Tag Archive - Perseverance

The Vision To See How The World Could Be

September 19, 2011 in Soul Food with 2 Comments

Reading through Hebrews Chapters 10 through 12 helped me put my arms around “The Vision To See How The World Could Be” … and why there is always hope and love blossoming and thriving in our imperfect world.

Striving for perfection, or the ideal… knowing good and well that I will never make it in this world without Jesus… and through the power of Jesus’ resurrection we were made perfect in God’s sight…

while at the same time…

accepting that we live in an imperfect world… filled with people who are all gifted, different and imperfect… people who are like me… so while we’re all unique… we’re also all the same, in manner of speaking… we all still need to grow… and that He is not finished with us.

“because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14.

a finished work… and at the same time… a work in progress.

and in Chapter 11… “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1) … to this, the promise: that He is who He says He is, and that He is going to do everything that He says He is going to do.

Chapter 11 goes on to list the “cloud of witnesses” … the great ones… our examples of those who lived by faith… Abraham, Moses, Noah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, to name a few…

and on into Chapter 12 … “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

This passage to me is how we can have “The Vision To See How The World Could Be” …

how important that vision and our witness really are…

fixing our eyes on Jesus…

enduring…

persevering…

I want to be a part of that legacy…

I know that I need to keep working at it…

I will keep working at it.

What one thing could you do today to help improve on the vision of our imperfect world, to keep moving in the right direction?

Digging Deep

June 6, 2011 in Soul Food with 0 Comments

I dug deep this past week…

praying to find out more…

about peace, love and unity…

God delivered on a new level.

Digging deep in running is where we found out what we were really made of. In high school cross country, it usually happened around the 2 mile mark in the 3 mile race… it was a lot of perseverance.

In life, it’s kind of the same thing. Finding out who (and Whos) we really are… what’s really important… what, or who, we’re really serving.

This past week I dug really deep….

and God delivered!

Here’s what He gave me to share…

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He my strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 3: 16-21.

Happy Monday :)

Perseverance

June 11, 2010 in Breathing Deep with 4 Comments

A homeless gentleman was taking a shower at a public beach a couple of days ago and I struck up a conversation with him. I think it somewhat surprised him, as I’m sure he has few people that actually take the time to initiate a convo. He was middle-aged and showering with his shorts on – probably one of the simple pleasures that he enjoyed in life at the moment. He opened up to me and told me of how he basically lost everything due to a health condition that left him without a home and job. His pacemaker was clearly visible on his chest.

I did my best to assure him that God is good and would look after him, and that made him smile and put a sparkle in his eye. Can you imagine, through a really stormy period with what must seem like little hope for a future, this fellow was clearly in tune with the goodness of God. I did my best to lift him up and help him out, and he never once asked me for a single thing.

It made me think about how strong the human spirit really is…

And of Romans 5:3-5… Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

I’m still praying for him…

Do you have anyone in your life that needs a lift that you could help pick up today?

'til their cup overflows (Part 3 of 3)

March 3, 2010 in Geology with 0 Comments

The first two parts of this article have focused on the pre-earthquake conditions in Haiti. How many of us really knew what the situation was like there related to their living conditions prior to the earthquake?

Enter the earthquake into the situation: now their stressed environment is broken. And one might ask… why in the world would the good Lord allow something like this to happen?

I really don’t proclaim to know what the message is but I’m just thinkin’… maybe we should stop for a minute to reflect on our situation. If you consider the economic crisis that we’re going through, and how so many of us have had to adjust and learn to live a different lifestyle, maybe the message has something to do with this…

“… we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” – Romans 5:3-4

Being grateful in tough times is one of the hardest things to do, we tend to think “why in the world is this happening?” and perhaps we should be praying “thank you Lord for this opportunity to grow!”

Finally, I wanted to ask that you continue to do what you can to help the people of Haiti. Remember, their fragile world is still broken, and it will be quite some time before they can even get back to the life they knew before the earthquake. Living Water is one of the many great causes that is helping out there. Please consider helping our brothers and sisters in Haiti in whatever way you can.

Thanks, and Be Great!!

Chris