Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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A Call to Spiritual Perservance
 Mr. Alex T Thomas & Dr. Susan Alex 


Atlanta MTC

“Vs.20-21 …build yourself up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourself in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life”. 
 
The Epistle of Jude is considered to be written by Jude, one of the brothers of Jesus, mentioned as Judas in Mathew 13:55.  This Epistle was written to a group of believers as a warning against false teachers, who were trying to destroy their faith.
Our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God (“…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord, Dt. 8:3) and is secured through faith (John 5:24). Spiritual life necessitates death to sin and self (2 Cor. 4:11). It requires perseverance.  Perseverance is endurance along with the certainty that what we strive for will materialize.  It is a necessary virtue needed to succeed. Perseverance is a choice and it requires patience and willingness. Perseverance is needed for spiritual growth as it takes time to learn the Word of God and to grow in Christ and thus to develop a Christ-like character.
As human beings, we are often scared that our faith and our love for the Lord may not be enough to sustain us in our difficult times, but it is then that we should rely more on spiritual perseverance.
In Daniel 3: 13-27, we see that even when King Nebuchadnezzar was about to put Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a blazing furnace, they told the King that, ‘the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, but even if he does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up’. Spiritual perseverance requires our deliberate effort.  As exercise is needed to maintain our physical health, our spiritual health also requires regular exercise. In James 5:11 we read, “…we consider blessed those who have persevered”. In the book of Job, we see Job’s perseverance and what the Lord finally brought about. In Heb. 10:36 we read, “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised”. In Heb. 11: 27 we read about Moses, “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the kings anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible”. Jesus persevered through the sufferings that resulted in the shedding of his blood on the cross for the remission of our sins.  In Phil. 3:14 we read, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”. In the story of the race between the rabbit and the turtle, although it was the pride of the rabbit that led to its downfall, the perseverance of the turtle played a major role in its victory. Charles H. Spurgeon said, “By perseverance, the snail reached the ark”.

PRAYER

Lord, help us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Heb. 12:1”.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
 “Good things come to those who believe, better things come to those who are patient and the best things come to those who persevere.” –Wisdom Quotes


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