Persistence

Endurance

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Keep going…keep believing…keep praying…listen…observe…endure.  God’s Word tells us we will have trouble in this world.  Be persistent, seek to do good things, learn from what you have experienced.  The next attempt might be the one that breaks through to something greater than you can imagine.  There is a new song by an artist named Danny Gokey entitled “Haven’t Seen It Yet” and it provides a perspective about God’s will that many of us need to be reminded of.  Don’t give up…God is with you.  Amen.

“Haven’t Seen It Yet” by Danny Gokey

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“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 in White Sands National Monument in New Mexico)

Persistence

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As of last night our area in the upper Midwest has received 16 inches of snow in the last week.  Last night, another 4-5 inches fell and it will continue to snow until this afternoon, we may get more on Thrusday.  We are not the only area with weather affecting every day life.  I thought I heard the Seattle area received as much snow from one strom that it usually receives the entire winter.  The pattern for us has been snow, then cold, then snow, then cold…repeat, repeat.  The persistence of it can put some people under pressure while some people have big smiles on their faces…I tend to be more in the latter group.  It is all about how we choose to respond.  If you want to understand more about yourself and how you handle things that cannot be controlled…observe your reaction in relation to the weather.  The same is true when it comes to doing good things we need to be persistent and not give up.  Things will go wrong, the problems will seem to big, we will read and see terrible things in this world, we need to focus on Jesus Christ, we need to be persistent in our faith…that is the answer to all that we cannot control.  Amen.

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“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is right.”

2 Thessalonians 3:13

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington)

Perseverance

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Don’t quit…don’t give up…get up…keep going…keep seeking…keep trying…believe.  Here we are back to talking about attitude and perspective.  Attitude is formed over a period of time by experience and observation.  The things we chose to take in with our senses have significant impact on the formation of our attitudes.  Things we chose to read, what we chose to listen to, etc.  What is interesting here are the words…we chose, what we decide to spend our time on plays into our attitude.  We can develop the courage to persevere in difficulties and tough times or we can be stagnant and let those times defeat us.  To be clear none of this occurs in 140 characters or less…it takes time!  My personal definition of perseverance is be patient and be persistent and believe good things will come.  If you are unsure what to do about this, may I suggest a book?  Start with the bible and a sincere prayer to God and as the song says, let Jesus take the wheel.  Amen.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

James 1:2

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 near Arches National Park in Utah)

Persistence

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When we read about prayer in the Bible there are words and phrases such as “without ceasing” or “continually” and when we read about the life of Jesus we find He spent hours and sometimes even the whole night in prayer to God His Father.  In today’s society we are so quick to move from one item to the next it seems there is little attention paid to dedication and commitment.  The ability to stick to it, not giving up and believing the next attempt will be the one that is successful…these are the attributes of true success in life.  This approach to anything takes patience, persistence and faith.  We learn the most from trying and failing and we succeed by taking what we learn and applying it to the future.  The same is true in our prayer life…if you have been praying about something and you haven’t seen results yet, don’t give up, keep praying.  God hears you and He will work things out in His time, His way, not based on our thoughts or our timetable…and thankfully His way is always better than ours.  Be persistent in prayer and give thanks to God for all your blessings.

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“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

(This photo was taken in September of 2016 on a lake in central Minnesota)

Perseverance

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Steadfastness…persistence…determination…purposefulness.  The story of our lives is not about when or how often we will get knocked down.  It will happen and sometimes it will happen with increased frequency.  It is in how we choose to respond to these events that will shape and define our character and our relationships.  We only need to look to the Cross and the Resurrection for the example of what sticking with God and His plan can be.  From what was one of the greatest tragedies in history to an even greater story of new life, hope and joy.  As it says in Romans 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  We are His creation, He loves us and no matter what may trip us up along the way He will be with us.  May we all go out into the world today with the confidence that God is for us.

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“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 5:3-5

(This photo was taken in April of 2016 at sunrise on a lake in central Minnesota)

Draw Near To God

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It is so easy to get drawn into a worldly perspective.  To judge others and have thoughts that justify ourselves in our own minds.  Eventually we may find that things are beginning to draw us farther away from our relationship with Jesus and our faith life.  This can be a very gradual process, during this time when you start to question something from a faith perspective be sure to draw close to God and His Word.  In order to persevere in faith we must look to God and the Holy Spirit for guidance.  I believe it is true that all people were made to be able to be good and do good things as we are all created by God.  The hard part for us as humans is managing our free will.  It is a gift from God and when it is used to pursue the sinful nature we are choosing to turn away from the Lord.  May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you.

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“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 near the border between Minnesota and South Dakota)

Don’t Give Up

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Our lives are filled with moments and memories…some are good times and some are difficult.  We all tend to embellish a bit in our memories, the memory of good times seem to be really good and the memory of bad times seem to be really bad.  For many there seems to be more bad memories that start to take a person down a road where even the present moments are seen through their eyes with a negative perspective.  This is a quick spiral downward and we can get stuck in the swirl of negativity.  We have to have the courage to choose a new perspective, a more balanced view things and we are fed that perspective when we read the Word of God.  When times are hard and it feels like you are making no progress on anything…don’t give up, keep pressing on, keep believing…that is your faith at work.  Goodness will come to those who believe in the hope that God provides through Jesus Christ.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Colossians 3:12

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

Don’t Give Up

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“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trail, 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 July of 2016 in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming)

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)

When We Fall

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We will all encounter moments when we fall down while on our faith journey.   This was true for the most familiar names in the bible…Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Joseph etc.

We all fall down along the way…the key is not the fall or why we fall, what is most important is how we respond when we do fall down.  Do not turn away from God in shame…turn towards God, pray, confess and get back up again.  He knows our struggles and He will always be with us.  Psalm 51:1-17 is a great place to begin to get back up, here is a sample from that passage.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Psalm 51:10-12