Called to Endure!

Scripture:  Mark 13:13 (NKJV) - “…but the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.”
Most of us are familiar with the phrase “Been there, done that!”  No one that we know, however, can say it with greater authority than Christ our Lord, as He is familiar with all that confronts us in this sin-cursed world. He has faced it all, yet WITHOUT SIN. (Hebrews 4:15)
 
Have you been lied on? Our Savior was; so was Stephen, Christendom’s first martyr, and Paul the apostle, to name a few. (Luke 23:2; Acts 6:13, and Acts 24:5) Have you been rejected or greatly misunderstood by those who should have received you with open arms?  So has our Savior!  (Isaiah 53:3; Jn. 1:11)  Have you been prejudged or disbelieved because you didn’t conform to the “script” others had for you?  Our Lord Jesus can relate to that!  (Isaiah 53:2b)  Be comforted, brothers and sisters!  Jesus, our Elder Brother, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, has endured these same relational minefields of life during the days of His flesh!  In fact, He as the risen Savior God still forbears with humanity, enduring with divine long-suffering many of the things described above.  Yet, what can we learn from our Savior’s response to all these things as we wade into a new year?

We must p.r.a.c.t.i.c.e. following Him who calls us to do the same in this temporal life journey.  We must resolve to:  P-persevere in faith, as Hebrews 12:2 instructs us, with our eyes fixed on the Author and Perfecter of our faith; R-refresh our heart daily in Christ (Philemon v. 20), “though none go with me,” (as a blessed old hymn says), A-act like you know this One who’s called the “Bread of Life,” (Jn. 4:10); C-confess our sins daily (1 Jn. 1:9; Micah 7:18); T-tell Him our struggles, rather than complaining to people who ofttimes have no true and lasting remedies to offer. (Ps. 118:9; Is. 2:22); I-intercede for one another, saints—in specific ways, as much as possible. (Eph. 6:18b); C-count it all joy as you go through trials this new year, confident that our Lord’s purpose is to use those trials to conform us to His image—to not take us down but through in victory; finally, E-endure, for it is written that we have need of doing so, if we would receive what our Savior promises those who believe on Him til the end. (Heb. 10:36; Matt. 24:13).
 
Prayer:  We thank and praise You, Father, for giving us all that we need to not only survive, but to thrive in a world that is doing its futile best to quench the Light that ever shines through the darkness!  Strengthen us as we persevere through Christ!  In His name we pray.  Amen!

(by Denise Diggs)