PERSEVERANCE

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Perseverance.  Ironically faith, growth and spiritual maturity are all related to this one word.  We are going to discuss words and their values this coming Saturday, but for now, i'll leave that in the horizon.  I want to explain what perseverance has to do with all this.  I have noticed that faith grows when it is under persecution.  In fact, it thrives.  The early Christians noticed this too.  With persecution comes growth.  Another word that we could in fact link to, you guessed it perseverance.  I am currently reading a book by John L. Nevius who helped construct a 3 priciple idea about how missions works.  He was passionate about Inigenous missions and he saw the same effect abroad in different countries.  When your faith is under attack, under fire, being tested.....it will be stronger.  It will grow.  It will persevere.  Faith is truth.  Truth is everlasting.  God is everlasting.  See?  It all makes sense.  we are all put through trials andtests to help our faith persevere.  I think this is one way that God works.  If you are wondering where I am going with this, I will say it simply:  Be thankful that God finds your  faith worthy of testing.  It means he's with you.  It means he's walking right beside you.  It means you will grow.  Growth is spiritual maturity.  We all need to grow up, don't we?  Sometimes it takes the hard times to help us realize we are growing, or that we have already grown, or that we have some work, but that we will indeed persevere after all.

Romans 5:3-4 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.