Featured Image: steep, rocky path. Journey of faith requires persistence, courage, and focus.
It is better to fail in an attempt to exercise faith than to let it lie dormant and fruitless.
God never belittles those who attempt to follow Him, but He does chasten those who refuse to attempt anything for Him.
Source: James by Kent Hughes, copyright 1991, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, p. 259, http://www.crosswaybooks.org.
God calls us to persevere in our trust in Him. God’s Word encourages us to press ahead in our trying times.
Perseverance: Scripture
Rejoicing in Trials: James 1 Berean Standard Bible
Rejoicing in Trials
(Philippians 1:12–20)
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Testing and difficulties in our faith journey leads us to develop perseverance. Perseverance leads to growth and maturity in Christ.
Commentary from Got Questions:
“The sense here is that the Christian who perseveres in godliness and the spiritual disciplines will be blessed in the very act of persevering. The more we persevere in the Christian life, the more God grants His blessings upon us, thereby enabling us to continue to persevere. The psalmist reminds us that there is great reward in persevering in the Christian life. In keeping God’s commandments, there is “great reward” for our souls (Psalm 19:11), peace of mind, a clear conscience, and a witness to the world more eloquent than many words.”
Source:https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-perseverance.html
God blesses us enabling us to persevere in our journeys of faith! We are empowered to answer His call to righteous and holy living through the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. It’s not about living through self or “religious” rules!
All believers are pilgrims on a path in life. We all carry burdens and need wisdom and hope to keep pressing ahead.
The Wonderful Seal of Holy Spirit: Ephesians 1
13And in Him (Jesus Christ), having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
So it is through the Holy Spirit and His teachings and guiding power that we are sealed and confirmed until the day of redemption, complete and free from the corruption of sin and the grave.
Because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we can live joyfully, confident of our sure place in a future that holds unimaginable glories.
Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/Holy-Spirit-seal.html
Patient in Suffering
James 5:7-10
Patience in Suffering
(Job 1:1–5)
7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. 8You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
James encourages us to be patient knowing that Christ is coming back! James uses the example of a farmer who plants seeds trusting in the process of growth and the seasonal rains of the ancient near east. As we wait patiently, he advises us to strengthen our hearts and refrain from complaining. He then uses the example of the Old Testament prophets.
10Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
Commentary
“James also exhorts us to persevere “under trials” because those who do will be blessed and will receive the “crown of life” which God has promised (James 1:12). Just as the true believer will be eternally secure in his salvation, his faith will also persevere in affliction, sickness, persecution, and the other trials of life that befall all believers. If we desire to live godly lives in Christ, we will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), but the faithful will persevere, kept by the power of the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our salvation and who will keep us “strong to the end,” persevering so we will be “blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8).”
Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-perseverance.html
Jesus walking toward the weary pilgrim in a desolate place.
Faith, hope, and charity (love)
Pope Benedict XIV God Is Love (Deus caritas est) Papal Encyclical
Benedict explains how faith, hope, and love work together in our faith journey.
“Faith, hope and charity go together. Hope is practiced through the virtue of patience, which continues to do good even in the face of apparent failure, and through the virtue of humility, which accepts God’s mystery and trusts him even at times of darkness. Faith tells us that God has given his Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true: God is love!”
Commentary:
The three virtues of faith, hope, and love work together. God’s ways are beyond our understanding (mystery). This mystery includes the numerous “whys” of the things that we experience in our lives that we can’t explain, but endure and persevere. Faith reminds us of Christ’s victory!
Faith Transforms and A Sure Hope
“It thus transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in his hands and that, as the dramatic imagery of the end of the Book of Revelation points out, in spite of all darkness he ultimately triumphs in glory. Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love.
“Love is the light — and in the end, the only light — that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God.”
Source for quotes: Deus caritas est
Words of Grace & Hope 
This was powerful right from the opening lines. It spoke volumes to my heart!!
Thanks Lee
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