Category Archives: Perseverance

Abundance, Bible, Perseverance, Scripture, Strength

STRONG HANDS

ZECHARIAH 8:9

“‘The LORD of armies says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of armies was laid, so that the temple might be built.”’”

I never met my great grandfather, Mack Willis. He died long before I was born. My dad told me that he could take an 8-penny nail (which is about 2 ½ inches long) and bend it only using his middle finger and thumb. That’s a strong hand. My dad said you never wanted to get caught by that hand, lol.

The Lord was referring to the people’s hand strength somewhat in today’s verse. He was saying that they needed to finish what they had started – building the temple. Haggai had begun to exhort the people, and Zechariah was continuing that. They were going to need strong hands to continue the work. Stone and timbers must be laid. It was going to be hard work and take time, but they could do it with the Lord’s help.

APPLICATION

What task has the Lord given you that requires you to have “strong hands”? What task do you need to complete? As believers, we have all been called by God to do His work. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” The Greek word for “workman” literally means someone who toils or labors.

No one ever said serving God would be a simple task, but it’s so rewarding. I don’t mean monetarily. The rewards we receive for a job well done all go back to the One who gave them. We work to glorify Him. Just as the laborers on the temple gave all the glory to God, we do the same as we labor in His service.

I know my task is to grow men into disciple makers. I have been charged by God to train men to be leaders in countries so they can change their culture for Christ. What a glorious task He has given me. I thank God for the privilege. Do I get tired sometime? You had better believe. It is during those times that I pray for strong hands to continue the labor.

Oh, praise You, Lord, for the gift of strength for the task at hand. The fields are white for the harvest.

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Accountability, Bible, Blameless, Conviction, Discipline, God's Will, Modeling, Obedience, Perseverance, Scripture

ACCURATE

ZECHARIAH 1:7

“On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows:” 

For many years I oversaw the Quality Assurance programs for the children’s homes ministries where I served. You have to be kind of accurate when you do that. Many times funding sources depended on the accuracy of my data. I enjoyed that work and learned little secrets to keeping accurate data. Those who worked with me knew I expected them to work with excellence. That’s what the Lord expects from us.

So, when I read today’s verse in Zechariah, I thought to myself that God wanted Zechariah to make sure he was accurate in putting down this information. When you read the verse, you may wonder how this applies to you. Well, I go back to our basic premise about Scripture – every word is inspired by God. Therefore, it was important to Him that the twenty-fourth day of Shebat in Darius’ second year be noted. Don’t miss that.

APPLICATION

Application time! How accurate are you? What do you let slide in your walk with Christ? I am not saying you need to be legalistic and do things out of rote habit. No! What I am saying is you need to do everything you do with excellence. Immediately, I think of Colossians 3:23-24. “23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, 24 knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

Did you catch that? It is the Lord Christ whom you serve! You do not represent just your family, your employer or your church. You represent Jesus. I promise if you are working to please Him, everything else will be covered. If there are things you are doing to “cut corners,” examine them. Don’t do anything that would reflect bad on our Lord.

My dad always taught me to do things right the first time. I watched him meticulously hang wallpaper and wall murals. He would painstakingly smooth out every wrinkle and make sure the pattern was matched perfectly. I want to do the same with my life. I want my life to match up perfectly with Jesus. I want to show others how to live their lives surrendered to Him. And you?

Thank You, Lord, for showing me how to walk perfectly on this earth. Help me model Your lifestyle to others.

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Abiding, Bible, Disciplemaking, Following, Perseverance, Prayer, Rescue, Safety, Scripture

WHAT DO YOU DO IN A STORM?

JONAH 1:11

“So they said to him, ‘What should we do to you so that the sea will become calm for us?’—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.”

Our family lived in Lakeland, Florida for several years and had the grand experience of several hurricanes. It’s funny how you react to those things. For the first storm, we followed all the precautions and had our little hurricane kit ready. By the time we went through our seventh or eighth, we hardly paid them any attention. But storms need to be heeded.

The sailors now know that Jonah is the cause of this storm. His God, Jehovah, has stirred up the waves and wind. So, naturally they assumed Jonah had the answer to quiet the storm. This God of Jonah’s could surely stop it as fast as He started it.

APPLICATION

God will allow storms in our lives to get our attention. How long those storms last depend on our response to Him. Have you been a storm a long time? Maybe you need to stop and look at what God is trying to teach you. Are the winds ripping at you every hour? Turn to Him and ask Him what it is He wants you to do.

There really isn’t any other way to respond to storms in our lives. Remember, everything that touches you as a child of God goes through His hands first. That storm that seems to never cease has passed through His approval. That may sound horrible, but it isn’t. Those storms are meant to drive you to your knees where you are the closest to Him.

It is so true in my life that I never feel as tall spiritually as I do when I’m on my knees. Prayer is like a fresh breath. It invigorates you and energizes you. And when I am in prayer during a storm, I feel His presence. I know He is right there with me. Join me.

I don’t like the storms, Lord, but I trust You in them. I know You have not lost sight of me even in the tallest waves.

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Accountability, Affliction, Bible, Death, Judgment, Perseverance, Praise

ONLY TEN?

AMOS 6:9

“And it will be, if ten men are left in one house, they will die.”

When I read this verse, I immediately thought back to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you remember that story? The angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him He was about to destroy those cities because of their wickedness. Abraham finally asks him would He destroy them if just ten righteous men were found there. I just wonder if Amos is thinking of this same story.

But here in verse 9 of Amos 6, Amos turns it around and says God is going to destroy them no matter the number. Ten men may be all that’s left in a house, but they will die. God’s mercy has come to an end right here. All the wicked and disobedient must come before the Lord and face their judgment.

APPLICATION

Don’t be in that ten! Don’t push God’s mercy. He will, at some point, make you accountable for your sins. I bet those ten never thought they face death or exile. But here it is. We too must face it. Don’t let it get to this point. Repent!

We may think we are getting away with sin. We haven’t been caught in the act. We are sneaky. But sin has a way of manifesting itself. Before you know it, we incorporate that sinful pattern into our lives. We may hide it for a lifetime, but it will be exposed.

I come before the Lord each morning and confess my sins. Notice I said sins and not sin. I pray for forgiveness and ask for direction. It should come as no surprise that I do that. I am in this world, just like you. I pray that all my sin(s) are unintentional. But sin is sin. It all needs to be repented. 

Lord God, forgive me when I have fallen. Pick me up and give me a new heart.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Blessing, Commands, Destruction, Direction, Drought, God's Will, Judgment, Obedience, Perseverance, Refreshing, Scripture

WET OR DRY

AMOS 4:7

“‘Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city, but on another city I would not send rain; one part would be rained on, while the part not rained on would dry up.’”

I can remember as a young boy one day when we had a strange rainstorm at my house. Our house set toward the back of a two acre lot. It was summer and so hot outside. A storm blew up, but then it happened. It rained like crazy in our front yard, but not a drop in the back yard. Really weird!

God is reminding Israel of His selective wet and dry choices. Withholding rain three months from harvest was devastating. The crops would not mature and there would be a crop failure. Drought was there in part of the country and not in others. God truly could control their very livelihoods with rain or no rain.

APPLICATION

Are you in a drought right now? Has your prayer life dried up? We can feel that way. Sometimes it feels like our prayers don’t get past the ceiling. Why is that? Usually, it’s because we have stopped spending time in His Word. We have stopped spending time in worship. We have lost our ability to communicate.

But all that’s an easy fix. Get in the Word. Get back in church. The internet will not meet your spiritual needs. You need other believers in your life. And then spend some concentrated, dedicated time with the Lord listening to what He wants to tell you.

My problem is I like to do a lot of talking during my prayer time. I need to listen more. I need to hear His voice. I can’t follow directions I never hear. I am committed to listening more. I want to hear those commands. His voice is always loving and draws me to His safe embrace. So, if you’re feeling dry, try getting wet.

Father, I praise You for sending Your rains in my life. Showers of blessing, showers of blessing I need.

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Abiding, Accountability, Advice, Bible, Commands, Commitment, Disciplemaking, Discipline, Following, Invisible, Leading, Modeling, Order, Perseverance, Scripture, Soldiers

FOCUSED

JOEL 2:8

“They do not crowd each other, every warrior of them marches in his path; when they burst through the defenses, they do not break ranks.”

Staying focused on a task is important. Most people today are so unfocused. They live by ten seconds snippets. Instagram and Tik Tok have altered the way we look at life. We are accustomed to those short pieces of life. We don’t have the discipline to focus on something longer than a few seconds. We are missing so much, even though we have so much more.

These locusts Joel is describing are focused. They have one purpose – to eat everything in sight. Nothing deters them from their task. They are determined to eat, eat, eat. They fly and crawl only to eat. We can learn something from them. God has given these locusts a task to perform, and they are determined to accomplish it.

APPLICATION

Do you have a laser focus on God? I mean, are you so focused on Him that others call you fanatical? Most of us don’t. But we should be. We need to be so dialed in on God that all that we do is related to Him. After all, if we are believers, all we do should be about Him. God’s will for our lives is for us to give Him glory. All we do and say should be focused on Him.

Most of us consider God as an afterthought. When things get bad, we turn to Him. When tragedy strikes we call on Him. We just celebrated the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I can vividly remember our nation turning to God after that. Churches were full. Services were held in our capitol. Prayer vigils were going on all over the country. Twenty years later people have forgotten who got them through it. It wasn’t the government. It was our Lord.

I have become so focused on God and His Word that others look at me as strange. When I talk about the importance of memorizing Scripture, I get these weird looks from people. God desires us all to be “crazy” about Him. Every aspect of our lives belongs to Him. When we finally realize that, it all begins to make sense. Let me urge you today to set your sights on God alone and trust Him to lead and guide you each day.

I am so thankful that I have learned to focus on You. Guard my sight, O Lord, from distractions.

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Abiding, Advice, Battles, Bible, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Modeling, Perseverance, Scripture, Trials

PALE FACES

JOEL 2:6

“Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale.”

Some people are paler than others. That’s just a fact, right? But others can become super pale when frightened or in pain. Have you ever heard the expression “you look as pale as a ghost”? Now, that’s pretty pale. I have visited people in the hospital who looked like that. They looked as pale as the sheets on their bed.

The Hebrew words for the phrase “turn pale” literally mean drained of color. The people were in so much pain, so much anguish, they were drained of color. They were writhing in pain. The locust swarms that had come upon them had them to this point. They could see all their crops and produce being annihilated, and they were helpless to do anything about it.

APPLICATION

So, what do you do when this happens? What do you do when you find yourself in anguish? There’s only one thing to do. You turn to Jesus. We live in a fallen world. We have to deal with that. And sometimes the Lord allows things in our lives that will drive us to Him. We may not understand at the time, but He is there with us.

The next time you find yourself in one of these situations, stop and ask the Lord what He is trying to teach you. What lesson does He want you to learn? When we approach these times like that, we can learn so much about ourselves and Christ. I am not even pretending these times are fun. They are not. But they are times to grow.

I can truly say I hated every time like this I have faced. No one likes going through hard times. But I can also say that I have always learned going through them. I have also learned that the quicker I submit to the Lord and allow Him to teach me, the sooner I can feel His warm embrace in the process. The trial may still continue, but now I know what it’s about.

Lord, show me the purpose of the hard times in my life. Teach me to trust You and grow me into what You would have me be.

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Abiding, Affliction, Battles, Bible, Darkness, Destruction, Fighting, Flesh, Following, Obedience, Perseverance, Scripture, Surrender

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SEE

JOEL 2:4

“Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run.”

Sometimes things take on the shape of other things. Clouds can look like a rabbit. Shadows can appear to represent an image of a person. In the fog things can look very different. You have to look closely sometimes to make out what you are really seeing. After all, your eyes can play tricks on you.

Theodoret, a Bishop in Syria, once said while describing the locusts he observed there, “You will find it exceedingly like that of a horse.” Whence the Arabs, of old and to this day , say, ‘In the locust, slight as it is, is the nature of ten of the larger animals, the face of a horse, the eyes of an elephant, the neck of abull, the horns of a deer, the chest of a lion, the belly of a scorpion, the wings of an eagle, the thighs of a camel, the feet of an ostrich, the tail of a serpent.’” (Barnes’ Commentary of Joel). This is what Joel is talking about here in today’s verse.

APPLICATION

You are probably wondering how in the world we can get any application for our lives from this verse. What do locusts or how they look relate to me? Will you give a little room to make this application? After all, every word of the Bible is inspired, right?

God allows these “hordes of locusts” into our lives sometimes. He allows them to come in and seemingly destroy everything in sight. But you have to remember that if God allows it, it is always to make us more like His Son. Those locusts may look terrifying. We may be shaken at the very sight of them. However, in Christ we have the strength and power to face any horde sent our way.

I don’t like hordes of anything attacking me or my loved ones. I want to fight back. I think I can defend myself. But God whispers to me to back off and let Him do the defending. If you are facing “hordes of locusts” right now, stop fighting so hard. Lay down your feeble weapons and allow the Lord to defend you. He has the power to do great and mighty things in and through us.

I thank You for coming to my defense when I am under attack. When all else falls apart, I know You can be depended on.

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Accountability, Bible, Bondslaves, Harvest, Modeling, Perseverance, Sowing

HARVEST TIME

HOSEA 10:12

“Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness; harvest in accordance with kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and rains righteousness on you.”

Man, O man, I love harvest time. There is just something about harvesting things you have planted. I used to have great gardens. I don’t have a space for it anymore. But picking squash and tomatoes, green beans and corn. Yum, I can just taste those fresh vegetables.

The Lord tells us in today’s verse to “sow…with a view to righteousness.” He also says to “harvest in accordance with kindness.” Look at that. Righteousness and kindness. Those were two things that Israel was lacking during those days. But the Lord still expected that, just as He expects it from us.

APPLICATION

Just how righteous are you? Now I know any righteousness we have comes from Jesus. Right? He makes us righteous through His shed blood. But as we are made righteous, we shall live that way. Everything we do (sow) should be done in righteousness. And then we shall reap in kindness.

Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.” Take this to heart.

Sowing and reaping go hand in hand. Whatever we choose to sow, we shall reap. It’s really our choice. I choose righteousness because I want kindness and mercy. Don’t you?

Father, I desire Your righteousness and mercy. I want to sow to please You.

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Abiding, Bible, Blessing, Comfort, Encouragement, Giving, Inspirational, Life, Perseverance, Promises, Scripture

THE EARTH SINGS

HOSEA 2:22

“And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.”

I grew up in farm country in South Georgia. When I say “farm country” I mean that. My small hometown economy revolved around the farms that surrounded us. I loved seeing all those crops in the fields. It seemed to inspire life. Fields of corn, tomatoes, watermelons and etc. It did appear that the earth was singing.

Hosea 2:22 gives a similar picture. Grain, new wine and oil were about life during the time of Hosea. Everyone depended on the health of the harvest. When it was good, everyone celebrated. It was a festive time. When it was not, worry set in. They didn’t have the elaborate food economy we have today. It was literally hand to mouth.

APPLICATION

So, how does this apply to us today? We need to celebrate the life that the Lord has given us. Each day with Him brings new hope. We can face anything if we know He is with us. We do want the grain, new wine and oil, just like the Israelites. We may not call it that, but we live to celebrate new life.

What do you do, then, when things aren’t going so well? Do you pout and complain? Be honest – you probably do. But we shouldn’t. Even in the lean times, God is still on His throne. He is still with us. We can rest assured that He has not forgotten us and will once again bring in the harvest times.

What are you celebrating today? You can celebrate the fact that Jesus died for your sins. He hung on that cross to bear the sins of the whole world. He rose from that grave and ascended to His heavenly Father. He sits on His right hand interceding for you right now. Now, that’s worth celebrating.

Father, I praise You for giving me life. I praise You for promising life even on the darkest of days.

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