Endurance

Enduring to the end:

• Love endures all things (1 Corinthians 13: 7)
  
• He who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 10: 22, 24:13; Mark 13: 13)
  
• By your endurance you will gain your lives (Luke 21: 19)
  
• If we endure we shall reign with him (2 Timothy 2: 11)
  
• They bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 8: 15)
  
• He who keeps my works to the end (Revelation 2: 26)
  
• I want to complete my course and my ministry (Acts 20: 24)
  

 

• We commend ourselves by much endurance (2 Corinthians 6: 4)
  
• We endure all things (1 Corinthians 9: 12)
  
• I endure all things for the sake of the elect (2 Timothy 2: 10)
  
• When persecuted we endure (1 Corinthians 4: 12)
  
• I know your perseverance (Revelation 2: 19)
  
• Here is the perseverance of the saints (Revelation 13: 10; 14: 12)
  

 

• God gives perseverance (Romans 15: 5)
  
• May the Lord direct your hearts into the steadfastness of Christ (2 Thessalonians 3: 5)
  

 

• Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial (James 1: 12)
  
• We count those blessed who endured (James 5: 11)
  
• The testing of your faith produces endurance (James 1: 3)
  
• Tribulation produces perseverance (Romans 5: 3)
  

 

• Endure hardship (2 Timothy 4: 5)
  

  
   

  
   

• You have need of endurance (Hebrews 10: 36)
  
• Pursue perseverance (1 Timothy 6: 11)
  
• Add to self-control perseverance (2 Peter 1: 6)
  

 

• Because of his friend's persistence he will give him what he needs (Luke 11: 8)
  
• The unjust judge will be worn out by the widow's persistence (Luke 18: 5)
  

ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE

Preparation is power

"The Lord is not being slow in carrying out his promises, as some people think he is." (2 Peter 3: 9)

There is meaning in delay. Could the meaning be that the delay affords us greater preparation time so that the crown will be bigger and more secure? Preparation is power.

• He who is coming will not delay (Hebrews 2:3, Hebrews 10: 37)
  
• None of my words will be delayed any longer (Ezekiel 12: 25, 28)
  
• Will God delay over his elect? (Luke 18: 7)
  
• My salvation will not delay (Isaiah 46: 13)
  
• God will soon crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16: 20)
  
• He will vindicate them speedily (Luke 18:8)
  
• Salvation is nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13: 11-12)
  
• There will be no more delay (Revelation 22: 6)
  
• I will come soon (Revelation 2: 16; 3 :11; 22:7, 12,20)

(ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE)

God finishing his work

"He who began a good work in you will complete it." (Philippians 1: 6)

• God finished his work of creation (Genesis 2: 1-2; Hebrews 4:3)
  
• I have finished the work you gave me to do (John 17: 4)
  
• It is finished! (John 19: 30)
  
• Jesus knowing that all was accomplished (John 19: 28)
  
• The Lord will complete what concerns me (Psalm 138: 8)
  
• He who began a good work in you will complete it (Philippians 1: 6)
  
• It is done! (Revelation 16: 17)
  

Lord, help me to be a finisher. Amen!

Instrument of punishment

"The instrument of one's sin are his instrument of his punishment." (Wisdom 11: 16) Revised English Bible

"One is punished by the very things by which one sins." (New Revised Standard Version)

"A man is punished by the very things through which he sins." (New American Bible)

"The agent of sin is the agent of punishment." (New Jerusalem Bible)

The above scripture came to me as a technical knockout when I read it during my desert experience 12 years ago. It sounded so true and I knew it was true. Reflections and observations of life since then have confirmed this gem of Bible truths. Although the scripture itself was etched into my memory, I lost the reference and did not discover it till today, 12 years after I discovered the scripture.

The full passage goes like this: "In return for the foolish imagination of those wicked people, which deluded them into worshiping reptiles incapable of reason, and mere vermin, you sent upon them in your vengeance mindless swarms to teach them that the instruments of someone's sin are the instruments of his punishment." (Wisdom 11: 15 – 16)

If the sin is love of money, money will be the instrument of punishment. If the sin is over indulgence with food or alcohol, food or alcohol will be the instrument of punishment.

 

No More Delay

"There will be no further delay in the fulfilling of any of my words. What I have said shall be done now – declares the Lord Yahweh." (Ezekiel 2: 28)

The Message:

• Prepare yourself for action
  
• Be always prepared
  
• Be sober and be alert
  
• Do not think or say "The vision concerns a distant future ….. for times ahead." (Ezekiel 12:27)
  
• Things may happen very suddenly
  

The Promise:

• God's plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11)
  
• I will lead you across (Deuteronomy 31: 6)
  
• I will open for you a door (Revelation 3:8)
  
• I will fight for you (Exodus 14: 14; Joshua 1:9; 2 Chronicles 20: 15, 17)

God guiding

"Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land." (Isaiah 58:11)

 

You will guide me (Psalm 31: 3)

Let your good Spirit lead me (Psalm 143: 10)

Lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139: 24)

Lead me in your truth (Psalm 25: 5)

 

The Lord will guide you continually (Isaiah 58: 11)

With your counsel you will guide me (Psalm 73: 24)

I will lead the blind by a way they do not know (Isaiah 42: 16)

He will lead them to springs of water (Isaiah 49: 10)

I lead them with cords of love (Hosea 11: 4)

I lead you in the way you should go (Isaiah 48: 17)

The Lord directs his steps (Proverbs 16: 9)

 

The Lord has guided me (Genesis 24: 27, 48)

However far away I go, your hand leads me (Psalm 139: 10)

You lead them to your holy habitation (Exodus 15: 13)

The pillar of cloud to guide them (Nehemiah (9: 12, 19)

He leads ne in the paths of righteousness (Psalm 23: 3)

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1)

Led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 14)

(ROGET'S THESAURUS OF THE BIBLE)

A Time of Favor

"Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am." (Isaiah 58: 9)

When is the "then?"

There is a time of favor when God answers prayers as it were automatically. When is this time? The Church teaches that the season of Lent is a holy season of grace. But there are conditions to be fulfilled in this special season of Kairos. Isaiah 58: 9 – 14 lists these conditions:

• Offer your food to the hungry (deprive yourself for the hungry)
  
• Satisfy the needs of the afflicted
  
• Refrain from breaking the Sabbath
  
• Desist from oppression
  
• Do away with the clenched fist and the malicious words
  

The favors promised are:

• Your light will rise in the darkness
  
• Your darkest hour will be like noon
  
• You will be like a watered garden
  
• Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt
  
• You will be called rebuilder of broken walls
  
• You will find true happiness in Yahweh
  
• You will triumph over conditions on earth