Perseverance often makes me think of endurance, which gives me a picture of a long distance runner.

I have never enjoyed running. When I was in high school, I was on the track team for all the wrong reasons.  I liked to do the jumps or maybe the short races or relays, but I certainly wasn’t committed enough to be the one who ran the long distance races.

Those races required too much perseverance. The ability to push through the pain and fatigue when you feel like your lungs are on fire and your legs cannot move another step.  I like the way the Message Bible describes perseverance in a long distance race.  Read below:

12 Do you see what this means — all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running — and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. 3 When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message Bible

This describes our spiritual race during times that require perseverance. We are reminded to keep our eyes on Jesus since He demonstrated for us not only how to start a race, but how to finish it!

In the middle of the race, there are times you feel all alone and you may be tempted to question if you are in the right race. Perseverance is needed when God SEEMS to be absent and SEEMS to be silent!  Scripture tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)  While I know that to be true, there have been times I have found myself asking, “Where are you?”

A very familiar scripture found in Galatians 6:9 AMP reads:

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”

Let me tell you two of the greatest enemies in certain stages of the race….doubt and disappointment.

When you are in a season where you have been believing and standing in faith for a long time, and your answer has not yet manifested, it is tempting to begin to question if you really heard from God, or if this commitment to the race is really worth it.

In some situations, the risk of disappointment is so great that people give into hopelessness instead of standing in faith and staying in the race. In these times, you must contend and persevere!

David shows a great example of perseverance when he was running for his life. An interesting part of this story is found in 1 Samuel 21: 1-9.  Let me summarize it for you.

David and a few men who ran with him left with nothing but the clothes on their backs as they ran for their lives when Saul decided to kill him. David went to the temple, and found the priest and asks if there is anything to eat.  The only thing that was there to eat was the Bread of Presence, and the priest gave it to them for nourishment.  Then David asked the priest if there was a weapon, because he left without one.  Look at the priest’s response in verse 9:

“Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” 1 Samuel 21:9 NASU

David was certainly not a perfect man. In fact, he wasn’t totally honest with the priest in this very story.  However, David was a chosen man with a mighty destiny, and he needed to stay in the race and finish!

David is persevering, running for his life, with only the clothes on his back, and he chooses to run to the temple. He is nourished by the bread of presence, which is exactly what we can do when we keep our eye on the prize and focus on our relationship with God.  Our relationship and time spent with God will provide us with the nourishment needed to stay in the race.

In this place of God’s presence, David was reminded of his greatest victory when he defeated Goliath. Often one of the greatest forms of encouragement during the difficult leg of the race is to remember the past victories…remember how it felt to cross the finish line during your last race.

David was also now armed with a sword that originally belonged to a giant.   I suppose that it was huge…..but now in this place of perseverance, in the presence, David is equipped with a weapon that should be too heavy for him.  I feel it was his commitment to the race….first in relationship, his contending in warfare, and his perseverance that brought him to this place where there was a new anointing, a new empowerment for him.  He developed character and stamina that would take him through this difficult season and eventually become the king.

I want to encourage you today to persevere! If you are in a difficult leg of your spiritual race, stay close to God so you will be nourished, keep your eye on the prize, and as you stay committed you will be empowered to finish strong.

Perseverance – The Final Part to a 90-Day Journey – Unleashing the Potential of the Cross

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by in Christian growth, Perseverance

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

285050_1729563818721_3038664_nIn this final part of the series, “Unleashing the Potential of the Cross”, I want to focus on the third month of our 90-Day Journey. The first month of this journey was about intimacy. In month two, the warfare became intense, and then there was month three, which was about perseverance.

Perseverance was required to stay committed to prayer and communion two hours each day, especially day 60 through 90! The last leg of a trip is when weariness tends to set in. Additionally, those who were faithful to the challenge had to contend to keep the passion and not get ritualistic.

It is easy to stay committed and pray when you “feel” like it, when you “sense” the presence of God, and when you can clearly hear His voice and are witnessing your prayers being answered.

Perseverance is needed when God SEEMS to be absent and SEEMS to be silent! Scripture tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) While I know that to be true, there have been times I have found myself asking, “Where are you?”

A very familiar scripture found in Galatians 6:9 AMP reads:

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”

Let me tell you two of the greatest enemies in this season….doubt and disappointment.

When you are in a season where you have been believing and standing in faith for a long time, and your answer has not yet manifested, it is tempting to begin to question if you really heard from God, or if this commitment is really worth it.

In some situations, the risk of disappointment is so great that people give into hopelessness instead of standing in faith. In these times, you must contend!

David shows a great example of perseverance when he was running for his life. An interesting part of this story is found in 1 Samuel 21: 1-9. Let me summarize it for you.

David and a few men who ran with him left with nothing but the clothes on their backs as they ran for their lives when Saul decided to kill him. David went to the temple, and found the priest and asks if there is anything to eat. The only thing that was there to eat was the Bread of Presence, and the priest gave it to them for nourishment. Then David asked the priest if there was a weapon, because he left without one. Look at the priest’s response in verse 9:

“Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” 1 Samuel 21:9 NASU

David was certainly not a perfect man. In fact, he wasn’t totally honest with the priest in this very story. However, David was a chosen man with a mighty destiny, and I personally believe it was that call on his life that made him a target to all his enemies.

This story so relates to the 90-Day journey I have shared about in this series. David is persevering, running for his life, with only the clothes on his back, and he chooses to run to the temple. He is nourished by the bread of presence, which is very closely related to our first month of our 90-Day journey where the focus was on relationship with God’s presence.

In this place, David was reminded of his greatest victory when he defeated Goliath. David was also now armed with a sword that originally belonged to a giant. I suppose that it was huge…..but now in this place of perseverance, in the presence, David is equipped with a weapon that should be too heavy for him. I feel it was his journey….first in relationship, his contending in warfare, and his perseverance that brought him to this place where there was a new anointing, a new empowerment for him. He developed character that would take him through this difficult season and eventually become the king.

David went to the temple.

  1. He received nourishment.
  2. He received encouragement being reminded of his greatest victory.
  3. He received equipping with a weapon to fight in the next season.

We can go to the cross.

  1. We receive salvation, healing, and provision.
  2. We receive encouragement to be victorious through every season of life.
  3. We receive equipping with the armor of God to withstand all the wiles of the enemy.

11800202_886003528102473_5943722319461091719_n

As I close this series on “Unleashing the Potential of the Cross”, let me remind you that we are living in a unique time. I believe any moment the trumpet could sound and we who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior will be out of here.

In the meantime, as the world gets darker, we the church must become a beacon of light. The Word from the Lord I shared in part one said that we are to be His hands, His feet, and His mouthpiece in these final hours.

How are we equipped to do that? Be spending time in His presence in close proximity to the cross. Yes, the cross purchased your salvation, but there is so much more available to us through Christ’s sacrifice. We can live victoriously during every season we face, and we can be territory takers for the kingdom.