Revelation/ Patiently Endure

The Risen Christ wants me to patiently endure. In the first three chapters of Revelation, while he speaks to the seven churches, the command is given. First it is given to all the churches in Ch. 1 vs. 9. Then he mentions it again in 2:2, 2:3, 2:19, and 3:10. if you read the verses in context, conquering is to patiently endure to the end. In fact he tells the wealthy church at Laodicea that they should ask for gold refined by him. I don't want to ask for struggles and pressures of life. I don't want to go through the fire, but it is going to happen and I am to patiently endure through it with the endurance that can be found in the Risen Christ. Onward Christian soldiers patiently endure!

In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:35-37.

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Revelation 3:21

Steadfastness In Chaos

“You will give him perfect peace whose mind is steadfast on You.” Isaiah 26: 3.

I say this verse everyday. I want always, to keep my mind, my sight, on Christ no matter how difficult the circumstances. At present there is looming a situation that brings anxiety and I seek perfect peace by keeping my mind steadfast. The situation, though worrisome, is no greater than what most people have faced before and will face again. Life on earth is chaotic and Jesus will bring me through. In Matthew 14: 22-33, Jesus comes to the disciples with the storm, walking on the water. The wind and waves batter the boat just as chaos, turmoil and change batter our lives. We, as Peter, hear Christ say, “Take courage,” “Do not be afraid.” Peter shows us how we should respond. “Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” If the storm is of God’s doing, the difficult circumstances are meant to bring us closer to Him. Peter got out of the boat. He acted courageously. As long as his gaze was on Jesus he walked on the waves. He conquered through Christ who strengthened him. When he became afraid, he focused more on the circumstances and sank. The situation overcame him. I can relate. Verse 31 is my favorite of the whole passage. “Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him.” I’m guessing it was a very powerful grip.

It comforts me to know that in life’s storms I can come through walking above the waves, unafraid, with my mind steadfast on Jesus. If my faith falters and I look more at the problems of life instead of Christ, He will grab hold.

A Hymnist wrote it best with these lyrics;
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace.”

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety. Psalm 4: 8.

Mercy During Devestation

One of the great theologians, Scarlett O’Hara, said in a time of great distress “tomorrow is another day.” If you don’t like receiving your theology from Scarlett how about from the Prophet Jeremiah? “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness,” Lamentations 3: 22-23. Jeremiah, unlike Scarlett, knew to hold on for the next day because he knew intimately God’s character. Jeremiah was a prophet that most did not want to hear. He did not fill large arenas. The popular false prophets told the citizens of Jerusalem what they wanted to hear. Jeremiah told them the uncomfortable truth. He brought God’s indictment against them. Their unrighteousness would bring punishment.As he stood on a hillside overlooking the devastated war torn city, he wrote the great words “His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.” He wrote these words after seeing things that no human eyes should have to see. He wrote these words after being treated like no one should be treated. I don’t believe he had great joy in his heart when he wrote about God’s mercies. He was as devastated as the city. His laments are sorrowful and full of pain. “He had besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.” Lamentations 3: 5-7. Walled me down with chains, besieged and surrounded! Jeremiah is paralleling his life with that of Jerusalem’s. His life has been bitter because he obeyed God, Jerusalem’s because they disobeyed. But then he remembered God! He remembered God and it brought him hope. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,” Jeremiah 3: 21, 22.
Jeremiah knew God, he trusted God, and he had experienced God. The words he wrote about God’s character were fact. God is merciful and that was enough for him to go on to the next day and the next.We know more of God’s character than even Jeremiah. Jeremiah was looking ahead for the Messiah. We know, that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son..” We know that God gave His son to a world of chaos, devastation, bitterness and chains. Jesus experienced it all and he conquered. He loved us so much he was tortured and slain for us. Devastation is all around us, tsunamis, hurricanes, wars and terrorist have layed waste to many lives. Maybe the devastation is as simple as, being hurt by those we love, or the loss of a job. But then we remember God and there is hope.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 35-39.

Steadfast Love

O give thanks to the LORD for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures for ever.
Psalm 118:1

God's steadfast love endures what forever?
circumstances?
troubles?
me?
the world?
time?
eternity?

Can you think of others? Please comment.

Abraham The Father Of The Faithful

Did this man know happiness? Probably now and again as when Ishmael and Isaac were born or as when God stayed his hand in the land of Moriah. But that was not what mattered. His destiny, his cross, if you like, was to show faith, to lift himself time after time from the floor of disappointment and despair and return to the fight of life, to hear the tremendous promises and yet be content with the flimsiest of fulfillments before he died, to follow desperately God’s retreating shadow because he knew there was nothing else worth following, to lay down his pilgrim’s staff while still in the valley of deep darkness, seeing only the faintest rays of the suns rising on the distant hills. What an example is there for us whose faith is fitful and fleeting and cold and selfish, hardly deserving the name.

John C. L. Gibson The Daily Study Bible Series, Genesis. Westminster Press.


And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:5-6

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. Genesis 15:13-15

So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? John 6: 67-68

Get Through It

Noah got through a cataclysmic flood. All who entered the ark came out alive at the other end of that cataclysmic event. They entered the ark and "the Lord shut them in." Noah and family did not get through it unscathed. Think of the years of ridicule he went through while building the ark. Think of all the friends and family that Noah and his family lost due to the flood. Think of the devastation of the land after the waters departed. They had to start all over again.



Today we are going through what seems like cataclysmic times, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, crime, recession, depression etc. etc. etc. Let God help you get through it. Let God help you endure. Let God help you start all over again. Let God share in your burdens. Go to Christ. Start that relationship with him on a daily basis. Pray, read and meditate on the scriptures and he will speak.



"These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. In other words, life continues, they got through it, and so shall we.



Genesis 7:16

Genesis 10:1

Quote 3

What can't be cured can be endured.
Puritan Adage