Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”
Our Bible verse for today: “…who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Persevere because it’s the right thing to do, and then trust God for the outcome.”
As I write this it is Good Friday morning. This is the day above all others throughout the year when we as Christians pause to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.
It’s instructive and helpful for us to remember the amazing degree of perseverance required of Jesus in order to get to, and through, this day. And let’s also remember that through it all the eventual outcome appeared to be questionable. The three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry produced some success stories to be sure, but there was even more opposition, resentment, disappointments, and betrayals. Now this is the way it ends, with torture and death on a cross?
Last night I read a brief summary of the life story of the great composer of classical music Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach was a musical genius as well as a deeply committed Christian man. He believed that the true purpose of music was to bring glory to God. In the margins of his musical manuscripts he always penciled the initials “J.J.” which stood for “Jesu Juva” which means “Help me, Jesus”. At the end of every manuscript he always jotted the initials “S.D.G.” which stood for “Soli Deo Gloria”, which means “To God alone the glory.”
The interesting thing about Bach is that during his lifetime his music received very little attention. Although he produced a lot of it, and it was all very, very good, people didn’t seem to care. But then again, Bach didn’t care that they didn’t care. He was writing his music for God not for them. It was only many years after his death that his music was rediscovered and celebrated. Today he is known as one of the greatest composers of classical music of all time.
During His years of ministry on earth, the work of Jesus seemed to have only minimal impact, and then it ended badly. But, He carried-on in His ministry anyway. He did it faithfully and He did it well. He persevered because the motive force driving His life was to obey the will of the Father. Jesus was determined to bring honor and glory to God and to help fulfill His plan for the human race.
You and I know how it turned out. We know that His death on the cross wasn’t the end of the story. He arose from the grave; He appeared to and inspired His followers; He prepared the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit; the church grew like wildfire; over two thousand years untold millions have come to faith in Christ and gained eternal salvation as a result; and today there are more Christians on planet earth than at any time in history.
There’s a lot to be gained from perseverance. Even if you aren’t seeing many results at the moment and even if you aren’t sure of what the outcome will be, persevere for God. Seek to know His will and then be obedient to it. If your focus is simply to please Him and to fulfill His purposes, everything else will fall into place in God’s way and in God’s timing.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 