Luke 21:19 By your patience possess your souls NKJV
By your endurance you will gain your lives ESV


This is a strong statement and not to be taken lightly. Though we don't earn our salvation by our endurance, we will be required to persevere through extremely tough times. The surrounding context talks about being killed or thrown in prison or betrayed by family for His name sake and truth is I may or may not face all of that, but one thing is for sure I will face hard times, my faith will be tested. There will be days where I just want to quit, where I may be down right tired not wanting to press on and honestly in these past few weeks there have been time where I just wanted to give up but there's something inside that tells me I'm not going to quit and I don't believe it's by my strength that I'm still here today. Ephesians 6:10 tells us to be strong in the Lord and in the Power of His Might. Telling us to put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to withstand in the evil day. One of the pastors that spent time with us used the events of the fiery furnace in Daniel 3 as an awesome example of what it is to withstand in a time of persecution. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego took a stand for the Lord, and for it they got cast into a fiery furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar made an excellent observation after realizing he only threw three men into said furnace:  Daniel 3:25 "Look!" He answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" The point was driven home that in our trials, when we withstand, and stand firm, when we are strong in the Power of His might, people will be able to see Jesus in those times through our perseverance and the thought of that is what will propel me when hard times strike.


Today, I will pray with my roommate and ask that the Lord will give us strength to press on.

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