Called To Persevere

On By BrianIn Virtue Miscellaneous

God calls us to persevere.  In Hebrews 12:1-3, he tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  Jesus “endured the cross” and “endured from sinners such hostility against himself” – and we too are to persevere in our trials.  And not for no reason.

Jesus endured for our good, to purchase our salvation.  And we are to endure that we might do what is good.  God tells us in Galatians 6:9-10, that we should “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Each day we have opportunities to do good, so we must persevere daily through the trials and struggles to do the good God gives us to do.

We are told not to give up, so we must persevere until the end.  We can retire from our jobs, but we cannot retire from doing good, serving Christ, seeking his kingdom.  We are to persevere until our final breath.

God wants us to persevere through our trials to daily do the good he gives us to do until the end. Are you persevering through your trials?  Are you doing the good God has given you to do?

May God help us to persevere in this way.  In the next post, we will look at how.

Bind My Heart

On By BrianIn Prayers

Let your goodness, O God, bind my heart with a chain
to you!  Seal my will to yours with an unbreakable application of your eternal covenant….  Keep me! 
Preserve me!  Defeat every rising rebellion! 
Overcome every niggling doubt!  Deliver from every destructive temptation!  Nullify every fatal allurement!  Expose every demonic deception!  Tear down every arrogant argument!  Shape me!  Incline me!  Hold me!  Master me!  Do whatever you must do to keep me trusting you and fearing you till Jesus comes or calls.

– John Piper in The Roots of Endurance

Declaring the Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory

Waterfall in the Presque Isle area in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Week of Prayer – Friday

On By BrianIn Prayer Guides

Pray for Our Churches

Growing passion for evangelism and missions
Personal and church-wide evangelism opportunities

Pray for Our Community

Many people to be saved

Pray for Our Country

Many people to be saved

Pray for Our World

Missionaries and the world-wide Church
Many people to be saved
The persecuted Church around the world including Iran, Maldives, Uzbekistan, Yeman, Iraq, and Pakistan

Week of Prayer – Thursday

On By BrianIn Prayer Guides

Pray for Our Churches

Church Family Needs
Growing Unity and Love

Pray for Our Community

Local businesses/economy
Local needs – jobs, sick, hurting

Pray for Our Country

State/national economy

Pray for Our World

Christian ministries to the poor/hungry
Somalia: End to political instability, Safety for believers meeting
in secret, Freedom to worship

Week of Prayer – Wednesday

On By BrianIn Prayer Guides

Pray for Our Churches

Wisdom/direction for our pastors/leaders
Pastors: strength, encouragement, growth, family

Pray for Our Community

Wisdom/direction for newly elected leaders

Pray for Our Country

Wisdom/direction for newly elected leaders
President, VP, Cabinet, Congress, Supreme Court
Michigan’s Governor, Congress, and Judicial System

Pray for Our World

Biblical training and resources for world pastors/leaders
Saudi Arabia: Safety for Christians converting from Islam

Week of Prayer – Tuesday

On By BrianIn Prayer Guides

Pray for Our Churches

Powerful preaching/teaching of the Word
Growing maturity in Christ

 Pray for Our Community

Local elections today
Eyes opened to the truth

 Pray for Our Country

State and national elections today
Eyes opened to the truth

 Pray for Our World

Solid teaching and growth for Christians
North Korea: Freedom for thousands of Christians in prison, Safety for Christians sharing the gospel

Vote and Pray

On By BrianIn Uncategorized

God has given us an incredible opportunity that few people in the history of our world have ever had.  We have the opportunity to vote for our leaders.  Tomorrow we each get one ballot to choose who we want to be our leaders for the next few years. We must be good stewards of this opportunity God has given us.

To be good stewards, we must vote.  To stay home tomorrow is to follow the example of the wicked servant who refused to use the one talent given to him.  He buried it in the ground instead, and was strongly condemned (Matthew 25:14-30).

To be good stewards, we must vote for a candidate who has a chance of winning.  In the presidential race, that means we must vote for Romney or Obama.  To vote for anyone else is to waste your vote, to bury it in the ground.  It would be like going to a casino and playing a game with absolute 0% chance of winning.  Your chances at a casino are never good, but playing with 0% chance of winning is utter foolishness.  So is voting for someone who has no chance of winning.  You may not like either candidate, but one of them is going to win, so vote for the better of the two.

To be good stewards, we must vote wisely by weighing the issues.  We must weigh the economic issues.  We must weigh the foreign policy issues.  We must weigh the moral issues:

  • What is the candidate’s stand on same-sex marriage? (See a discussion here)
  • What is the candidate’s stand on abortion which has killed 50+ million babies in almost 40 years?
  • What is the candidate’s stand on the current administration’s policy requiring even religious non-profits to pay for insurance that will pay for their employees to buy abortion-inducing contraceptives.  Will the candidate stand for religious freedom and against this religious persecution?

To be good stewards, we must weigh the issues, and then vote accordingly.  We must vote wisely.

For further thoughts on why you need to vote tomorrow, see Joel Beeke’s helpful post.

But we must do more than vote.  We must also pray.  This too is an incredible opportunity that God has given to us.  We must be good stewards of this opportunity and cry out to God on behalf of our nation.  I could elaborate on this point, but instead I suggest you go to Albert Mohler’s post and use it as a guide for your prayers.

Vote and pray.  May we be good stewards of both opportunities tomorrow.