Endurance For The Long Haul

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Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1:12 NKJV

... we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 ESV

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The walk of a Christian is not like an ease of a shooting star flash but rather it is an endurance race. The race of our Christian faith may encounter many moments of discouragement, faintness of strength and the temptation to eject from the race and 'take a break'. But in Christ, through our salvation, we have the provision of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is now our strength to overcome and our ability to press through a hard moment and not give up.

As Christians we have been given the guarantee of the Holy Spirit to ensure that we outlast every attack of the enemy and even every weakness of our flesh. Regardless of the life situation that we find ourselves in, we have the constancy of the help of the Holy Spirit. He has been given to us to lead us in all truth and in the perfect will of God for our lives. Jesus said that our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is the Spirit of truth who will abide with us forever and will dwell in us (John 14:16-18). Today take comfort that you have the supernatural help of God's Spirit and He has equipped you to withstand every storm of life. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is not just to take you through the tough times of life, but He is, above all, given to us to conform us to Jesus, the Son of God (Romans 8:29). Jesus has been raised far above all that is in this world and together with Him we too have been raised to this place of authority in Christ. In our new creation as children of God we have the grace to never be under a worldly moment, but to dominate every moment through the love of God that never fails.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV)

In Christ we are made for the long haul - to persevere through all trouble and to stand unmoved in the victory of our salvation. We are in all things more than conquerors and are to daily remind ourselves that the One that has overcome this world lives in us.

Today press through your moment and demonstrate the endurance of the Holy Spirit in you!