Saturday, October 6, 2012

October 7, 2012

"For this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness, to goodness, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control, PERSEVERANCE" II Peter 1:5-6
 
Perseverance means enduring until God turns my pain into gain!
 
To do that you need:
 
THE ATTITUDE OF PERSEVERANCE - It's About His Purpose - Not Your Pain
 
THE AWARENESS OF PERSEVERANCE - It's About His Power - Not Your Pain
 
AND:
 
THE ACTION OF PERSEVERANCE – It’s About His Promises – Not Your Pain

ACT ON HIS PROMISES - DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING! THE NEXT OBEDIENCE – THE NEXT SURRENDER – THE NEXT SACRIFICE!

JESUS BELIEVED IN GOD’S PROMISES AND IT HELPED  HIM ENDURE THE SUFFERING.

“……for the joy set before Him endured the cross…..” HE DID THE NEXT RIGHT THING!

JOB TRUSTED THE PROMISES OF GOD AND ENDURED THE PAIN.

Though he slay me yet will I trust Him!”  - HE DID THE NEXT RIGHT THING!

PAUL STAYED FOCUSED ON THE PROMISED OF GOD THROUGH HIS SUFFERING.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” II Cor. 4:16-18

PAUL KEPT DOING THE RIGHT THING IN SPITE OF HIS PAIN.

FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS…………”

HE DOESN'T JUST MAKE THE PROMISE - HE IS THE PROMISE!
 
Bob Leland is a man who really encouraged me several years ago. You may have seen him on television. He has a healthy dose of enthusiasm for life. You may remember, he ran the New York marathon in 98 hours, 47 minutes, and 17 seconds. That’s not bad for someone who has no legs. Bob went to Vietnam as a strapping 6 foot, 200 pounder. He returned weighing only 87 pounds and was two and a half feet shorter. He had every reason to give up. Instead, his testimony is, “I felt blessed, and I am just happy being alive.”

Bob rejected the artificial legs the doctors wanted to give him by saying, “They are too slow; they slow me down. I have a lot of things to catch up on and a lot of places to go.” This man, on his hands, went from California to the Vietnam Memorial, a distance of 7,784 miles. He was steadfast. He didn’t let his problems keep him back. He had determined he was going to enjoy life in spite of the afflictions in his physical body.
     THAT’S PERSEVERANCE!


THE ATTITUDE OF PERSEVERANCE – I WILL TRUST GOD’S PURPOSE IN MY PAIN


THE AWARENESS OF PERSEVERANCE – I WILL TRUST GOD’S POWER IN MY PAIN


THE ACTION OF PERSEVERANCE – I WILL ACT ON GOD’S PROMISES IN MY PAIN

 

 

 

October 6, 2012

"For this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness, to goodness, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control PERSEVERANCE"
 
Three helpful keys to perseverance:
 
The Attitude of Perseverance - It's About His Purpose, Not Your Pain
The Awareness of Perseverance - It's About His Power, Not Your Pain
The Action of Perseverance - It's About His Promise, Not Your Pain
 
In the last post we took a look at the attitude of perseverance.
 
THE AWARENESS OF PERSEVERANCE – It’s About His Power – Not Your Pain
 
There once was an oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that sand had got under his shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,
For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.
Now, did he berate the working of Fate
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the Government, call for an election?
No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,
"If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it."
So the years rolled by as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny -- stew.
And this small grain of sand which had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.  
Now this tale has a moral -- for isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;
What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin
With all of the things that get under our skin.

 
Oysters are built to turn pain into pearls – it’s what they do!
 
SO ARE YOU! GOD HAS GIVEN YOU “EVERYTHING YOU NEED” FOR GODLINESS! Do you believe that?
 
Jesus believed it when He was climbing Calvary's hill.
 
Job believed it when he had lost everything and was scrapping puss from his boils.
 
Paul discovered that God's power was made perfect in his weakness.
 
Each of them knew about God's power before their pain, and held onto it in the midst of  their pain, but they REALLY came to know it when it helped them endure their suffering!

Will you trust His power to help you  endure your pain?