| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Be the church” Our Bible verse for today: “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (CSB) Our thought fore today: “Be strong and resilient” As we continue to consider what it means for the church to be the church in a society that is increasingly resistant to Christianity, the fact is that we will have to be strong and resilient. Not mean; not angry; not violent; but strong, tough, determined, and especially resilient. The attribute of resilience is a close cousin to the attribute of perseverance. And yet, it’s more than that. To persevere in something means to persist without giving up. It means that you lean into it and push through the issue or situation and you keep at it until you’ve achieved the objective. It has a lot to do with striving and enduring, and it’s an admirable quality for a person to have. In fact, it’s Biblical. Resilience, however, is more than merely sticking with something and not giving up. It is that, but it’s also more. Resilient people have the ability to thrive and grow as they persevere. A resilient person does lean into hardship and keeps pressing forward without giving up, but that person also learns and grows and becomes stronger, tougher, and better as a result of the experience. A resilient person has the ability to recover quickly from difficulty and setbacks. Synonyms for resilience include words like flexibility, pliability, adaptability, and rebounding. Interestingly, when used to describe a person, “Rodale’s Synonym Finder” also includes descriptive terms like buoyant, irrepressible, jaunty, lighthearted, and cheerful. (This is sounding a lot like victory in Jesus). Our goal as Christians is not to just deal with tough times and difficult situations, but to thrive as we do so. As Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6, God is in the process of developing us into the persons He wants us to be, and into the church He wants us to be. We aren’t supposed to simply endure situations, we’re to thrive as we handle them. We are to be strong and resilient people. Now, combine that understanding with what we have learned in recent days about the attribute of being magnanimous, and I believe that kind of a Christian is one that can make a powerful impact in their world. People notice and are impressed by someone like that. Now imagine an entire church like that, an entire Christian community of people who are strong, determined, confident, magnanimous, and resilient. That’s a powerful force for good in the world and that is who we can be and should be in Christ. It is who Jesus enables us to be. Yes, we live in a difficult world. But Jesus has overcome the world. And in Him, so can we. So, be confident, be strong, be resilient, be magnanimous. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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