Endure For Jesus, Trust In Him

January 10, 2021

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

~Matthew 7:13‭-‬14~

When Jesus came to this world He came to bring the truth to life. He came to make a way for us to know God intimately and be in constant communion with Him. If not for Jesus we would still all be alienated from Him; "that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." (Ephesians 2:12)

The Lord loved us so much He had to defeat the bondage that satan had against us after the deception of Adam and Eve. Without that sacrifice and the new covenant with Jesus Christ, we would not be fighting the good fight of faith today. The thing is it is just that, a fight. Too many churches tend to look for the "easy route" to heaven, the comfortable christian life that avoids real hard times. Not only does this cause us to become complacent, it creates panic in our hearts when we do enter a sudden tribulation that comes upon us. When this happens, our faith can dwindle quickly. If we think that our walk with Christ is going to be completely pain free, we deceive ourselves. What better gift to give the enemy then to do his work for him? He is the main deceiver; "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9) Satan started his journey by deception as he gathered a third of the angels to follow him instead of God and continued on in the earth as he deceived Eve in the garden which led to further deception and lies today. His main reason for this? To take over the world and play God. Jesus put a true end to his ability to be in charge when He took up the cross. Jesus warns us that in the end times deception will only increase even more as satan's desperation enhances. He tells us first and foremost as followers to not become deceived as it can be very damaging; "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you."

(Matthew 24:3‭-‬4)

So we see His first warning is this. Many false prophets and false christs will be present, this is a tactic of satan himself. We also know this was a main warning from the apostles as well as they pushed the gospel further onwards; "But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." (II Timothy 3:13)

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."

(James 1:16)

"Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” (I Corinthians 15:33)

All of these men knew just how dangerous this was for the faithful servant. We know we are in constant battle with the kingdom of darkness when we make Jesus our Lord over our life. The issue is we cannot become too comfortable, we cannot become complacent and we cannot compromise for anything. When we pick a side we are called to stand firm on that side. When we begin to waver, that's when the devil will stick his foot out and we can easily trip and fall flat on our faces. We are called to follow Jesus, especially through the hardest and darkest of times; "Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24)

The cross is not only a symbol of victory and defeat of the enemy, it is a symbol of pain and persecution. This means we are not just claiming our victory, we are called to suffer for Christ. To truely show our undying love for Him. You cannot receive victory without a battle first taking place. Jesus says enter by the narrow gate. Most people do not want to suffer, which is obviously understandable. Jesus Himself prayed to the Father that His sacrifice would not have to occur in the manner He knew it would; "And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will. ”

(Mark 14:36)

Being a human, Jesus naturally felt anxiety and sorrow in His body and did not wish to suffer. However, He quickly submitted to what the Father's will was, leading to His torture and death for us. When we choose to follow Jesus we are called to suffer with Him to the very end. The good news is He is alive! He gave us His Holy Spirit and with Him we can do all things as He strengthens us, (see Philippians 4:13)

The Lord does bless us but He does not call us to compromise our walk to live comfortably in the world. We are no longer of the world when we really submit to God; "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." (Ephesians 2:19)

We are citizens of heaven, here to make more disciples and show the Lord to whoever we speak to. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

There are many warnings in the bible that clearly states we are to fully submit to God, that backsliding is real, that complacency will destroy us and that deception can ultimately create apostasy. My friends, let us truely start following Jesus through the narrow gate. Let us really start honoring His Holy Name in this world. Let us sacrifice what so ever we need to for Him, no matter what that may be. Let us not follow the herd of goats but the sheep that are His; "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."

(Matthew 25:33)

For in doing so, we will inherit the glory that will come. Let us not get too comfortable and follow what the world is telling us to do for in doing so, we lose ourselves in Christ; "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

(Mark 8:36)

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what it is you need to rid yourself of or start doing to truely align your spirit to the Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the only Way my dear brothers and sisters; "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

We must stop praying with words only and using our hearts. We must stop reading the Word and then going on to live however we want to live. We must start living the way Jesus calls us all to truely live; " But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22)

Deception is heavy. It is not going to be easy. The world is truely changing. Jesus is our chief cornerstone, rely on Him. If your faith is built on this chief cornerstone, it will endure through hardship, even death. The world cannot save you. Jesus says, "there are few who will find life." I pray this is not any of us.

Trust only in Him.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the truth that is rooted in my heart. Thank you for bringing the Word to life and allowing me to witness and have a chance to endure with Him. Jesus, You never said this would be easy. In fact Your word tells me it will be hard, but You also tell me that as I put my trust in You I shall have everlasting strength. Fill me Holy Spirit with divine courage to never back down from faith in Jesus for anyone or anything. Guide me in the right decisions and deter me from the wrong decisions. Apart from You I can do nothing. I give praise to the Highest for Holy is Your Name. I know as You are on my side, I shall not me moved. The storm may come but as I build my faith on this Rock, I will not fall. Thank you Jesus for Your word that reminds me of the tribulations to come and that You will hold me through it as I follow You into the narrow gate. I pray I never give heed to doctrines of demons and fall backwards from You. I want to only draw nearer to You as You draw nearer to me. In Your Mighty Name I pray, my King, Jesus Christ. Amen.