by Lynne Taylor | Nov 13, 2014
Recently I had so much trouble getting a newsletter finalised. I got distracted and somehow the newsletter just disappeared from view on my computer screen. Obviously I touched something I shouldn’t have. After about an hour of trying to retrieve it I thought I would have one more try the following day. Praise God I found it. Perseverance won in the end!
This has got me thinking about life. Often when things don’t seem to be working or our prayers don’t seem to be answered we can be prone to give up and let go of the promises of God. This can happen just before our breakthrough. One of the meanings of ‘perseverance’ is ‘going on until success is met with’.
Perseverance is such a great quality to have and according to scripture “blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him”. Also scripture says that ‘perseverance brings proven character’. In Romans 15:4 it says that through perseverance and the encouragement of Scripture we might have hope and then in verse 5 it goes on to say that God gives us perseverance. So I guess He just needs our desire to persevere to see His promises come to pass. In 2 Thessalonians 1:4 it says how perseverance and faith help us to endure the difficult times. And in Romans 2 it says God will give eternal life to those who persevere in doing good, seeking after the glory, honour and immortality that He offers.
In summary, some of the virtues of perseverance as a believer are – seeing God’s promises fulfilled in our lives, receiving the crown of life, proven character, hope, endurance for difficult times, eternal life.
So maybe losing the newsletter temporarily which caused me to pen this message was so that someone could receive this word of encouragement today.
by Lynne Taylor | Nov 5, 2014
“This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
One day when things weren’t going as I would have liked, this verse came flooding into my mind. It brought me to my senses. If I am truly living a life of faith and trusting God and believing in His Word I am able to live victoriously every day. I don’t like admitting this but that’s not always my testimony.
There are those unexpected life events and trials that seem to dictate that I have every reason to lose my joy and maybe we even think “who wouldn’t feel blah going through this situation, or this pain or this sickness or disappointment?” But the fact remains for us as believers, that God has this day sussed for us. He has made today. His mercies are new every morning, to draw upon, for whatever we have ahead of us. This doesn’t mean it will be easy or be pain free or that we’ll be understood or we will feel great but it does mean that because the day is made by the Lord, we, in faith, can choose to rejoice and be glad in it.
Horatio Stafford who lived in the late 1800’s is an example of living each day rejoicing in God. He penned the well known hymn “It is well with my soul” after many traumatic events in his life which I found too sad to mention.
James 1:2-4 says “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
I desire to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, don’t you? At the end of our time on earth what will our character be like? What lessons will we have learned because we were guided by what God says and not by how we felt in any given situation. God’s ways seems so illogical at times. All the more reason to choose to live by faith in His Word and His amazing love for each one of us.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
So rejoice and be glad! We are in the family of God and we have so much to be thankful for.
