MUSIC BLOG
June 9, 2022
Hang in There!
We generally think of perseverance devotions for the beginning of the new year. We start a diet, we plan to read the Bible through in a year, we promise to do our taxes early, stop smoking, pray more, exercise and motivation to keep all those promises is in the forefront of our thoughts. Yet, here we are in the middle of June and maybe all the vim and vigor of the new year has waned and you, like me, need to be reminded not to give up. Failure is not a final destination for the Christian. Failure means we tried something. Grace is looking at where we failed, pick ourselves up, fix what went wrong and try again. In Christ we are guaranteed victory. Why do we settle for less than God’s best?
I’m going to close today’s blog with a devotion by one of my favorite preachers, Oswald Chambers. But before I get to that I would like to share a blessing that a friend of mine shared with me. This friend reminded me that when I have a problem that seems to overwhelm me God has a Word for me from scripture. She shared a word God gave her and how she was reminded to continue in prayer, claiming God’s promise. Over a time God answered that prayer in full but it didn’t come overnight. Maybe God has given you a promise for a situation in your life. He has even given you’re a scripture to hold on to but now you are wavering. You prayed but God hasn’t answered yet. Jesus gave us a parable about a righteous widow who kept hounding an unrighteous judge until she wore the old judge down and he granted her request. We know that God is eternal love, but He still asks us to persevere in prayer until He grants our request. So, don’t give up. Keep trusting, keep believing God is still at work and God will answer.
The Faith to Persevere
By Oswald Chambers
Because you have kept My command to persevere… —Revelation 3:10
Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.
God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet— places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.
Blessings,
Marty
