Heb. 10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised.
Last
week we began the first of a two-part series on how to endure. Endurance for a
believer is a must if you are going to get through the challenges that will
come in life. It is also a must if you want to see what God desires for your
life come to pass. Walking by faith takes endurance to get where God wants you
to go. When we endure we overcome.
There
are ten things I am sharing with you to help you endure. The first five we have
already covered. They are:
1. You cannot be spiritually lazy.
2. You must develop and maintain
your faith.
3. Have scriptures to stand on.
4. Obey God’s Word.
5. Draw strength from the testimony
of others.
This
week we will cover the remaining 5 things. The first of these is:
6. Lay aside anything that would
hinder your progress as a Christian.
Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every
weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our
progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.
Sin
would be an obvious hindrance that would hinder our ability to endure and
should be dealt with. God has given us the ability to defeat and overcome the
power of sin in our life through Jesus Christ. But the apostle here also tells
us that we should lay aside every weight that slows us down if we are going to
run with endurance. What are these weights that he is talking about?
Simply
put, whatever is hindering our walk with God we need to strip that weight off
of our life. Far to often believers are unwilling to let go of things that they
want when God knows such things are only hindering us not helping us. This
could include of course activities, things, and people. Another way to look at
it would be a comparison for example to one’s diet. If you are unwilling to lay
down eating every day the things that are not good for your health, you are not
going to have the energy and strength you need each day. This doesn’t mean we
must never eat things we know are not that good for us, but if we are under
their control and unwilling to eat healthy foods we should not expect to have
the strength we need physically.
When
you look at an Olympic athlete for example they learn to address not only the
training they need physically, but also just as important their diet. There are
certain things for believers that we should never have anything to do with that
are only going to keep us from an intimate relationship with God, but there are
other things that are not of themselves bad, but we should never be consumed
with them to the degree that such things are more important to us than our walk
with God. If you want to endure through this race called life you are going to
have to lay some things aside.
7. Give Jesus your undivided
attention.
Heb. 12:2
Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the
Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its
Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of
obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and
ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Keeping
your focus on Jesus is a big help in finding the strength and ability to
endure. He is the source of our faith and the One who helps bring our faith to
maturity. When you look to Him and keep your focus there, you are not looking
at yourself, nor your problems and challenges. I assure you He is a lot better
to look at. When we get focused on ourselves this will hinder our ability to
endure because we begin to see our limitations as a human and that begins to
bring doubt and unbelief.
When
we look to our problems in life they can begin to look a lot bigger than we
are. All through the Bible you see people who endured by keeping their eyes on
God. David was not focused on Goliath, but on his God who had delivered him
from the bear and the lion. History tells us that a shepherd would carve such
images in their staff after obtaining victory over them, and David was holding
up that staff in front of him when he took on Goliath. He declared, “This day
the Lord will deliver you into my hand.” His focus was on the Lord. When you
are looking to Him you see His strength and ability, not your inability.
8. Set your mind on things above.
Col. 3:2
Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things.
Col. 3:3
You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Another
way to say this is that you need to see things from heavens viewpoint, not the
earths. Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t see the forest for the
trees.” When you are in the midst of a forest you cannot see the entire forest
because the trees are blocking your view. But when you get a different vantage
point in life you see things you did not see before. That is what God wants us
to do. If we will see things from heavens perspective it will change not only
how we view things here on earth, but it will give us a power we did not have
before. We have the mind of Christ, which means we have the God-given ability
to see things from God’s perspective.
Years
ago I was dealing with some challenges and like many crying out to God about
them. In the midst of me doing so the Lord spoke to my spirit telling me to
stop looking at my situation from the earth’s perspective, but instead, look at
what I was dealing with as if I were already in heaven looking back over my
life. All of a sudden I realized that what I was dealing with that had seemed
to become so overwhelming didn’t any longer seem like such a big deal. This
began to bring great strength to keep going forward and as I did of course
things changed.
9. Look to Jesus as your example.
Heb. 12:3
Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter
hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with
your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and
relaxing and fainting in your minds.
Another
powerful key to endurance is looking to Jesus as the example we have to follow
in the footsteps of. Jesus shows us through His life a personal testimony of
endurance and how He did so. When you use Him as your example you are walking
in a pathway of victory. Jesus when facing going to the cross in the Garden of
Gethsemane taught us something very powerful about times of trial. He taught
His disciples to watch and pray. He told them they would be tempted to give up
on doing God’s will and to overcome those times of temptation (to endure
through them) watch and pray.
To
watch means to pay attention. The devil comes with deception and schemes to try
and get us to quit on God. He will bring false teachers, deceptive thoughts,
and the wrong people across our path to try and lead us away from God. If we
pray as Jesus taught, we are not going to fall for these works of satan. The
key to praying that He was speaking of is simply staying connected to God.
When
you truly are close to Him you won’t blame God for destructive works thinking
it is all in God’s plan. We are in a fallen world and we will face storms in
life, don’t blame God for the storms; He is the strength to overcome them.
Jesus did not blame God for what we did as sinners; He simply found strength in
the Father to get through what He was faced with. Follow His example.
10. Don’t despise godly discipline.
Heb. 12:11
Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces
the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.
Last
but not least don’t reject godly discipline, because even though the flesh
doesn’t like not getting its way, you will become stronger spiritually. God’s
discipline comes through His Word, the Holy Spirit, our conscience, and godly
leadership. He does not discipline us by wreaking havoc with our life; there is
a devil who will work to do that. God brings discipline to show us how to become
more spiritual so we walk in His enduring power, always triumphing through
Christ Jesus.
Endurance
is a necessity if you want to obtain what Christ paid for you to walk in and
walk out. God gave us the ability to endure. If we walk out what His Word teaches
we will endure. As we do then we are going to see what He has promised
fulfilled, for those who endure are those who never give up on God nor His
ways. In due season you will reap, don’t lose heart, endure!
See You Again Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”
May God’s Best Be Yours!
Pastor Darryl Baker