Perseverance according the Book of Hebrews

Stuck my entire music collection on shuffle to help me write this blog...currently listening too 50Cent - Outta Control. Really just inspired me to hurt somebody. Jokes. Anyways.......

The book of Hebrews, just like James, makes some phenomenal claims about perseverance, and the most astounding one in my humble opinion is found in Chapter 12, verses 1 - 14 to be specific. These verses also teach about God's discipline, but thats a whole different ball game. well actually it's not, stop arguing with yourself sam, nobody cares.

Romans 3:23 says that "for all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Everybody whether obviously or not, brings before God a burden of sin, which through the grace of what Christ accomplished on the cross has been taken off our shoulders.

Some sins, do seem worse than others, but in a divine context, "whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking it all" (James 2:10). However, the encouragement found in Hebrews is incomparable:

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"

The hope and promises found in that verse alone are astonishing. The author of Hebrews, under divine inspiration, is here telling us what is stopping from being the people that God created. Through the salvation found in Jesus Christ, we have the power to "throw off" the sin that "so easily entangles us" and "run" the actual "race marked out for us".

Lets not think for a minute that our race is a race within and empowered by sin. It is not! Our race is a race towards Jesus (v2 says "let us fix our eyes on Jesus"), who is the "author and perfector of our faith" and is outside of sin.

Sin will forever attack us and leave little roadblocks on the race track because satan by his very nature is "the accuser" (Revelation 12:10). He roams to and fro (Job 1) searching for people to accuse.

However, we are encouraged to run the race with perseverance. The writer is in no denial that trials and temptation will come our way, but he knows and wants us to know that because of Christ we have the power and the right to overcome, and to run the race that God has set before us...irrespective of our past

Read the book of James thats in the Bible

That heading is so that Google has lots of keyword to recognise! keywords like the bible and the book of James and the. well, not the really but it is a word, just less of a key one. however the whole sentance would fall to pieces without that word, so perhaps it is more key than we think...there must be a biblical message in there somewhere. In fact it mentions something along those lines in James 3:13 ish. wow, what a tedious link. actually its not a link at all because i was going to write about something else from James. oh deary deary me.

Anyways............here is what I felt like writing in the fine fine month of october.....

It's from James 1:2-6 and 12-15 and it's regarding trials/temptations/perseverance. You see, facing trials in your life is not the end of the world as we know it (although sometimes it definately feels like it). In fact, James says we should consider it "pure joy" because when our faith is tested, it develops perseverance. And through that perseverance comes maturity and completeness.

Psalm 103:12 puts it so plainly that God is a merciful God, and likewise John 3:16 says that "whoever believes in Him will have eternal life"

God therefore is graceful, merciful, and forgiving. Trials that we face will no doubt test our faith and by putting on the "armour of God" (Ephesians 6:11/13) we will have the confidence of enduring whatever may put our faith on the edge, and through that endurance and perseverance we will become mature and complete, and still remain forgiven of our sins. Amen to that in the back row!

Happy Holy Clubbing!