James 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord–that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Some time ago, an old mule fell into an abandoned well that was no longer in use. The farmer who owned him tried and tried to pull the mule up out of the well — however, after many attempts, he realized he was not going to be able to rescue his mule. So the farmer decided to solve two problems simultaneously— by burying the mule in the well. Tragic as it was, he would bury the mule alive, and in the process, prevent future accidents of this kind by filling up the well hole.
Taking a shovel, the man began to toss shovel fulls of dirt on the animal to bury him. However, following every toss of soil, the stubborn mule simply shook the dirt clean off his back. This caused the floor beneath him to steadily rise. The relentless farmer continued to shovel, while the stubborn mule persisted in shaking off the annoying dirt. This mutual perseverance eventually raised the mule up to ground level, where he could happily walk out of his impossible predicament…free at last.
We all have, somehow or other, fallen into a hole a time or two. Some of us give up after a few attempts to escape, resigning to a state of imprisonment in our predicament — but this is not God’s intent for our lives. His will is for us to persevere — become stubborn like a mule — fight, kick, and continually toss the dirt off our backs — until we get out of the hole!
Life for many of us can be a series of trials or just one or two seemingly endless ones. But perseverance is an essential quality of true disciples — and as we press in, press through, and press on, deliverance will finally come, often in the most unexpected way. The floor will rise each and every time we shake off the dirt. So take a lesson from a stubborn mule and a relentless farmer. Be tenacious! Don’t let the trials of this life get the better of you — because success is in your spiritual DNA, a sure inheritance from your Savior Yeshua!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]This one of several theophanies found in the Old Testament of the “preincarnate” Yeshua (Jesus). In this story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These three men refused to bow and worship another God besides the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. While they knew that God was able to deliver them, they also knew that He might choose not to do so–and whether He delivered them or not had no influence on their loyalty to Him. These three faithful Hebrews were convinced that idolatry was a non-starter for them, no matter what! Their unquestionable loyalty brought wrath upon their heads. Nebuchadnezzar’s violent rage moved him to increase the furnace fires seven times!
The word “midst”, in the Greek, is ‘meros’ which literally means “the middle”. In the ‘meros’ of the throne in heaven is the Lamb of God. The very focus of heaven — the center of attention — is the Lamb of God!
Judges 6 begins with an angel talking to Gideon saying, “thou mighty man of valor!” However, in this passage Gideon isn’t feeling very valiant — he’s consumed with his circumstances — how poor his family is and how he’s the least of his fathers’ house. He doesn’t feel he’s done anything worthy of being called valiant, yet the angel still addresses him “mighty man of valor!”
Every time I turn on the news it seems the new buzzword is – CHANGE! So how can we just shift gears and change? Let’s learn a lesson about basic automotive mechanics. Generally a car has between 4 and 5 gears. The first gear maximizes power in exchange for speed. As you move through the gears, you can continue to go faster, yet without using any more power, and before you know it – you have to look at the speedometer – cause nobody wants a speeding ticket!
One thing I absolutely love about Israel is that fruit grows everywhere in abundance. Delicious citrus fruit, mango, pomegranate, grapes, cactus fruit, avocado — and much much more! It’s common to see people people pick and eat it as they walk by. And it doesn’t taste like your average western fruit either. It seems to be especially sweet. It must be because God has blessed the land it’s grown upon!
Sometimes it’s very difficult to rejoice in trials – especially when the trials affect ministry! Last week, one of our servers had a database server collapse, but after several days of work, the server is now back online. Although the damage was minimal, the time needed to spend researching the issue and then rebuilding the databases took days.
Reading the gospels I find myself considering and identifying with the very human experiences and emotions of the Apostles, especially as the pace and intensity of the events of their lives with Yeshua were unprecedented. I have to wonder if the pace and intensity of the days of our lives can compete with theirs. Witnessing His miracles, His authoritative and concise way of teaching, His inevitable rejection, torture and crucifixion, His astounding exuberant resurrection, and eventual returning flight to Heaven from whence He came…all this must have had a rather relentless effect upon those who walked in any way closely with Him. Would it be fair to compare our present day scientific and technical accomplishments, political gymnastics, information explosion, pandemics, media magic, and the plethora of personal events, encounters and challenges, with their apostolic roller coaster ride?