#1 Where Am I Heading?
 

    I'm hoping you have started out well in the Christian faith. I hope you've got solidly in mind the basics that will carry you through whatever hardships you may encounter in your spiritual walk. You've begun a fantastic journey that leads to unimaginable glory - but to reach that goal, you've got to stay in the race.
    That's what Paul talked about in Colossians 1:23, which begins with an ominous little word - if. Sure a little word, but one that causes great consternation.
    To get the full impact of the verse, we need to return to verse 22: "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel@ (vv. 22-23, emphasis added).
    Paul is talking here about what's often called "the perseverance of the saints.@ He wants us to understand that those who are reconciled and justified will continue in the faith.
    How can you tell if a person is a real Christian? All kinds of tests are often given, but Paul said that those who are truly justified and reconciled persevere; they continue in the faith. They are like a solid building on a good foundation. They are not easily moved away. They are loyal to the faith. They finish their race.
    They have their eyes fixed on the hope that is in the gospel. They have an objective to reach, and they dedicate themselves to reaching it. They are utterly convinced of the faith, confident in it. They keep on keeping on.
    They didn't make a snap decision about following God and then forget him. They didn't say, "Sure, I'm a Christian,@ and then go on living in the old ways, uninterested in living Christianly.
    Those who are truly justified and reconciled are loyal, confident, convinced, growing, and progressing. How much we need to encourage one another in understanding this point!
    F. F. Bruce, a British theologian, said, "Continuance [in the faith] is the test of reality.@
  How do you match up? Can you look back and say, "Because of all that Christ did on the cross, and because I placed my faith in his finished work, I have been reconciled to God. I have been justified, and I am determined, by God's grace, to continue in the faith. I'm thankful, and I intend to demonstrate my thankfulness by continuing to follow Christ"?
    Christian brother or sister, the gospel's promise is too great and its prize too precious for you to drop out of the race now. Paul himself - no stranger to suffering, ridicule, and heartache - wrote, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us@ (Romans 8:18).
    So hang in there! Continue what you started! By doing so, you not only prove the reality of your faith, but guarantee for yourself a prize, a trophy that no shelf on earth could possible hold up.
 

Power to Persevere
 

Being strengthen with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.
(Colossians 1:11)
 

    We Christians aim at such an extraordinary goal that if we couldn't count on some help to reach it, we'd have no hope of succeeding.
    Not only can we count on "some help,@ Paul says - we have available to us the very strength that birthed the stars and flung them out into the galaxies!
    How great is this power available to us? If God's might were only as great as our need, or as great as our imagination, what a puny, limited God he would be! No, it is not according to human need or imagination, but in accordance with his majesty and glory.
    Just imagine what a challenge it would be to say to yourself, "My purpose in life is to be worthy of Christ and to remember whom I represent. So I'm committed to please him at all times, by a life that practically demonstrates what he is doing within me. I will discover more and more of him, and I will reach my goal because of all his mighty power working in me. "The picture of fulfillment he promises is simply staggering.
    Notice, however, that this power is not there so that you will be able to do all kinds of fabulous, amazing, spectacular things so that people say, "Wow! That's power!@
  No, it's amazing down-to-earth. We are strengthened so that we might have endurance and patience. You can= t get more practical than that.
    The power of God is made available to people in superlative measure in order that they might live purposefully and powerfully down here in the normal circumstances of life. Endurance means responding properly to our external circumstances, having the strength to finish the race and win the prize.
    Are external pressures so heavy upon you that you'd like to bury your head in the sand? Are you captivated by a desire to head for the bushes, escape to the mountains, get away from it all?
    That's the normal approach, but it's not the one of a person discovering fulfillment. The person discovering fulfillment is in touch with the power of God, power that equips him to endure the difficult circumstances of life.
    If you= re to live in your circumstances, you'll also need patience. Patience is the power to restrain yourself. It's the ability to handle not the external circumstances, but those things that boil up within you. Patience allows you to control lust, greed, anger, malice, jealousy, all the things that erupt when we look for fulfillment in the wrong place.
    God says, "You can be strengthened according to the mighty of my glory so that you'll have endurance to cope with your external circumstances and the patience to deal with your inner passions!@
  When that kind of power is in your life, you begin to discover fulfillment.
    Which do you struggle more with, your external circumstances or your inner passions? What is the significance of God's promise to you?


Father, thank you that you have promised us your power so that we can have all the endurance and all the patience we need to live a life that is pleasing to you, Amen.
 

~Stuart Briscoe~