Enduring Through Establishing

Good morning from beautiful Fayetteville, NC. I trust that you will have a wonderful Lord's Day.

Enduring through Establishing (James 5:8)

"You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

All of us know living the Christian life isn't for sissies. We don't see words like "persevere" and "endure" in Scripture just for the fun of it. Jesus spoke of hardship and suffering as though both go with walking with Him. Both Old and New Testament writers knew of and wrote about the hardship of living righteously in an unrighteous world.

So, how do we do it? How do men and women who love Jesus consistently live above the downward pull of the world? All of us know about prayer, Bible reading, accountability and many of the spiritual disciplines.

They help us along the way, and we should include many of them in our daily living. Living successfully for Jesus requires more than the outward works, however. We need the right attitude.

James caught my attention earlier this week with these words from chapter 5, verse 8. In this verse and the one before it, James urges us to patience-endurance. You've probably heard it before, but it's worth repeating. The Christian life is a marathon, not the 100 meter dash.
It requires endurance, patience and a grasp of the big picture. It's easy to say, "You need patience. You need endurance." James tells us how to develop the attitude that allows us to run the marathon. It comes to us in the second sentence of verse 8.

"Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." We develop an attitude of patient endurance by establishing our hearts. This "establishment clause" brings us to the things we can do, things like reading and studying scripture, praying regularly, pursuing spiritual disciplines like fasting, journaling, solitude and service.

Just like a runner builds the endurance for the marathon by disciplined training, men and women who pursue freedom in Christ must discover the importance of discipline. Spiritual disciplines are the stuff that establish our hearts while we wait for Jesus' return.

I have two questions for you to ponder this week. First, what is your endurance level in all things Christian? Second, what are you doing to establish your heart? Your answer to the second question will provide the answer to the first one.

Establish your heart in the things of Christ. It's the way we develop patient endurance while we wait for Jesus! - John Strain is our weekend Freedom Fighter contributor and Senior Pastor of First Baptist Toms River

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 21; Ecclesiastes 7-9; 2 Corinthians 13

Great Quote: God is there to meet you in the centre of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets, which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver. -- E. A. Kilbourne

PLEASE NOTE: Bernie Bostwick, Ambassador Advisors, will be sharing the next seven Freedom Fighters on the subject of stewardship. It is interesting that he wrote these prior to the economic issues we are currently facing as a nation.