Perseverance in the Faith

Continue in the faith. (Acts 14:22)

Enjoy this encouraging devotional about perseverance by Charles Spurgeon:

Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napolean: he said, "Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me." So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, "Excelsior." He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continueth till war's trumpet is blown no more. 


Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory. "It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare." 


Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, "Curse God, and die." Or he will attack your steadfastness: "What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do." Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: "Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times." Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by his Spirit you may endure to the end.

Quick Praise (Ps. 27:14)

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! 

(Psalm 27:14 NKJV)

Cheer up! God gives strength to those who place their hope in Him.

Quick Praise (Ps. 65:1)

Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed. (Psalm 65:1 NKJV)

Vow to express to God alone the praise that awaits Him in your heart!

God is Seeking Worshippers

This is an excerpt from the book Called to Worship--The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call by Vernon M. Whaley.

IT WAS ABOUT NOON, AND HE SAT DOWN BY A WELL, TO REST.

Enter, a Samaritan woman. Jesus asked for water. He was seeking. The woman was seeking too.

Jesus knew her: her history, suspicions, questions, fears. He also knew her needs--and how to meet them. A life of failure, of disappointment--perhaps even abuse--had left her hard, bitter--and very thirsty.

Jesus could quench her thirst. And he told her so.

But the woman was incredulous. She had already tried drinking from the wells of tradition, failed relationships, religion, and sexual promiscuity. Sadly, she'd discovered that water from those sources did not satisfy. Yet this man--what was His name?--was presenting a different type of water, and with it, hope.

What was that He had said? "You'll never thirst again"? Jesus was offering something more, something eternal--that would fulfill this woman's deepest yearnings and heal the hurts in her heart. He was offering a relationship with God--through worship.

The Samaritan woman's perception of God--her "theology"--was a half-breed mix of Hebrew doctrine and the pantheism of the cultures around her. "You Samaritans worship something you do not understand," Jesus told her (John 4:22 NCV). But desperate to bring her to understanding, He said, "[My] Father...is actively seeking...people to worship him" (v. 24 NCV, emphasis added).

The Father was seeking her.



GOD IS SEEKING WORSHIPPERS!

As I sat outside of my cabin at Camp NaCoMe, Bible in hand, I breathed in the smell of frying bacon and gazed toward the eastern horizon. A picturesque sunrise flaunted stunning reds, oranges, and ambers. Wow, I thought. God has really outdone Himself.

Opening by Bible, I glanced down at John 4--and saw it for the first time: "The Father is actively seeking..."

Hmm...

I knew God loved me. He had forgiven me, saved me, healed me, and called me into ministry. But seeking me?

Suddenly, I "got it." This was one of those "aha" moments you hear about. God is in pursuit, I thought. Of ME!


I know what you're thinking. "Do you mean to tell me that God is actually pursuing me as a worshipper?"

Yes. Actively.

The Bible tells us that "the eyes of the Lord are always upon [us]" (Deut. 11:12 KJV), and as He watches, His spirit is ever at work, moving, convicting, suggesting, calling. And today, God is calling  men and women, boys and girls, from every race and culture. He's calling the professional and the laborer. He's calling me--and He's calling you--to worship Him.

Whatever's Worth Most

This is an excerpt from Louie Giglio's book: The Air I Breathe--Worship As a Way of Life

Think of it this way: Worship is simply about value. The simplest definition I can give is this: Worship is our response to what we value most.

That's why worship is that thing we all do. It's what we're all about on any given day. Because worship is about saying, "This person, this thing, this experience (this whatever) is what matters most to me...it's the thing I put first in my life."

That "thing" might be a relationship. A dream. Friends. Status. Stuff. A name. Some kind of pleasure. Whatever name you put on it, this thing or person is what you've concluded in your heart is worth most to you. And whatever is worth most to you is--you guessed it--what you worship.

Worship tells us what we value most. As a result, worship determines our actions, becoming the driving force for all we do.

And we're not just talking about the religious crowd. Christians. The churchgoer among us. We're talking about everybody on planet earth....a multitude of souls proclaiming with every breath what is worthy of their affection, their attention, their allegiance. Proclaiming with every step what it is they worship.

Some of us attend the church on the corner, professing to worship the Living God above all. Others who rarely step inside the church doors would say worship isn't a part of their lives because they aren't "religious." But everybody has an altar. And every altar has a throne.

So how do you know where and what you worship? It's easy. You simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money, and your loyalty. At the end of that trail you'll find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what's of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship.

Sure, not too many of us walk around saying, "I worship my stuff. I worship my Xbox. I worship my job. I worship this pleasure. I worship her. I worship my body. I worship me!"

But the trail never lies. We may say we value this thing or that thing more than any other, but the volume of our actions speaks louder than our words.

In the end, our worship is more about what we do than what we say.

Dwelling in Him

We dwell in him. (1 John 4:13)

Here's another devotional by Charles Spurgeon:

Do you want a house for your soul? Do you ask, "What is the purchase?" It is something less than proud human nature will like to give. It is without money and without price. Ah! you would like to pay a respectable rent! You would love to do something to win Christ? Then you cannot have the house, for it is "without price." Will you take my Master's house on a lease for all eternity, with nothing to pay for it, nothing but the ground-rent of loving and serving him for ever? Will you take Jesus and "dwell in him?" See, this house is furnished with all you want, it is filled with riches more than you will spend as long as you live. Here you can have intimate communion with Christ and feast on his love; here are tables well-stored with food for you to live on for ever; in it, when weary, you can find rest with Jesus; and from it you can look out and see heaven itself. Will you have the house? Ah! if you are houseless, you will say, "I should like to have the house; but may I have it?" Yes; there is the key--the key is, "Come to Jesus."

"But," you say, "I am too shabby for such a house." Never mind; there are garments inside. If you feel guilty and condemned, come; and though the house is too good for you, Christ will make you good enough for the house by-and-by. He will wash you and cleanse you, and you will yet be able to sing, "We dwell in him." Believer: thrice happy art thou to have such a dwelling-place! Greatly privileged thou art, for thou hast a "strong habitation" in which thou art ever safe. And "dwelling in him," thou hast not only a perfect and secure house, but an everlasting one. When this world shall have melted like a dream, our house shall live, and stand more imperishable than marble, more solid than granite, self-existent as God, for it is God himself--"We dwell in him."

Quick Praise (Ps. 112:1)

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.
(Psalm 112:1 NKJV)

Like blessings? Then revere the Lord and strive to live by His Word.

Amos

Come back to the Lord and live! If you don't, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. (Amos 5:6 NLT)

The following is a worship profile of Amos from the Praise and Worship Study Bible from Tyndale House. It is a fantastic study Bible for all who want to learn more about biblical praise and worship.

Few people enjoy hearing the words of prophets, especially when the message they bring bears gloomy tidings. And among these prophets of doom, few delivered as cheerless an oracle as Amos proclaimed. Nearly every chapter in Amos's prophecy discloses a fearful scene of destruction. Amos's warning of God's destruction went out to all who rebelled against God, from the defiant leaders of surrounding nations to the disobedient people of Israel and Judah, for he had little concern for public opinion. Yet even Amos, like the other prophets, concluded his book with a message of hope: One day God will restore his people once again, and they will live in peace.

Amos the Worshiper

Amos recognized that disobedience and injustice warrant harsh judgment from the Lord (Amos 2:4-8).

Like many of the prophets, Amos understood that the day of the Lord is coming and should be taken seriously (5:18).

Amos's message ends with a vision of restoration that holds out promise for the faithful (9:11-15).

Learning from Amos

Belonging to God's covenant people brings solemn responsibilities. We who know God will be judged more severely if we know what is right and do not do it (3:2).

Like the sacrifices offered at the illegitimate altars of Bethel and Gilgal, worship means nothing if it is not performed sincerely and in a manner that pleases God (4:4-5).

Surely one of the worst plagues that can befall humans is the absence of God's words (8:11). Our worship together must regularly and faithfully proclaim God's Word.

Following the Example

God's abhorrence of insincere worship repeatedly appears in Scripture. How can we keep false worship from gaining a foothold in our life? We can examine our heart when we worship individually or with others. Do we truly listen to God during these times? Do we seek to glorify God in our life and worship, or do we do things for our own glory? We must seek to honor the Lord in all facets of our life, not just during special times set aside for prayer or Bible study.