Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Perspectives

As I’ve been reading through Bob Goff’s devotional “Live in Grace, Walk in Love” he touches on something I believe is so important. Again, this falls in line with what I’ve been writing about related to the power of words. I have learned that words in and of themselves don’t mean much unless they are spoken in love! Bob begins by sharing a verse that sets the stage for the point he wants to make.

“A new command I give you: love one another.
As I have loved you so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples
if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

This is such a powerful and convicting verse! But then Bob goes on to say this, and I quote:

“If our bodies can be trained to act without our conscious awareness, surely our spirits work the same way: when joy is a habit, love is a reflex!”

I absolutely love that! But then he shows us how:

“How do we make joy a habit in our everyday lives so our reflex is always love for the people around us? I can’t think of a better way than gratitude. When we are intentional about giving thanks for everything we come across, we can’t help but feel pure joy over the pure gift of another day. And when our joy becomes a habit, our love becomes a way of living!”

Oh, how I desire to live like this every day. But I also know I’m still a work in process! However, after reading this from Bob I couldn’t help but think of my wife, Jan who does live like this. She is so thankful for everything and everyone around her. You can see how this has affected the way she loves! It’s so beautiful to watch! And because of her example I’m beginning to catch this way of life as well! My encouragement to all of us is:

Adopt an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness and watch how our words of love overflow!

On the journey with you,
Dave Dravecky

Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Perspectives

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work
so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.
If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God, who gives generously
to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.
JAMES 1:2-5 (NIV)

No gift quite matches the gift of perspective. In the best of times, our vision remains weak. We cannot catch even the briefest glimpse of the future: we have no idea what the next year, week, day or even hour might bring. We tend to make our judgements based on superficial, outward observations. When worries and trials push their way into our lives, we often draw back within ourselves, further limiting our eyesight and understanding.

For those who tend to live life on “cruise control,” imagining that tomorrow will be just like today, James offers this corrective: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:14-15).

One of the most valuable outcomes of such a perspective is the development of a “long view” regarding present circumstances. Instead of demanding immediate answers, we place our trust in the Lord for ultimate results, “Be patient, then brothers, until the Lord’s coming,” James writes. “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near … The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:7, 8, 11).

No matter what our situation may be, Biblical perspective is the only one that can bring us such perseverance and patience … and peace.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.
It is also peace loving, gentle at all times,
and willing to yield to others.
It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.
JAMES 3:17 (NLT)

Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Perspectives

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing
of your faith develops perseverance
JAMES 1:2-3 (NIV)

No gift quite matches the gift of perspective. If value is determined by an article’s relative abundance or scarcity, perspective is nothing less than 24-karat gold. The book of James offers such perspective to those enduring “trials of many kinds.”

In the best of times, our vision remains weak. We cannot catch even the briefest glimpse of the future; we have no idea what the next year, week, day or even hour might bring. We tend to make our judgments based on superficial, outward observations. When worries and trials push their way into our lives, we often draw back within ourselves, further limiting our eyesight and understanding.

Writing with a pastor’s heart, James offers wisdom to those who have been displaced, scattered and persecuted. He begins with this piece of extraordinary counsel: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3). Joy? In the face of many trials? The only way such a thing could be possible is through the eternal perspective offered by Scripture and God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. It is the testing of our faith, says James, which develops perseverance.

And that’s not all. “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4). In other words, our difficulties and struggles are part of a process designed to bring us to a plane of living beyond anything we have experienced. That’s the sort of “big picture” insight into life we could never find on our own.

No matter what our situation may be, a Biblical perspective is the only one that brings us such perseverance and patience … and peace.

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.
See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop
and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
You too, be patient and stand firm,
because the Lord’s coming is near.
JAMES 5:7-8 (NIV)

Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Perspectives

He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet no one can fathom
what God has done from beginning to end.
ECCLESIASTES 3:11 (NIV)

I battled the fear of death when I was diagnosed with cancer. I couldn’t bear the thought of having to leave behind my kids, my wife, my life. Something deep within me told me that death is not natural. I fought against it as if it were a foreign enemy and, in a sense, it is. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God has placed eternity into the heart of every person.

But we so long for life on earth to go on we resist heaven, the true home Jesus has prepared for us.So we struggle because “no one can fathom”. On one hand we are scared, on the other hand there is heaven. We wrestle back and forth between the two. And this is entirely normal.

Don’t let you hearts be troubled.
Trust in God and trust also in me.
There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.
If this were not so,
would I have told you that I am going
to prepare a place for you?
When everything is ready,
I will come and get you,
so that you will always
be with me where I am.
JOHN 14:1-3 (NLT)

On the journey with you, Dave Dravecky

Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Perspectives

No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame …
PSALM 25:3

Severe suffering and life-threatening illnesses often cause us to reflect on our lives. We wonder: In what have we been investing our time and energy? Are our priorities in order? What kind of a legacy will we leave behind?

Many people who have suffered are thankful for this sort of reflection, for frequently this is what caused them to reassess their life and change what they didn’t like. Perhaps they found they had been placing their hopes in people or in their career or in financial security. But when the bottom fell out of their life, they realized that their relationship with God is what mattered most.

None of us will ever be sorry for placing our hope in God – that’s the promise of Psalm 25:3. And those of us who have walked the valley of suffering can heartily agree with David that our hope in Him will never be a cause for shame.

They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.
PSALM 22:5 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Jan & Dave Dravecky

Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Perspectives

PATIENCE?

His wife said to him,
“Are you still holding on to your integrity?
Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman.
Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
JOB 2:9-10 (NLT)

You’ve heard of the patience of Job? To me that never made sense because the book of Job is one long list of complaints. Not one to take suffering meekly, Job cried out in protest against God. Even his friends were shocked at his anger. Goodness, most of us would bite our nails in fear and trembling if we ever talked to God that way.

God, however, does not get offended. He doesn’t get insulted or intimidated. In fact, in a supreme touch of irony, in the end God orders Job’s pious comforters to seek repentance from the man himself. I love that about God. Yes, Job’s patience was gloriously played out in that he refused to curse God and die. It was the Lord who demonstrated the very best of what it means to be patient. The patience of Job? It should be the patience of God. The God of Job – your God – listens to the complaints of the suffering. He may not respond to your questions with neat, pat answers, but He will always answer your questions with His own patience.

Joni Eareckson Tada

But God had mercy on me
so that Christ Jesus could use me
as a prime example of his great patience
with even the worst sinners.
Then others will realize that they, too,
can believe in him and receive eternal life.
1 TIMOTHY 1:16 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Dave Dravecky