Tag endurance

We Gotta have GRIT

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you’re going to Endure You Gotta have Grit.

“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”  (James 5:11)

Endurance is a highly favored quality of mankind. It is most often associated with success despite difficulty or pain. We praise endurance because of the win that usually follows.

Endurance is necessary to our survival, and essential for our salvation. “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matt 10:22).

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev 3:10; cf Jas 1:12).

GRIT is another description of endurance. It is having a firmness of character; an unconquerable spirit. We gotta have GRIT, but how do we get us some?

The Hebrew writer in chapter 12, a chapter about endurance, gives us 4 keys on how to get GRIT.

[12] Therefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees,

[13] and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.

[14] Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,

[15] looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Key #1 is GET UP AND GO.

“Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Heb 12:12). This is a command for us to get busy working on strength building.

When Elijah was facing persecution, God told him to GO. “And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1Kings 19:9). “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria” (19:15).

Key #1 is GET UP AND GO.

Key #2 is to READ the Bible with a focus on the New Testament.

“…and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed” (Heb 12:13). The straight path for our feet is found through the illumination of the word of God, consider Psalm 119:105… “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Key #2 is READ the Bible with a focus on the New Testament.

Key #3 is to be INTERESTED in and pursue peace with people.

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” (Heb 12:14). We can endure longer when we stop making enemies.

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Rom 12:18). “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, [2] for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1Tim 2:1-2).

Key #3 is to be INTERESTED in and pursue peace with people.

Key #4 is to look and TEST everything people are teaching.

“…looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Heb 12:15). Looking diligently is about searching out the truth, proving it, and applying it to our lives.

Paul wrote; “Test all things; hold fast to that which is good” (1Thess 5:21). We must be on guard against error and false teachers. “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you…” (2Pet 2:1a). We’ll gain more endurance as we clear away errors and false teachers.

Key #4 is to look and TEST everything people are teaching.

Summary:

Key #1 is GET UP AND GO. Strengthen the hanging hands.

Key #2 is to READ the Bible to shine a light on your path.

Key #3 is to be INTERESTED in and pursue peace with people.

Key #4 is to look diligently and TEST everything people are teaching.

Agape,

Spencer

Hebrews 12; developing GRIT

The Preacher 1 Comment

Hebrews 12:12-15 provides a great formula for developing Endurance (GRIT).

Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;

Get Busy Working. cf. Eph 4:28

13 and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.

Read, Apply Psalm 119:105; Prov 6:23

14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:

Increase in Love. 1Thess 3:1-12; 1Tim 2:1-8

15 looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled;

Test all things. 1Thess 5:21

Along with it the writer provides a warner for lacking endurance.

LEST…

Turned away,

Healed,

No man will see the Lord,

falleth short,

bitterness to trouble you,

Defiled.

for an overview of the book of Hebrews.

Never Growing Weary

The Preacher Leave a comment

Years ago, four of us hiked the Brooks-Range in search of Dall Sheep in Alaska. For 3 days under the midnight sun, we hiked the mountain sides with full packs loaded with supplies nearly has heavy as my 130# self. It was excruciating yet exhilarating all at the same time. I had little experience with that level of exhaustion that came partly from the exertion and partly from the altitude. Each night as we bedded down from our 16-18-hour exercise, we looked forward to what we might find on the next. It’s a memory that remains vivid some 34 years later.

Have you ever noticed that there are different kinds of tired? There’s the kind of tired that comes when you hate what you’re doing, and the kind of tired that fulfills you when you’re doing something you love. There’s some sort of psychological cause behind the fact that a person will take himself to the breaking point when he is engaged in the activities he loves (hiking the mountains of Alaska) and is exhausted with much less effort in the thing he despises (splitting logs for the wood stove at home, a chore I wish to forget). We need no more illustrations for every person can see this upon examination of his own life.

The Holy Spirit knows this about us, that we can endure great hardships where faith, hope and love abide. He inspired Paul to write in Galatians 6:9:

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

When we are directing our physical bodies toward the hope that we love, the joy of this gives the body energy to make the work seem light. In our love for Jesus we can experience the feeling He described in Matthew 11:30;

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Think hard about this principle, for it will be profitable to you. Every activity with which we engage our physical bodies that is out of force, fear or necessity and does not arise out of love and service is immediately met with resistance from within and produces loss of energy resulting in a tired body and mind.

Seldom do we complain of fatigue about long nights spent in play but be asked to work night shift and suddenly the head can’t wait to hit the pillow. What do we learn from this? That one will endure any hardship if he loves the reason that he does the work. Money doesn’t give endurance, the real pay comes out of the love to serve our Savior, Christ Jesus. Force can win for a while, but love will give us the strength to endure. And love Him we must, for without it we shall miss the peace and joy that comes from above.

God gives us plenty of reminders, in His word, that we can endure hardships, face persecutions and afflictions that come from living an obedient life in Christ. For He is with us and has provided us a hope, a reward in Heaven. [cr Heb 11:6]

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Mt 24:13]

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” [1Cor 15:58]

Christ doesn’t expect us to endure anything He Himself hasn’t already done. He led the way through the example of His own suffering for our sake; “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” [Heb 12:3]

We can do it, endure this life with unlimited energy, when we continually remind ourselves of our primary love and service to our Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Rewarder Christ Jesus.

“be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” [Rev 2:10b]