Tag: endurance

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Colossians Devotionals

Joy, not just “gaman”

Worship

We are asking that…you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. (Colossians 1:9, 11-12)

In Japan, we have a word people seem to love, “gaman,” which can roughly be translated “endurance.”

When things are hard, we are often told here to “gaman.”

But what struck me is that Paul didn’t want the Colossian Christians to simply “gaman.”

He wanted them to be filled with the joy of God.

The joy of God is what gives us the strength to stand in the hard times.

Without it, “gaman” eventually becomes an impossible burden.

I don’t want to just “gaman” in this Christian life. I want to live in the joy of all God has done for me.

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

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James Devotionals

Learning endurance

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)

“Let endurance have its full effect.”

Those words struck me this morning.

Quite frankly, I’d like to short-circuit the process. Can’t we just skip to the part where we’re mature and complete, lacking nothing?

Not according to James. Only through enduring trials will we become that way.

But this isn’t an endurance that is based on the building of our own strength.

It’s an endurance that comes as we learn to lean more on God and his strength.

The mature and complete person doesn’t live a life independent of God.

The mature and complete person has learned that they can’t make it on their own. That they desperately need God. And in the end, they learn what Paul did.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Father, I don’t like trials. When I go through them, I just want them to end as soon as possible.

But if those trials can teach me to lean on you and your strength, if I can learn that your power is made perfect in my weakness, and if you’ll walk with me through the whole process, then I’m willing to do so.

Make me mature and complete. Make me like your Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Revelation

A need for endurance and faithfulness

Revelation

There’s a lot going on in this passage, and as usual, there’s a lot of debate over what it all means. There are two beasts that appear with the dragon (Satan). And to keep this short(er), I’ll take on these two beasts in two blogs.

The first beast comes out of the sea. It’s a strange beast that mixes the characteristics of the four beasts we read about in Daniel 7. It has all the power of the dragon, but receives a fatal wound to one of its seven heads.

To the astonishment of the world, however, it is healed and restored. The result? The people fall down and worship the beast and the dragon it represents.

What does it all mean?

To some degree, this one beast could be symbolic of  all the empires that were represented by the four beasts in Daniel: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. They rose up, received a fatal wound, but came back in the form of a different empire.

The end result, however, is the same: empires that worship the dragon and persecute God’s people. And in the same way, the people who follow this new beast and is part of its regime worship the dragon and persecute God’s people.

It’s interesting to note in chapter 17, that when the beast is further explained, he is described as one who once was, now is not, but will come again. (Revelation 17:8, 11)

So John seems to say that this beast had appeared before this time period John was writing in, but was not currently in the world as John was living. It’s possible he was referring to one of the former Roman emperors, perhaps Nero.

Whoever he was, this emperor received a fatal wound, but will come back again as another ruler who will blaspheme God and persecute God’s people.

And this gives some credence to the idea that this beast represents not just one man, but many throughout history. As John says, there have been many antichrists from his time to the present age. (1 John 2:18).

They keep appearing, dying off, and coming back again.

But in that same verse, John also says that there is one final antichrist who will appear. And as we see in this passage, like all the antichrists of the past, he leads people to worship the dragon.

Oh it probably won’t be so blatant. He probably won’t be saying, “Let’s all worship Satan.”

But like the Roman emperors of the past, he will have them worshiping him as their savior. As the one who brings peace and prosperity to the world. But what the people won’t know is that they are really following Satan’s representative.

More, in this time, he will blaspheme the true God, and there will be mass persecution of Christians. (7)

And from verses 7-8, it seems that everyone who is not a Christian will fall right in line with the beast.  It will become politically correct to persecute and kill all Christians.

What do we get from all this? When we face the first beast, he will come with brute force against God’s people. And so John warns,

If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. (Revelation 13:10)

It’s very similar to what Jesus told the church in Smyrna, and I would guess it really resonated with them as they heard it.

Here, though, all of us are told: Be ready. Persecution is coming. But endure, and be faithful. And you will receive the crown of life. For you will not be hurt at all by the second death if you do so. (Revelation 2:10-11)

I know. I’m beating the same drum I’ve been beating since we started Revelation.

But again, even if we don’t face the antichrist, it’s very possible we will face persecution before then. From our family, from our friends, from our neighbors, from our coworkers, and very possibly from our own nations.

People in North America are already seeing signs of this. It has become politically correct to slam Christians in the States even as I write this.

Are we really that far from out and out persecution?

So brace yourself. Be faithful. Endure. God may call you to go through persecution.

But if you do, remember, Jesus went through it first.

So as the writer of Hebrews said,

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

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James

How faith responds to suffering

James

James started this letter by talking about how God uses trials to make us mature and complete.

And for the last several chapters, he talked about how true faith should look as it matures. That true faith causes people to grow in love, speech, and in purity.

That is the endgame for God. That we would become more like Christ as we draw near to him.

Now having drawn that picture, he comes back to how we should deal with our trials.

On first glance, the first six verses of chapter 5 look like a continuation of his condemnation of the wealthy Christians that we saw in the last few verses of chapter 4.

But taking a closer look, it seems much more likely that James is echoing the Old Testament prophets who condemned those who persecuted or oppressed God’s people.

There were rich people who hoarded their wealth and failed to pay their workers their wages. Who condemned and murdered innocent men by their greed and self-indulgence.

And James warns, “Your time of judgment is coming.”

But then he turns to the suffering Christian. And he says,

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains?

You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. (James 5:7-8)

In short, part of perseverance is faith. Faith that God will judge the unjust and that justice will ultimately come.

Just as the farmer trusts God to provide the rains he needs so that his crop will grow, so we should trust God to provide the justice that we all long for. And as we wait in faith, we will bear the fruit of righteousness in our lives.

That’s hard, though. And sometimes in our frustration, we not only get angry with God, but we turn on each other. So James says,

Don’t grumble against each other brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! (9)

If in our impatience and anger at our situation, we turn on each other, God will hold us accountable for that. So James tells us,

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

As you know, we consider 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. (11)

When you look at the lives of the prophets, many, if not all, suffered greatly. Yet in the midst of their struggle, they continued to to be faithful, preaching the Word of the Lord, no matter how much they were reviled.

Job too suffered, and though he struggled with understanding the whys, he never gave up on his faith on God either. And in the end, God vindicated them all.

And so James tells us, “Learn from them. In the midst of your trials, be patient.”

It’s easy to say God is good when all is going well. It’s much harder when we’re going through trial.

Finally James says,

Above all, my brothers, do not swear — not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No”,” no, or you will be condemned. (12)

Here I think James is saying, “No matter how bad things get, hold on to your integrity. Don’t let your trials take that away with you. Always stay unflinchingly honest lest your dishonesty detract from your testimony.”

How do you face your trials? Do you turn against God? Do you turn against those around you? Do you let your trials take away from your integrity?

Or do you stand unflinchingly in the face of it all, believing that God is good and will bring you through?

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2 TImothy

The grace to endure

Paul in prison

One of the reasons Paul asked Timothy to come visit him was that many people had abandoned him, and except for a precious few, he was all alone.

For every Onesiphorus who went out of his way to find out where Paul was imprisoned to encourage him, there were many more such as Phygelus and Hermogenes who had abandoned him. (1:15-18).

Why did these two abandon Paul? Possibly because of the persecution that had landed him in prison, and the fear that they might end up like him.

Perhaps they had tried to hang in there for a while, but in the end, they had been pushed past their ability to endure and left.

Many people are like that today. They become Christians, and when all is well, they are filled with joy. But when trials come, though they may try to endure for a time, eventually they fall away.

How does that happen? It happens because they forget the grace by which they were called to live, and instead try to live on their own strength. And when their own strength fails, they have nothing left to lean on.

It’s very easy to look at verses like those in chapter 2 verses 3-6 and think, “I have to do this on my own strength. I have to be the good soldier. I have to train hard and keep all the rules. I have to pour all my strength into this work God has given me.”

But in putting all your focus on what you have to do, you forget where your strength comes from.

We in short forget what Paul said before all his words about being a soldier, athlete, and farmer. He said,

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)

What does that mean? Most people tend to skip over it because it’s not as easily understood as being a good soldier, athlete, or farmer.

But it’s absolutely vital.

You see, it was by grace you were saved. Not by your own efforts. And it is by grace that we are to live each day.

Just as you depend on God for your salvation, you need to depend on God as you live your daily life. And especially as you face hardships and persecution.

Yes, we are to seek to please God and not get caught up in the things of this world. Yes, we are to do the things he has asked us if we are to receive a heavenly reward. Yes, we are to work hard, knowing that our labor will not be in vain.

But if our focus is on “I have to do this in my own strength,” we are destined to fail.

We were saved by grace. And we are to live each day by grace.

That is, we are to live by the Spirit that God has given us to dwell in our hearts, the Spirit who gives us power, fills us with love, and gives us the self-discipline we need to do his will. (2 Timothy 1:7)

That’s why Paul tells Timothy,

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. (8-9)

In other words, in all your struggles to endure, remember Jesus Christ.

Remember he is your starting point and your ending point. He is the one God promised to redeem us from our sin. He is the one who was raised from the dead and gives us life.

And ultimately, he is the one who will bring us through our trials, and take us with him into glory. Remember that. Don’t try to make it through these trials on your own.

And then Paul reminded Timothy. “Yes I am chained. I am weak. I can be bound. But God’s word is not chained (9).

“His work will be accomplished. And it is with that hope that I continue my work in the face of death. Because I know that through me, people will come to faith in Christ and find the grace that you and I have both found.”

He then closes with a hymn of encouragement. Encouragement to endure. Encouragement at the faithfulness of Christ. Paul sang,

If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. (12-13)

It’s fitting that he finishes that hymn with a word of grace. For our ability to endure starts with grace and ends with it.