Don’t Give Up

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“Here is a call for the endurance of the saints” (Revelation 14:12).

We all long for rest and refreshment. That’s a God-given longing that he promises to fulfill: “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish” (Jeremiah 31:25).

And in a very real way Jesus gives rest to “all who labor and are heavy laden” and come to him (Matthew 11:28). But in this age, it is not the complete rest.

In this age, Jesus grants us the gospel rest of ceasing the impossible labor of self-atonement for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). But in embracing the gospel we find ourselves also drafted into a war — a war to keep believing the gospel and a war to spread it to others. In this age we “strive to enter that [complete] rest” of the age to come (Hebrews 4:11).

And wars are exhausting — especially long ones. That’s why you are often tired. Most soldiers who experience the fierceness of combat want to get out of it. That’s why you feel urges to escape or surrender. That’s why there are times you’re tempted to give up.

But don’t give up. No, rather “take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7).

Don’t give up when that familiar sin, still crouching at your door after all these years, pounces again with temptation.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Don’t give up when you feel that deep soul weariness from long battles with persistent weaknesses.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:8–9).

Don’t give up when your long prayed-for prayers have not yet been answered.

And he told them [the parable of the persistent widow] to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).

Don’t give up when the devil’s fiery darts of doubt land and make you reel.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day…in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:13,16).

Do not give up when the fragmenting effect of multiple pressures seems relentless.

But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger . . . (2 Corinthians 6:4–5).

Do not give up when the field the Lord has assigned you to is hard and the harvest does not look promising:

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Do not give up when you labor in obscurity and you wonder how much it even matters.

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:4).

Do not give up when your reputation is damaged because you are trying to be faithful to Jesus.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Matthew 5:11).

Do not give up when waiting on God seems endless.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30–31)

Don’t give up when you have failed in sin. Don’t wallow. Repent (again), get your eyes off yourself and back on Jesus, get up and get back in the fight.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9); if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).

Jesus knows your works (Revelation 2:2) and he understands the war (Hebrews 12:3). “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). Finish the race (2 Timothy 4:7). “By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:19).

Don’t give up.

by Jon Bloom

Who Are the Wicked Jesus Will Slay?

by Jonathan Parnell | 

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It's not terrible theology, but it could use some nuance.

My daughter is only four years old, and though she doesn't understand a lot about God, she has a sense for Jesus's power. She knows he's strong and near, like when she recently put her shirt on backwards. Upon realizing her mistake, she tried to fix it by pulling her arms through and twisting the shirt around. In one hectic moment, as the shirt was tangled and she got confused, she cried out for Jesus's help as if he were in the next room. She did the same thing during that forest fire scene in Bambi. I've told her Jesus is powerful and she believes me.

There is a little concern, though. It's usually when I'm tucking her in for bed. At some point I've mentioned to her that Jesus is going to come back one day and slay his enemies. He's not just a lamb but also a lion, after all. She reminds me of this every now and then before I kiss her goodnight. It's when she's scared. Just like she snuggles up to her favorite bear, she rehearses the truth of Jesus's evil-conquering supremacy and looks to me for a nod.Yes, I reply, you're right.

I tell her Jesus is going to come back and slay the wicked because it's true. He will (Revelation 19:11–21). So then what's my concern? Well, it is in how she pictures what is wicked. Ursulas and Mother Gothels and Lady Maleficent and the witch who gives Snow White the poisoned apple. These are bad characters indeed, and they may be wicked, but the Bible defines wickedness with another scene. And it's one you won't find in a Disney story.

The Wicked in Psalm 17

In Psalm 17, David, who is God’s specially anointed king, is seeking refuge from his enemies. "Hide me in the shadow of your wings," David prays, "from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround" (verses 8–9). Like the Anointed (“Christ”) whom he typified, David knew about opposition. He had many who were against him, who closed their hearts to pity and spoke arrogantly (verse 10). Those who set their eyes to cast him to the ground (verse 11). An enemy, David says, who is like a lion eager to tear and lurking in ambush (as in 1 Peter 5:8). So he prays, "Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword. . ." (verse 13).

So far this makes perfect sense. These enemies are bad guys. My little girl can get this. But then David says more. He elaborates the picture of wickedness: "Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O Lord, from men of this world whose portion is in this life" (italics added). The wicked are those whose portion is in this life?

Two Types of People

I'm exegetically inclined towards seeing verse 14b to describe God's people as a contrast to the wicked. The treasure and the children mentioned are in reference to God's own as a symbol of his faithfulness. All of this is in contrast to the wicked of verse 14a. But the contrast grows starker in verse 15. Much starker: "As for me," David clarifies — As for me who is different from these men of the world — "I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness."

So there are two types of people here. There are those whose portion is in this world (verse 14a) and those whose portion is in God (verse 15). There are those who build bigger barns here and those who lay up treasure in heaven. Those who are satisfied with all the amenities of this momentary life and those who say, when all the gifts are stripped away, God is enough.

We Must Ask This Question

Now I'm teaching my daughter that Jesus will crush the wicked so she doesn't have nightmares, and here is Psalm 17 shoved in my face, demanding I line up somewhere. Where is my portion? Do I live as if it's in this world? Or do I make it clear that I have desires for which nothing in this world can satisfy? Can I identify with verse 15? Is God my portion or not? Is he my all-sufficient Savior or do I really just want a genie?

We must ask ourselves these things. We must ponder what John Piper calls the most critical question for our generation, that is, whether we'd be satisfied with heaven if Jesus were not there? If all the bells and whistles of this life were present — all our friends and favorite foods and most fun activities — but no Jesus, would we be okay with that?

Ask, Ponder, Look!

How we answer that question means everything. According to Psalm 17, it tells us whether we're wicked or not. Whether we will be crushed. And no doubt I know where I should line up, indeed where I would line up had not God, being rich in mercy, saved me by grace.

Rest assured that our answer to that question is not left to our own strength.

Jesus died and was raised to create a Psalm 17:15 people who happily behold his face.

That anyone would behold Jesus and be satisfied with his likeness is first and foremost his work. So our hope is in him. We ask and we ponder, but we've trashed the magic eight ball. We look to Jesus. And in our looking to him is when it becomes clear: he is our treasure. We want him, to be found in him, to know him, and the power of his resurrection, that by any means possible we might attain the resurrection from the dead. We press on towards him because he has made us his own. It's in feeling our impossibility of making ourselves Psalm 17:15 people that we look to Jesus and become just that.

So her theology is not terrible. My daughter is only four. And yet, this is a nuance you're never too young to learn.

Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear ... C.S. Lewis

Perfect love, we know, casteth out fear (1 John 4:18). 

But so do several other things — ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, and stupidity.

It is very desirable that we should all advance to that perfection of love in which we shall fear no longer; 

but it is very undesirable, until we have reached that stage, that we should allow any inferior agent to cast out our fear. 

C. S. Lewis

God´s Cake

Sometimes we wonder,
'What did I do to deserve this?' or
'Why did God have to do this to me?'
Here is a wonderful explanation!
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.  

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, 'Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.' 
'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers. 
'Yuck' says her daughter.. 
'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!' 
'Would you like some flour then?
Or maybe baking soda?' 
'Mom, those! are all yucky!'  

To which the mother replies:
'Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves.
But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! ' 
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!  

God is crazy about you.
He sends you flowers every spring and  a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe, 
and He chose your heart.