Learning From Joseph (Psa. 105:17-19)

Read Psalm 105:17-19.

Joseph was misunderstood, misrepresented and mistreated until the day of fulfillment came.

1. Having a dream or call does not mean exemption from suffering and perseverance.
2. The way you learn to lead is by enduring hardship and remaining true to God.  Disadvantage doesn't mean disqualification.
3. Don't squander your adversity.  God deems it necessary.  To fight against His preferred method of training is to prolong both your deliverance and other people's sustenance.
4. You're not suffering for nothing.  Joseph had a dream, but did he realize the full significance of it?  You suffer for the dream so that others don't suffer during it.

Don't Look Back (Lu. 9:62)

Read Luke 9:62.

Read the following verses as supplementary material to today's thought:  Phil. 3:13; 1 Kin. 19:20; Psa. 78:8-9; 2 Tim. 4:10; Heb. 10:38; 2 Pet. 2:20-22.

Concentration and determination are needed to follow Jesus.  Don't make a good start and then fizzle out.  Stay with Him!  Focus and direction are important.  Expect the world (behind you) to continue its distraction, calling and tempting you.  Today's verse calls for a relentless, all-out pursuit of Jesus. The world has nothing for you.  Look to Jesus (Heb 12:2a); don't look back (Lu. 17:32).

1. You cannot look two directions at once.  Beware cross-eyed Christianity!
2. Direction determines destination.
3. Focus determines value, commitment and seriousness.
4. Following Jesus is not for the faint or lazy.  There is plowing to be done!  Get to it and stay with it.

Hill Climbers (Part 5) (Psa. 24:3)

Who May Ascend Into The Hill of The Lord?

THOSE WHO WILL PERSEVERE MAY ASCEND INTO THE HILL OF THE LORD.

Those who persevere will continue climbing when others camp out permanently at rest stops.

Those who persevere will continue climbing when they encounter those who are on their way down. Sadly, this upward path of righteousness is filled with casualties – those who started but chose not to finish.

• It is not that they were disillusioned; it is that they became undisciplined.
• It is not that they couldn't make the climb; it is that they didn't count the cost.
• It is not that they got discouraged; it is that they might have been disqualified right from the start.

I've said it enough that it is almost a mantra around here: If the process is wrong, the product will be wrong.  Those who are too easily saved are too easily swayed. While we don't want to make salvation complicated, I fear that we have made it easy. Those who have traveled uphill toward Jesus for a while will confirm that simplicity shouldn't be mistaken for ease.

The path of grace is a toll road: Getting on the road costs nothing and every mile marker you pass will still be because of grace; however, staying on the toll road of grace requires everything you have. You don't get to drive however you want on the turnpike of grace.

What a wonderful day it was when you began your journey with Jesus! How many of you remember that day?

How are you doing right now? Do you need a little extra gas in your tank? The fuel you seek is called perseverance.  The journey may indeed get sweeter, but it isn't going to get any easier. You might have to fight and claw for every step you take. When your journey is over, will you be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith”? (2 Tim. 4:7)

Reaching Upward (Phil. 3:14)

Cathedral Ledge, N. Conway, NH.   8.22.13

When I first saw these climbers I thought, "They're crazy!"  Then I realized they were a picture of perseverance.  (Incidentally, notice the group is climbing together.)

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14)
 

For Every Senior Who Has Thought About Quitting

Grandma's got game -- and biceps to prove it.  Meet basketball phenom Zhu Shumei.  She's 76.

Zhu has played basketball every day for the past 20 years.  Someone forgot to tell her that 76-year-old grandmothers aren't supposed to play basketball.  Her secret is safe with me.  You can read the rest of her story here.

This reminds me of Caleb, who said to Joshua, "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in." (Josh. 14:11)

Take it from Zhu.  Don't "check out" just because you're getting older.  Stay in the game.  You still have a contribution to make.  Get out there and show them youngins how it's done.

Settling Prematurely (Gen. 11:31)

Terah, Abram, Sarai and Lot set out for Canaan.  "Canaan" comes from a root that means "to bend the knee, to bring low, to humble."  Sounds like worship, doesn't it?

They made a pitstop on the way, settling at Haran.  "Haran" means "parched."  It's root means "to melt, burn, dry up."  Lesson:  Where you settle, you will dry up!

Later, Canaan would be described as "a land flowing with milk and honey."  The spies would bring back evidence of great fruitfulness.  Abram already knew God wanted him to go to Canaan (Ac. 7:2-3), yet they settled in Haran.  Literally, they "dwelt."  That means they sat there and got comfortable, all the while postponing fruitfulness and worship.  In their sedentary state, they weren't fulfilled but parched.

The call is obvious:  Don't settle prematurely!  Who or what has caused you to "settle"?  That's what stands between you and promise, you and fulfillment, you and worship.