Perseverance

In the turbulent and uncertain times ahead, we will need extraordinary fortitude and courage. Trials can improving perseverance or active endurance.

Martin Collins, assuring us that those whom God has called will be kept safe, protected, and sanctified, reminds us that: 1.) No one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him, 2.) All whom the Father has given to Him will come to Him, and 3.) None of . . .

Clyde Finklea, focusing on Winston Churchill's wartime advice, "Never give in," insists that it proved good advice during the Second World War, and it is good advice for us now as we approach the horrible time of the Great Tribulation, when betra. . .

How does Jesus Christ expect us to face persecution? The Scripture show how Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets approached the persecutions they endured.

John Reid discusses two forms of patience, showing how we need it to build godly character.

John Reid, focusing on Luke 21:9, encourages the development of patience, perseverance, and endurance in the horrific times ahead, safe-guarding the precious calling God has given us. We have been mandated to endure to the end, processing all the trials an. . .

We should cultivate the Heinz Ketchup motto ('The best things come to those who wait'), rather than the Burger King approach ('Your way, right away').

Noah is an outstanding example of persevering through a dreadful experience. Not only did he persevere through the Flood, but also through 120 years of preparations.

Patience in the face of trying events is a clear indication that we are developing genuine godliness. We can learn to turn trials into positive growth opportunities.

Patience, a fruit of God's Spirit and a trait He abundantly displays, is not a passive turning away, but an active effort to control bursts of anger.

God narrows in our way because He loves us, just as we hedge our children because we care about their lives. God loves us too much to leave us the way we are.

Like a marathoner or a soldier fighting a battle, we are admonished to endure to the end, standing firm, holding our ground, and resisting assaults.

Life is difficult to navigate. Adversity is a common part of life, yet now, having been called by God, we must work hard to overcome and conquer these challenges.

John Reid, taking a cue from prisoner of war examples, identifies four factors that will boost a person's resolve to endure sore trials: (1) Hope (that the war would end) (2) Faith (in the ability to tough it out) (3) Vision (of being able to escape), lead. . .

If anything epitomizes the futility of trusting in this world, it is pictured by the bankruptcy filing by Detroit last year. The city was once America's manufacturing hub ...

Hope is the ability to expect positive outcomes despite current circumstances. Faith, hope, and love are the three elements of the fuel for our spiritual journey.

David Grabbe, assessing the impact of struggles, pressures, and tribulations of our spiritual journey, reveals that Christ's followers will have to endure afflictions and fiery trials as He prepares them for His Kingdom. Some detractors have tried to preac. . .

God promises certain Christians that He will keep them from the Tribulation—the "hour of trial." Here are the characteristics of those whom God will protect.

John Reid, focusing upon a diary excerpt of a pioneer woman on the Oregon Trail, asserts that the trait of persistence is impossible without a transcendent and ardent vision (Proverbs 29:18). Having vision prevents us from casting off life-saving restraint. . .

None of us is perfect. We are all, in a sense, broken to some degree, whether from birth or by the constant grind of life. We have little hope of repair. James Beaubelle, however, finds real hope in Scripture, arguing that, if our hope is in our great High. . .

Martin Collins, citing a startling 700,000 assaults ("intimate partner violence" episodes) in 2001, accounting for 20% of felonious crime, suggests that patience and longsuffering are diminishing commodities in modern Israel, while selfishness an. . .

At the end of the Parable of the Persistent Widow, Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith...?" The answer is surprising to many.

We must develop an active, God-given restraint and constancy in endurance while facing trials and waiting for Christ's return, trusting that God will provide.

Our hope is based on having a living Savior. At times we are discouraged and overwhelmed, but God has not left us—though unseen, He is in the trials with us.

John Ritenbaugh, focusing on Paul's warning of cunningly devised myths, affirms that Greek and Roman myths were not based on reality, but these fanciful tales nevertheless shaped the world view of much of western culture, including our attitude toward hope. . .

John Ritenbaugh, reflecting on the writings of Malachi Martin, suggests that as the Catholic College of Cardinals have a large number of prudent agnostics within their ranks, we also have a great many fence sitters within the church of God, demonstrating a. . .

Richard Ritenbaugh, beginning with an apocryphal Jewish tale about Abraham's impatience with a guest, focuses on American's cultural impatience." The whole world now seems über-impatient. If God had the same character traits that we do, we would . . .

Over the last several decades, this world has shown itself to be one in which most people lack commitment, whether it is to their mechanics, their spouses, or their beliefs. Using Christ's exhortations to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, David Maas po. . .

Richard Ritenbaugh focuses upon an inspiring incident in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, in which a runner, Derek Redmond, who had previously dropped out of competition because of an injured Achilles tendon, had another setback, a pulled hamstring, causing hi. . .

Martin Collins discusses the apostle Paul's epistle to the Thessalonians, a group of dispirited, despairing Christians who had been bombarded by false teachings that the Day of the Lord had already come, prompting many to quit their employment, rest on the. . .

The heroes of faith may have had a longer period of testing than those called now, but the trials will come at greater intensity here at the end.

Unlike the sleeping friend, God is not reluctant to answer our prayers, but He does want us to be diligent and patient in our requests.

Richard Ritenbaugh acknowledges that although many in God's church have gone through sore trials and tests of sorts, virtually no one has gone through the nightmarish persecutions suffered by the early Christians in Imperial Rome. Because most of us have l. . .

Faithfulness in a person ultimately rests on his or her trust in God, and if a person is going to be faithful, its because he or she believes what God says.

Martin Collins, describing different reactions of certain substances to fire, uses this variation of reaction as a metaphor of our differing reactions to fiery trials. As Christians, we can be conditioned to rejoice in trials, paradoxically having joy in t. . .

The most dangerous lap we encounter is when everyone around us tends to be compromising. Today, what was once aberrant behavior is now considered normal.

John Ritenbaugh, referring to the words of salvation (election, calling, regeneration, conversion, sanctification, and glorification), suggests that we are entering the most difficult time of the sanctification process, a time Jeremiah described as a man i. . .

The Bible abounds in metaphors of warfare, indicating that the Christian's walk will be characterized by stress, sacrifice, and deprivation in building faith.

If we patiently endure, trusting in God's faithfulness to bring us to completion, there will be a time when we will attain the rest we desperately yearn for.

Martin Collins, acknowledging that weariness in patient well-doing is probably the biggest affliction upon God"s Church, urges that we sow spiritual seed (largely thoughts and deeds) in order to reap spiritual character (fruits of repentance and fruit. . .

With all the military metaphors in the Bible, there can be no doubt that God likens the Christian life to a war against the evils and temptations we face.

Martin Collins, reflecting on the writing of II Peter, a document composed in prison during a time of intense persecution and a time of false teachings which condoned a virulent sexual permissiveness and moral relativity, asserts that this epistle was used. . .

The letters in Revelation 2 and 3 are for the end times, shortly before Christ's return. Each emphasizes repentance, overcoming, and judgment according to works.

Christ prepared the members of Smyrna for martyrdom, promising them eternal glory for enduring a relatively short time, looking at things from a hopeful perspective.

Martin Collins, acknowledging that people universally are curious about the future, asserts that prophecy is difficult and perplexing. Regardless of when Christ will return, we must be ready. False teachers, apostasy, and wars, as well as rumors of wars, w. . .