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Written by Liliana Henriquez, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Colombia
I'm one of those people who, when they like a song, listen to it a thousand times throughout the day (or several days) until it doesn't excite them anymore. I can literally search on YouTube: "An hour of... (title of the song)" and play it all day long. It becomes the first and only song I listen to for a long time. It becomes the soundtrack or the main song of my day (or days) and I enjoy it very much.
This reminds me of when we decide to obey the gospel and get baptized. Converting ourselves to Christ and everything that has to do with the church is our priority. We are excited to learn the lyrics to all the hymns we sing at service, attend all church activities, read the whole Bible, and know all the verses. We are passionate about Jesus!
How wonderful it would be if we maintained that same passion for the rest of our lives as Christians!
As expected, life goes on, and with it comes new decisions, challenges, and stages such as marriage, children, new jobs, university studies, travel, migration... and generally, these tend to diminish the passion for Jesus that we felt at the beginning. I don't mean that we stop loving Jesus or being His disciples; I mean that the cares of life are sometimes so heavy and challenging that they distract us from what is important, to such an extent that we could make the grave mistake of giving them the first place that only God deserves.
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. (Ex 20:4-5 NIV, emphasis added)
As I read this passage, I am struck by these three words:
"MAKE": It leads me to understand that anything taking the place of God is an idol that we ourselves have the power to create.
"BOW DOWN": Everything we idolize causes us to take on an attitude of submission. Therefore, we yield our will to that idol.
"WORSHIP": We respect and give a place of preeminence to what we put first.
It's important to remember that we have a jealous God and we need to be very aware of that. He wants us to seek Him, to choose Him, to worship Him above anything else created in the world. Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3) and we are to honor only Him.
I invite you to ask yourself: Is God the theme song of my life today?
I hope so. He is our King.
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Written by Kara Benson, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Alabama
[Let us fix] our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:2 NIV)
What does it mean to persevere? It is to maintain a purpose or to continue in a course of action despite difficulty. The key to perseverance is persistence in the face of challenge. We are called to persevere as committed disciples…
- Despite what other people think, say, or do. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Ro 12:2).
- Despite the deceptive draw of sin. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb 12:1).
- Despite our past. Consider Acts 9:20-22. Do you think that Paul ever heard negative comments about his former lifestyle of persecuting the Lord’s church? Yet he writes, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:13b-14).
- Despite thorns in the flesh. Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove his physical struggle.
But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2Co 12:9-10)
Let this be our humble attitude regarding our health issues, current struggles, and burdens we bear. We can learn thankfulness for our trials as we allow them to lead us closer to Christ.
Why do we persevere? We persevere to…
- Finish the race. “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (Jas 1:12).
- Reap a harvest. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9).
- Receive the blessings of righteousness, peace, and sharing in God’s holiness. “God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Heb 12:10b-11).
- Strive for maturity and completeness. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (Jas 1:2-4).
- Encounter the power and goodness of God. “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (Jas 5:11).
- Experience opportunities to help and comfort others. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2Co 1:3-4).
How do we persevere?
We set our sights on Jesus. We meditate on the life of Christ, the teachings of Christ, the sufferings of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the promises of Christ, and the glory of Christ. We contemplate what it will be like to finally be home with Jesus, at last, eternally in heaven. We eagerly anticipate the return of our beloved Lord, long for that day, and speed its coming (2Pe 3:12). With our words and with our hearts, we say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
These [trials] have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1Pe 1:7-9)