Perseverance

Along The Way

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As we live our day to day lives and experience each and every detail of life we are easily distracted from recognizing God is with us.  He is in everything…He is the Creator and the Author of our faith…“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8

Just like the two individuals in Luke 24, they were ‘On the Road to Emmaus’.  They were busy discussing what had happened over the previous three days…Jesus of Nazareth who they believed was a prophet was handed over and crucified but he was supposed to be the one to redeem Israel.  Them and all the disciples thought…’ok now we have a king who is powerful and will be sure to set things right for us in this world’…just like many of us today who latch on to something or someone and think ‘ok this is the thing or the person who is going to make everything right in my life’.

Then the two ‘On the Road’ encountered another while walking.  He asked them questions and they explained their dismay at what had occurred, even though Jesus himself had told them several times before he died that it was going to happen…even though it was stated by many of the early prophets that He will come, be sacrificed and will be raised from the dead.

They couldn’t understand, they were so distracted by the events of their everyday life to even notice that Jesus was right there with them the whole time.  He was walking right beside them listening, teaching them and when they had spent enough time with Him, while they were sharing a meal with Him…Finally!  They could see He was right there with them the whole time.

Friends, God is with us…right here, right now.  Jesus said in the Gospel according to John…

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:27

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

Persevere

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“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

James 1:12

(This photo was taken in the summer of 2013 while driving through parts of Colorado)

Perseverance

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So often in life we begin something with the best intentions…as time goes by we try to push ahead on our own…”I can do this”…”I know what I am doing”…it is based on ‘I’ and any of us can only do so much alone.  We have to learn that our obsessive focus on ‘I’ eventually leads to sadness, helplessness and loneliness.

One of the hardest things I have ever done is admit that my life is not about ‘me’, ‘myself’ and ‘I’…we are not controlling every single aspect of our daily life.  The loss of a young friend to suicide sealed it for me.  That was the last event in a series of lessons that made it very clear to me there is so much more in life than what ‘I’ was focusing my attention on.  The world and Satan are not encouraging us to surrender to Jesus and that makes it even harder to see and understand but when we commit to spending time with God and we surrender our belief that we our in charge…we begin to understand a whole new level and perspective of love, joy, peace, mercy and grace.  This is not an easy commitment and like anything worth doing it takes perseverance but once you start God provides strength and best of all he gives all of us courage to over come our greatest fears…

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

2 Timothy 1:7

(This photo was taken in the summer of 2013 in Badlands National Park in South Dakota)