*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*
*ENDURANCE WILL END WITH ENJOYMENT.*
*Scripture Treasure.*
Job 23: 6 *Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.*
*Insight and Highlight.*
People who give in give up. People who endure to the end will eventually enjoy.
*Scripture Commentaries.*
We saw in one of our previous exhortations titled 'Do not give up, get up' that there are people whose lives have been tested to the limit of endurance.
This means they have been tested to a point that their endurance may eventually crumble.
In our walk with God, we must make up our minds never to crumble.
God realizes the possibility but warns us seriously about crumbling in times of adversity. Prov 24:10 *If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.*
We must not crumble when we are pushed to the limit we can not bear or endure. This is why God says He will make a way of escape, 1 Cor 10:13.
When the limit of endurance is breached or broken, backsliding is inevitable.
Jesus gave us a perfect example in Lk 9:62. To 'look back' is used by Jesus to illustrate exceeding the set boundaries of one's conviction of God's moral standards.
Every child of God must have set boundaries as to how far life challenges can push him/her.
You must make up your mind as to what is good or not in your relationship with God.
While some fight back to ensure they do not cross the boundaries of endurance, some lose strength by crossing it. They have had enough, and they seek alternatives, ref 1 Sam 28:3-25.
Endurance means 'to suffer,' to tolerate unpleasant, tough, difficult situations, especially for a long time. Endurance may often be for seemingly unending conditions, but scriptures encourage us that there is power in endurance.
First, it is the power to achieve and receive strength as a child of God.
Job tells us that rather for God to contend with him in His great power or punish or prosecute him or fight him, God would rather give him strength and would one day listen to him, ref Job 23:6.
Second, endurance is key to success for the child of God. It is a condition to pleasing God.
Prayer changes things, Matt 17:21, but will not immediately change things that we must go through in order that our prayers will be heard. Enduring hardship and challenges is a necessary part of becoming a follower of Christ and entering God's kingdom, Acts 14:22
We pray against endurance, but God may not remove it until its end result brings you to where God wants you to be.
You must know that because you are *"....a good soldier of Jesus Christ.*, qualifies you to endure hardness, 2 Tim 2:2-3.
Endurance is a condition that must be fulfilled to attain life's success and achieve eternity with Christ.
Jesus says in Matt 24:13 says *But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.*; Matt 10:22, Mk 13:13.
Endurance is going on until you succeed in spite of life's most greatest challenges.
It is enduring all kinds of failures and disappointments, resisting endless temptations because you want to remain true and faithful to God's moral principles.
Fourth, ye must pray for the grace to endure so *"....that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.*
Lk 21:36.
In a world of trials, endurance is unavoidable, but you can pray for grace because you need it to persevere through the trials and remain faithful in your faith.
Fifth, you can not run this race if you are not equipped with the fruit to long-suffer.
You need endurance in order to establish, especially three gifts of the Spirit, namely, faith, healing, and miracles, ref 1 Cor 12 :8-10.
It is a fruit of the Spirit. Endurance is well represented by *"....longsuffering, gentleness, .....faith...Meekness, temperance...",* Gal 5:22-23
God endured love with longsuffering in that when *"....God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.*, Rom 5:8.
A key word for endurance is patience.
Patience is often used interchangeably with endurance, Lk 21:19, Jam 1:12, Heb 10:36, Rev 3:10.
You can not endure without patience. Patience is a strong ingredient of perseverance, and these will enable you to fulfill the will of God. Heb 10:36 says *For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.*
Among other words of comparative descriptions are: 'being faithful unto death' Rev 2:10, 'not denying' Jesus 2 Tim 2:12, people who by 'patient continuance in well doing' (that is, perseverance, persistence in well doing) Rom 2:7, 'be weary in well doing, Gal 6:7, 2 Thess 3:13, 'hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end, Heb 3:14.
Even for your joy to be full, you must have first endured in prayer, John 16:24.
We often endure grief before joy, Neh 8:10, Ps 30:5.
Sixth, while the child of God knows he can be tested to the limits of endurance, he is also prepared that there are no limits to his endurance.
People who endure have no limits to their endurance. They know life can stretch them, but they know what they do not want in their lives. They know one of the temptations of life is to stretch you beyond any available limit of endurance. They know endurance can be lifelong. It may be different from day to day, but God's presence is assured.
They are prepared to endure to the very end.
Learn from what people who were tempted beyond the limit of endurance and what God did to them in return.
In Job 3:3-5, Job cursed the day he was born. This feeling is often the gateway suicidal thoughts, Job 3:3-5. He wished he might just die, Job 3:20-22, but did not kill himself.
Others who had suicidal thoughts but did not kill themselves were Moses, Rebecca, Solomon, who saw life as vanity, Elijah, and Jonah.
Though they all said they had had enough of life, God did not take their lives away from them.
There is hope for you, though you may be enduring, but just as the aforementioned fulfilled God's purposes for their lives so God would do for you.
Do not be like Ahithophel, 2 Sam 17:23.
Saul 1 Sam 31:14 and his armour bearer, 1 Sam 31:15 or Judas who committed suicide, Matt 27:5. Suicide is not an option and is not your portion.
Have you seen too much endurance, perseverance, or seen yourself patiently waiting for most part of this year?
Be encouraged. You are not alone, and you are in order.
It is hard to believe this, but it is true. You are a candidate of success as long as you know you are in Christ.
Your endurance will not only be rewarded in eternity, but it will also be rewarded here
Remain true to your conviction that your redeemer lives.
You must survive the test of time!
Are you tired?
Are you enduring more than you are enjoying?
There is reward here before you get into eternity: Gal 6:9 *And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not*
We must know that people who have made up their minds that their endurance could not be overstretched or pushed have victory at last.
People who endure are resilient. You just can not beat their resolve to hang on to God come what may!
*Remorse corner.*
Nothing in life comes easy. Practically everything in life carries endurance along with it. While self-control and other fruit keep us in the plans of God, endurance/longsuffering keeps us going.
*Call to Word action.*
Jesus knew that the love of many would wax cold because of wickedness and life's challenges, so He admonishes us that the *"....one who perseveres to the end will be saved."*, Matt 24:13.
*The Christian clarion duty.*
If you can not hear Him in your most harrowing and tormenting times, be encouraged that by your enduring persistence and longsuffering, God will keep you strong enough to keep you from giving up.
*Prayer.*
May l not be tempted or tried beyond enduring with God. Though I may be tried, l will not faint nor depart from God, in Jesus name.
Good morning, it is December!
Our month of *JOY IN THE MORNING.*
You have endured enough!
Every day of this last month, you will wake up with joy.
Good morning, all, and be blessed as you come into His presence.
God bless you.
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