Promises for the Battle
Perseverance
I Was Just Thinking … About the Certainty of Perseverance
God’s Word teaches that throughout life, the Christian is engaged in a warfare with the powers of sin and darkness. With each of us, Satan’s objective is to destroy our confidence in Christ so that we will despair and stop following him. We know that this is Satan’s objective from 1 Thessalonians 3:5, where Paul … Continue reading
Sustenance #4—Sustained Rescue
The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and deliver me to his heavenly kingdom; to him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 2 Timothy 4:18 At the end of his life, the Apostle Paul knew he could trust Jesus to keep him going, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. When … Continue reading
Trials #5—Praying Perseverance
Stay awake and pray, so that you will not engage in testing God. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38 When God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, he did not do it quietly. He executed judgment on the Egyptians in a way that left no doubt in anyone’s … Continue reading
Trials #2—Available Escape
No test has ever come upon you but such as is common to humanity. And God is faithful: He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability, but with the trial will also provide the way of escape, so that you will be able to endure. For this very reason, my beloved, flee … Continue reading
God’s Presence #3—Present In Persecution
Joseph had been taken down to Egypt … and I AM was with Joseph. Genesis 39:1–2 Where we are in life, physically or existentially, is infinitely less important than who is with us while we’re there. Paradise becomes perdition if we’re in a “Garden of Eden” accompanied by an enemy. If we feel captive in … Continue reading
God’s Presence #1—Present For Victory
In one sense we can never escape the presence of God: “In him we live and move and exist.” “Where can I flee from your presence?” is a rhetorical question implying a negative answer. But God’s promises to be present in an actively helpful sense are legion and were given to motivate our resolve to … Continue reading
Godliness #4—Sustained Godliness
Yahweh kills and preserves alive; he brings down to the grave and he raises up. Yahweh impoverishes and makes wealthy; he humbles and he exalts. He will watch over his godly ones, but the wicked he will silence in terror; for “it is not by might that a person prevails.” 1 Samuel 2:6–7, 9 Solomon … Continue reading
Courage #1—Peaceful Courage
When the unbelief of anxiety abounds in our hearts, it kills the courage to think and act righteously in the world. Because this fearful way of anticipating the future is so easy to achieve, God’s spokesmen remind us more than 100 times to be courageous rather than anxious. Rather than just exhort us, they also … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … About Strength Through Adversity
Sometimes evangelists, in our desire to see people turn to Christ, lay such emphasis on the blessings believers will experience that converts may enter the Christian life without being fully aware of the suffering it necessarily involves. One significant emphasis in the apostles’ message to new Christians, however, was that they will indeed suffer. As … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … About Holding Fast to the Resurrection
The Apostle Paul writes: You are saved by the gospel if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I received: (1) Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; (2) he was buried; (3) he was … Continue reading
Promises for the Battle 