Tag: perseverance

YOU are a Disciple

[cross-posted to www.stepforwardtoday.com]

Whatever your age, circumstances, etc., if Jesus is your Savior, you are the next generation of Apostles. You are a Disciple of Christ. Just as Jesus prayed for all Believers in John 17 (reference below), He has prayed for you now:

Verse 20 “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.”

Jesus is praying for all new Believers that will hear the Gospel Message. And how will they hear this message? Through YOU, through me, and countless Believers as we share the Good News of Jesus Christ and His saving work on the cross – a message spread as far as God gives us reach.

Another part of this prayer that struck me was verse 24, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

Jesus longs for us to be with Him. Do you long to be with Him too? Does your heart ache for a dying world?

May we have that same love and longing for our families, our neighbors, our co-workers and people all over the world as we seek to live our calling as the next generation of Disciples.

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John 17 – Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

persevering

“…But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by PERSEVERING produce a crop.” – Luke 8:15, emphasis added

Did you notice the key: “by PERSEVERING produce a crop”?

Let’s take a look Webster’s definition of the root word ‘persevere’:
1. to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult
2. to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement

If we look at the Greek root from the Strong’s reference, the word for perseverance is “hupomone” (pronounced hoop-om-an-ay). Hupomone can be broken into 2 parts: Hypo=under and Meno=remain, endure. The full definition is “endurance; steadfastness, especially as God enables the believer to “remain (endure) under” the challenges He allots in life.”

As Christians, we have a responsibility to not just hear the Word of God casually and go about our business, but to RETAIN the Word and live out the teachings of the Word, regardless of our circumstances; to persevere in the difficult times when we feel discouraged, disliked, maligned in some way, frustrated, faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, etc.

God did not promise us our journey would be easy. Instead, He said “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

[Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” ]

[Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”]