Patient Perseverance

Reflecting on this Christmas Eve. Life. It throws some curveballs at us.

I was listening to my dad read the end of Jude and 1st chapter of Revelation this morning. SO powerful! God's Word is true! He is coming. He was. He is. AND He IS to come! :-D Makes me so excited hearing that! In Revelation 1, John talks about patient endurance. We are called to patiently persevere.  

Revelation 1:9 - "I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus."

We will encounter suffering, but we are to remain humble and joyful in Christ, knowing He says, as stated in vs. 8 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." AND as John says in v.4, Jesus is "...the ruler of the kings of the earth[!!!]"

How amazing! Every single one of the rulers/kings/presidents of this world are under God's authority, whether they know it or not. God is in complete control. Nothing is too big or too small for Him. The apostle John was given the incredible opportunity to see things...Heavenly things...things we don't understand, things that are written about in Revelation...and what will happen at the end of days.

He saw Jesus. SAW Him. Here is what John said about it:  

vs. 17 - "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

 I want you to understand something. Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades. That means death simply cannot hold us! When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He actually went down into Hell/Hades and wrestled the keys from Satan. Jesus conquered death so that we may have life in Him, and have it abundantly (John 10:10)! 

When I said first that life throws its curveballs, well...we all know it does. We all deal with our own struggles. But the best thing is that when we believe in Jesus as our Savior, He comes and changes life as we know it. He makes it meaningful. He is Christ the LORD. Emmanuel. God with us.

Patient endurance is rewarded in Heaven. We have eternal life to look forward to. I don't know why this strikes me as such a perfect revelation, if you will, but our family is facing some challenges at the moment, like so many people right now, yet through it all I am beginning to feel God's presence more. He is leading our family. Where, I don't know yet, but with God as my leader, how can I be afraid? There are bumps and mountains along the way...but that's a part of this earthly life's journey, isn't it?
Can't you just imagine what the end of the road looks like? Glorious! Triumphant! Full of MEGA JOY :). I cannot wait to look back and see where God has taken us. I want to continue to walk with Him always...trusting that no matter what happens, no matter what is thrown at us...He is right there by our side.

Through our Savior Jesus Christ, who was in Heaven with God, came to earth as a little baby, was born in a cave, his bed a musty manger, who grew up and showed the world what true love and hope and joy is, who suffered ridicule from those who were the closest to Him, was beaten and nailed to a cross, all so that He, God's perfect and only Son, would die for our sins, conquer death, grab the keys to Hell from Satan himself, and rise from the dead, come back to life, ascend to Heaven, and now He sits in Heaven at the right hand of God! O triumphant joy! 

I really love that it's Christmas Eve. It's snowing. Tonight my family unwraps presents and will enjoy giving and being with each other, celebrating Jesus, the babe in the manger.

Thank you, God, for sending your Son to this earth to be born to save us! This is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Because it all started this night, a few thousand years ago...in a little town called Bethlehem...