The Crown of Life Awaits.

There is no sugar-coating our life here and now.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Endures.

Dictionary definition- experience exertion, pain, or hardship without giving up.  Accept somebody or something that is extremely disagreeable. Survive over a period of time when faced with difficulties.

If you want a candy-coated life with everything sweet and good, everything desirable and right, you will not find that here on earth on any long term basis, you just won't.

Even the closest of the close to Jesus Christ our Savior did NOT lead a life wrapped up in pleasant things. They suffered terribly.

They suffered. They endured pain, they endure hardship, the endured the extremely disagreeable and they survived for a long time confronted with intense difficulties. This is the life of a Christ follower and it's an ENDURANCE way of life.  It is taking all the hardships- and there will be many- and making the best of them by choosing to look towards the prize of life.

A lot of things can be endured when there is hope.

Hope exists whether or not we allow ourselves to believe in that hope. Choosing not to believe in the hope doesn't make that hope disappear. I can't force anyone to believe in the hope of eternal life. I can tell them about the hope and how all of Christ's followers, all of God's chosen patriarchs, prophets and people that held fast to Him and His truth- all of these people lived with the same hope- eternal life in Christ, being at one in agreement with God. Not a single person belonging to God fails to believe in the eternal reward that awaits.

You see, what they choose to believe gives their life the clarity it needs in such a turbulent existence. If we place our hope in ourselves we open ourselves up to extreme disappointment, to utter despair. If we place our hope in Christ we open ourselves up to His life, and He triumphed, He overcame all the darkness and evil of this world that would destroy us. He is the life line we must cling to as we are dragged through hours, days, months, years and years of life on this sin filled earth.

We endure by looking towards the prize, the very prize Christ came and preached about, that was His gospel, His good news that He told everyone about. Salvation from evil through Him. We should NEVER lose sight of the reason our Savior came to save us, it was for eternal life, everlasting life, the ultimate of prizes that not even David, Abraham, or Joseph, not Daniel, John, Matthew or Peter received as of yet. They wait in death's sleep for that glorious day they lived for and they will see that glorious day just as we will!

The hope that is in us allows us to endure the seemingly impossible. And by endure I mean it keeps us as Christ's not as any pillar to today's society, held in esteem by all around us. 

Christ's most beloved apostles and disciples were treated like the scum of the earth and viewed as such by the majority- they held no position in life that made others envious of them, that gave them peace and tranquility from all hardship. Their HOPE their ENDURANCE was found in CHRIST and HIS OFFERED HOPE, the good news, the gospels, salvation.

We will have to endure. If you long to be a Christ follower, you endure. You keep your eyes- spiritual and otherwise on the very real prize that awaits us. You make salvation a reality, so real that you can't even imagine losing sight of that ultimate prize offered to us all.

Endure to the end. The CROWN OF LIFE AWAITS.

Know you will suffer now, it's not something odd, know it and endure!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen!

A Way to Escape.

Temptation.

Temptation is making a choice, it is having things to choose between. You can't be tempted without having at least two things, if not more to choose from. Temptation is an offer. Temptation is an opportunity. We are tempted- offered an opportunity to either do the thing we know is contrary to God's will, or do God's will. Daily temptations will make themselves available to us, we can't escape them. These words - 'lead us not into temptation' are very familiar words from the prayer of Jesus as He instructed the apostles on the form of prayer.

Being led by God we do not want to be caught up in temptations to be led astray. We want to be delivered from evil, not caught up in it. We need God to lead us away from anything that would cause us to despair of His love, of His grace.

So why then does it seem as if we are lead into temptation daily, hourly, minutely? Is God leading us towards these temptations? We are to pray NOT to be led towards temptations yet find ourselves led there, why? What is happening for this to occur?

Jesus prayed this-

Mar 14:35  And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 

Mar 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. 

Jesus wanted His trial to be taken from Him, He did not want to go through what was to come- the horror he knew waiting for Him. He told His Father that ALL things are possible with Him, meaning, it was possible for His Father to prevent what was to come upon Him- the extreme mental, physical, emotional torture. All of it could be avoided if the Father wanted to take the horror away from Him. Jesus KNEW he needn't suffer, yet to fulfil the plan of salvation He submitted to the will of His Father. There was a REASON for His Father allowing the trial, the pain, the agony, and that reason was worth whatever was to come. Jesus trusted the Father, even as the cup remained in His hand to drink from and was not taken from Him.

When we pray not to be led into temptation we are praying that we are able to endure whatever will come our way and that we will prevail through God. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. We don't want to be tempted to stray from God, we want to be delivered from all evil in our lives. And we NEED the FATHER to do this for us, we recognize that we are powerless in the face of our adversary and all his evil ways. The Father is NOT powerless and we run to Him for constant deliverance- trusting that whatever we are called to go through that it is ultimately for our good.  Our good is learning to depend solely upon God, trusting in Him for all things. Our good is learning we are saved by Christ, not by ourselves. Our good is learning to obey the will of God, not our own will. Our good is choosing God over all else, through the Holy Spirit's power. Our good is recognizing the evil from the good and NOT calling evil good, or good evil. Our good is taking up the cross daily comprehending that following our Savior is not going to be having any cups taken from us, but submitting to the will of God.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 

We are NOT tempted above that we are able- we are NOT tempted so much that we are forced to give into the despair Satan wants us to- of ever trusting in God to save us. The failure lies in believing there is no escape, no Savior. As we struggle with our temptations- DAILY- for it is a daily prayer Jesus taught to us- we must believe that the temptation will be overcome if not instantaneously then eventually through unending perseverance in the belief that there is a way to escape so we can bear what is taking place in our lives.

A way to escape. He is the way to escape. He is the choice we must choose. He is the answer. May HIS WILL BE DONE, not ours.

In any temptation we face may we ultimately choose God's will over our own.

All through the love of our LORD GOD THE FATHER, and  all through the LORD SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST,  all through the HOLY SPIRIT now and forever!

AMEN.