Do you ever feel like, when the Lord is revealing something to you, or when scriptures begin to connect and flow together, that you’re reading one scripture and then you fluidly melt into another one, and another one, and another one…? That’s how I feel sometimes. I don’t think I’m accurately portraying my thought, if you could see my hand motions it would make a lot more sense (hah)! That’s how I have felt with this post.
In reading my devotional the other day I really wanted to share it with you. I contemplated typing it up on Facebook and sharing it that way, but I never took the time and it just seemed to need more. So, I’ve decided to share it in my blog today. I will quote the devotional and add my thoughts along the way. The devotional is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers and I HIGHLY recommend it!
“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 awhile 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.”
This brought me to Romans 5.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained acess by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Ad we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 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.” Romans 5:1-5
“Perseverance means more than endurance.” Paul is telling the Romans to persevere but He is not telling us to merely “survive” this world. The definition of perseverance is steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. (Side note: This is what I’m talking about with the scriptures melting into each other. Psalm 51:10 says “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Ask the Lord to give you steadfastness/perseverance!) Persevere, do something, stay strong, stay steadfast, despite your circumstance, despite what you see, despite what’s going on around you. Perseverance produces character. The definition of character is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. I’ve also heard it said that character is “who you are when no one is looking”. Character produces hope, and hope won’t disappoint us.
We are called to more than just survive. We are called to stay steadfast, to let this shape our character, and to hold on to hope which will not disappoint us.
“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).
Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Get. In. The. Word. I can not say it enough. I have felt recently like “Man Brittany, you really say that a lot and people are going to be so annoyed with it.” So what! I wish that I had understood the power in getting in the Word at a younger age. Know the Word, memorize the scripture and really apply it to your life.
Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love.
Holy Love. I just have to pause there. Holy Love. What a beautiful statement.
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.
Here it is again. You know Him. But do you? Do you know Him, do you know who you are in Him? I guarantee if you get in the Word you will know Him. (I also want to reiterate that if you have questions or feel that you just don’t know how to get in the Word, I am always here and would love to talk to you about it! Message me on the contact page or on Facebook!)
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.
Abandoned confidence. Take a moment to picture those words. When I read this it hit me and I had to sit back and think about those words. Do I have confidence in God? Yes. I just love the definition for abandoned that I found: unrestrained; uninhibited. “a wild, abandoned dance” synonyms: uninhibited, reckless, unrestrained, wild, unbridled, impulsive, impetuous. (You’re welcome for getting the song “Reckless Love” stuck in your head for the rest of the day.) The definition for confidence: firm trust. So what this is saying is that God wants our all with abandoned confidence. Uninhibited, wild, reckless, unrestrained firm trust in God. Whoa…
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 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.”
“Great romance.” Romance: a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. Dare I say… adventure…? 😉
God wants us. He wants all of us. Completely.
I keep going back to the question at the beginning. “Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now?” Do you fully know Him? Do you have abandoned confidence in Him? Will you say yes to this “great romance” or “great adventure” with Him? If He is “disciplining us to get us into this central place of power” then He is molding and shaping us like a Potter would His clay. Get alone with Him, friend, because “God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in awhile 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.'” When He lets go of the arrow, when you begin to fly… what amazing, wonderful, wild things will He do through you?
Love this! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!