August 12 , 2007

“If it's God, it's an instantaneous miracle.” We know God does miracles.

The myth part: We tend to feel that God cannot be in something that's hard or slow. We tend to feel that God is only marginally involved when we have to descend to the services of man's effort, support, and expertise to help us.

Myth: “If it's God, it's a quick fix, but if it's a process, if the change is difficult, or slow,

then God's not in it, or only marginally involved in my life.”

God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God (Ro 8:28, NLT).

The truth is change can be slow, and may be difficult. It may take time to process much change. Perseverance is the other side of the coin of “the quick fix.”

The truth is that good changes in you are the result of a chain of good decisions, right thinking, right believing, great input and resources, and good behaving. There are qualities of life that don't develop overnight. A better life involves both instantaneous miracles and perseverance to your miracle. God is dynamically in both when we seek Him.

Perseverance doesn't happen in us automatically or naturally. We have to choose it. W e can still find a place of joy when we suffer with trials of different kinds, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance develops strength of character…. (Ro 5:2-3).

Perseverance is endurance inspired by hope (I Thessalonians 1:3).

Perseverance is the confident “ knowing ” that an all-powerful God is still at work,

even when I don't get an instant miracle.

What do perseverant people do?

•  Perseverant people take responsibility for growth in their own relationship with God.

2. Perseverant people receive more from God because they make both faith and perseverance their habit. They choose to have both mountain-moving faith -- and mountain-climbing perseverance .

3. Perseverant people accept the fact that failure can be indispensable to the learning process .

•  Perseverant people do regular reality checks .

You can grieve with good grief. That's grief without losing my ultimate hope in God.

Every time you choose perseverance in your life in following Jesus Christ,

the Bible says you grow that part of your life we called character .

How do you become a more perseverant person in God?

1. Never forget that Jesus is there for you.

2. Refuse to allow the negatives of life to destroy your life.   

3. Get the big picture of your life in God.   

4. Pour out your emotion on paper . Share it with a close friend who'll love you anyway, but don't broadcast to just anybody.

5. Don't hold back the tears. Crying inside or outside is a normal part of the healing process. There are believers here today for whom a good cry would do a world of good for you.

6. Give yourself plenty of time for healing. The Bible says, "Let patience have her perfect work."

7. Do ask God for a miracle , but also commit to Him for the long haul. Have faith for a point-in-time miracle and a progressive miracle. Miracles come in various packages.

8. Store up true resources for the storm. Build up a surplus of strength so you can better persevere when life's storms do come along.

9. Remember there's heaven . Live life now knowing there's heaven later. Store up for yourself treasure in heaven through the use of your time, talent, and treasure for God in this life. At very best, this is a temporary journey, a preparation time, a testing time, a growing time toward the world to come. Make a good report from Jesus your target for this life.

#Charles Spurgeon, the great English preacher said, "God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken, and when you cannot trace His hand, you can always trust His heart ."

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