1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
Is it possible to lose your salvation?
Is it possible to know that we are saved?
John 15:6 NLT
Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
1 John 2:19 NLT
These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
God does not want us to go through our lives in doubt. He wants us to have an assurance of our salvation. But when we measure our salvation based on our outside circumstances, we can create uncertainty in our minds.
When I committed to myself to pick up the Bible and never put it down again, my life was messy. My relationships were strained; my job situation was a mess.
For someone who was supposed to have it all together, it was a real mess.
But I had read the Bible before, and I knew if I could get into it, my life would change for the better. I mean, this is what happened before when I read the Bible; it had to be this way.
This was an error in my thinking. I was basing the success of this on how good my outside circumstances were.
So you can imagine my surprise when instead of my life getting better, it got much worse.
But this is what God does; He doesn’t teach us on the mountain top. He instructs us in the valley. And in the valley is where we find the proof of our faith and our salvation.
If we bail when the going gets tough, we have no faith in the saving power of God.
John 6:39-40 NLT
And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”
The good news is God also provides us with this faith to endure.
Everything we have, even our faith, comes by God’s grace. And through the trials in our lives, our hope is revealed and strengthened.
As Christians, our focus has to be on the coming glory of Jesus despite the circumstances that we face, good or bad.
We rejoice in times of trouble, and we celebrate in times of prosperity.
James 1:2-4 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Philippians 4:12-13 NLT
I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Our strength, power, and faith come from Jesus Christ.
The key here is not to run from the trials that come up in our lives but to “stand firm” in Jesus Christ, open to the strengthening of our faith.
It is our trials that are proof of our faith that comes by the hand of God.
And He isn’t going to let us go. His work will be done to completion, and there is nothing we can do about it. So buckle up!!
Philippians 1:6 NLT
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Heavenly Father, help me.
Help me look at the trials in my life as proof of the faith You have given me. Help strengthen me through these trials. And give me the confidence, courage, and strength to stand firm to the end.
I pray that my life is used to glorify You and that You provide me the courage and endurance to think, say, and do the things that stand as an example of life submitted to You.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
