He endured so we could persevere!!
As I'm reading through Hebrews the Lord begins to connect the dots on a few things...He endured the cross so that we could persevere. If we look at endurance it means to stand in one place while everything else is chaotic. Think of a tree that remains after the winds of a hurricane have ripped other trees out by their roots. If we look at perseverance as moving beyond where we are despite the chaos surrounding us. An example could be that one little flower that grows where it looks to be only sand. He endured the cross not so we could just get by, but that we could go beyond!! That's why having faith and believing in God is not just us stepping into the unknown. It's knowing the circumstances and it's knowing what could be. However, (the most important part) we know and believe what God's word says so we proclaim that! Just as Noah did with the ark. His plans and goals were not based on what the things around him looked like nor what people around him said. It was based on God's word! He was not only able to save himself, but his family as well. That is the abundance. Just as in John 14 verse 12, we are reminded once again that we will do greater things that He did, because He endured!!! So, when you're going through things don't just endure, but begin to persevere! You have to push beyond.
"You can't steal second, with your foot on first!"
John 14:12-14
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Hebrews 12:1-11
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
