The definition of the word that’s translated, endurance, means patient and courageous

in trials or circumstances that are difficult. So, it’s different…it’s still patience, but now it’s patience to wait, patience to endure, patience to trust the Lord in the midst of our circumstances.

Did you know that some of the greatest witnessing you’ll ever do, is when you have the courage to remain patient in difficult circumstance? I can’t tell you how many times in my life and ministry that I’ve overheard people say of believers who are facing their trials with courage and patience, “Man, whatever they have, I want some of that!”  Because, they could see that when hard times came, these believers had peace, they still trusted in the Lord; they still had joy in their hearts, even though things were difficult.

“Maturity is Christ is actively mastering the ups and downs of life.”

Endurance has to do with a heart that says, “God is in control. He knows; He loves me, and He’s going to help me.”  You know one of the things I’ve learned about trials is It’s not just about getting through. It’s not just about God helping you survive it. God always has a greater purpose in our trials than just our survival. He will build something amazing into our lives through the trials as we patiently endure.

God will use the hard times to make us stronger.  It’s like lifting weights. You don’t grow until you move to heavier weights, this breaks down the muscle, and leaves you sore. But, when that muscles heals, they will be bigger and stronger than before. That’s what God does with our trials…He allows us to be broken down a bit, in order to build us up even stronger.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:26

He doesn’t promise that every circumstance in our lives will be good or enjoyable, but He does promise that He will make those tough times work for good in the long haul.

Timothy saw this kind of endurance in Paul’s life and he was blessed and prepared by his example. When we patiently endure in hard times, we grow stronger and live a life that impacts others as well.  

- Pastor Stan

Why are we so hard on others, yet so easy on ourselves?

If we want to live a great way of life, a life of impact, we must practice patience… because people who are patient with those they interact with are people that others want to listen to, be around, and learn from.  Impatient people aren’t a good example of the Lord, and people don’t want to associate with them on a regular basis. Patience would lead us to be caring and understanding when it comes to the flaws and weaknesses of others.   That is very appealing to the people we hang out with.

Ephesians 4:2 tells us to be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

I remember, many years ago, I was the speaker at a youth camp and I was on the basketball court with the kids, which I loved, but there was college player there and he was just hammering me, hitting me hard. Pretty quickly my attitude became, okay, bring it on! You know, that guy thing that can kick in when someone’s pushing you?

Well, it got really aggressive, and people watching were clearly getting uncomfortable. In fact, a couple of people went to the camp director and said, “Man, Stan was out there battling, and he was intense!”

The director said, “Yeah, I know. He can get that way sometimes, but he’s a good guy, with a good heart…he’s just got some growing to do.” Now, the camp director could have blasted me a good one, because I deserved it…I mean, I was the camp speaker, after all. Instead, his patience with me, and his belief that somehow the Lord was going to work something into my life, really blessed me, and more importantly, it spurred me on to be a better person for God and for my friend.   My friend gave me the gift of patience and believing the best about me.

Giving the gift of patience has an amazing effect on the lives of those who receive it.

This causes people to want to grow, and to become all that the Lord would have them to be.

A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly. Proverbs 14:29.

God wants us to be patient, like Paul was patient, so we can live a life of impact. So we can have joy in our hearts, and not worry so much about everything and get ourselves riled up. Paul was patient – it was a good example for Timothy, and it’s a good example for all of us.

Patience leads to a great way of life…a life of impact!

- Pastor Stan

Stay tuned…Parts 3 of “A Great Way of Life” is still to come!

Timothy knew that Paul was the real deal, and that he lived the same kind of life that he preached. Paul and Timothy had been close friends, working together in the ministry for fifteen years. You can’t fool someone who’s been close to you for that long…they know the real you…they know your way of life!

I often say, people would rather see a sermon, than hear one any day…and Timothy had spent many years seeing the sermons in Paul’s life.  Here was a man, Paul, who had been in prison for some time, and would, in a very short time, be dying a martyr’s death for his faith in Christ, and yet that faith did not waver.

In fact, not only did it not waver, it was strong enough that he continued preaching, teaching, and bringing the lost to Christ from his prison cell!

You see, Paul wasn’t just teaching, he was showing, and the goal of our lives should be the same. To live in such a way that the people who are watching…and if you claim to be a Christian, believe me – they ARE watching…would see a true faith and want to follow Jesus themselves.

So, what makes up a great way of life? One of the things we see in Paul’s life mentioned in the scripture above is faith. If you want a great definition of what faith is, go to Hebrews 11, and read that whole chapter. Here’s a peek:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Do you know that there will be times that God puts something in your heart that you won’t be able to see the evidence of in the world around you, but He wants you to believe Him for it anyway?

There’s an old story of a tight-rope walker who stretched a cable over Niagara Falls, from the Canadian side to the US side and then, in front of a huge crowd, walked all the way across. When he reached the US side, as the crowd was cheering, he grabbed a wheelbarrow and shouted out, “Who here believes I can make it back across with this wheelbarrow?”

One man in the crowd shouted back, “I believe!”

“Great,” the tightrope walker replied, “climb on in!”

The man quickly changed his mind.

There will be times in your life where God will ask you to get in the wheelbarrow.

When you look at the circumstances around you, sometimes they won’t make any sense…in fact, they may even feel dangerous. There will be risk involved.  Risk and faith go together, because if there’s no risk, there’s no need for faith.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you want to blindly follow any bozo who tells you, “God said so.” No, you need to confirm that what you are hearing is the voice of the Lord, asking you to step out . That’s when you delve into the Word, and listen to the Holy Spirit, and seek counsel from those you trust.

But, once you confirm that you really have heard His voice, and you’ve confirmed it, you need to climb in and go.

Are you ready to get in the wheelbarrow?

- Pastor Stan

Stay tuned…Parts 2 and 3 of “A Great Way of Life” are still to come!

If you’ve never connected with God this way before, try taking  five or ten minutes…or even a half-hour every morning, to pray. God knows what’s going to happen in your day. He knows what you need.

I don’t know what can happen in my day…I have a schedule, but I’m at the mercy of what’s really going to happen, and my schedule doesn’t always reflect it.  God knows, and he wants to help. He knows if I’m going to need to change my schedule, so I can be on His schedule instead of mine, and he wants to lead and guide me.

Did you know that you can have a conversation with God all day long? You can actually be walking down the corridor at work, right there in your place of business, and talk to God without anybody knowing.

You can say, “Lord, help me. God, that person’s mean to me. I don’t know why they do that. Help me to love them the right way.” You can say, “God, help me to have the wisdom to get this deal right, so that this company I work for will be blessed.”

We can actually be in conversation with the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords all day long, and when we are, it does something to set our spirit right.

It’s a funny thing…when I kneel down to pray, God never speaks to me about what my wife is doing wrong.  Now, maybe that’s because she hardly ever does anything wrong. She’s about as close to perfect as you can get. No, He speaks to me about what I’m thinking and doing, and He tells me how I should respond, and how I can love Karen better, but He never tells me what’s wrong with her…He’s too busy talking to me about me!

I believe that when we’re people of prayer, we’ll find out how God wants us to respond to our spouses and other people in our lives. When we obey His word, when we talk to Him in prayer, the Holy Spirit will move and direct our lives.  That still small voice will speak and say, “This is the answer…”

We need to pray.

1 Thessalonians 5:17  Pray continually. (NIV)

In America, we think that money somehow equates to happiness so we pursue and gather much of it.  However, isn’t it true that Americans are largely unhappy?  If you really look at our nation, there is much depression, sorrow, and heartache among us.

I don’t think there’s ever been a generation in America that is as wounded in their spirits as this one is. As a result, I don’t think there’s ever been a time in the history of America when it was easier to lead people to Jesus. What Americans need is not money. What they need is to know how much Jesus loves them, how He has a plan for each of our lives and how much He wants to help each one of us.   When we see these things and start to follow God with our whole hearts, then joy, peace and fulfillment and, yes, true happiness will be ours.

Matthew 11:28

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  (NLT)

They can do what they want to do, but I am going to stand and proclaim that Jesus is the way.

How is He the only way?

He’s the only way because He’s the only begotten son of God. He’s the only one who was sent by God the Father to come to this earth as a man. Because man had sinned against God, a price had to be paid.  Jesus was the only one who could pay that price, because He was a spotless lamb – He never sinned.

The wrath of God, which we deserved because of our sin, had to fall on Jesus.  He paid the price for our sin, and He’s the only way because He’s the only plan God gave to reconcile us to Him.

Acts 4:12  “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (NIV)

You can’t choose another way, because there isn’t one!

Jesus is the only way.

There’s an enemy out to get you; there’s somebody trying to knock your house down, he’s like the big bad wolf…he wants to huff and puff and…well, you know the rest!

John 10:10 says, “The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy.” That’s talking about our enemy, Satan. He wants to hurt you and your family. God says, “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”

There’s a lie that’s out there that I want to address. The lie says this:

“When I give myself completely to God and immerse myself completely in him I lose the fun stuff in life.”

I’m here to tell you, that’s a lie!

Donnie Moore, a great evangelist, says, “God didn’t come to take away your fun, He came to take away your pain.” As you look at the verse above, understand that God’s not coming to take away your fun. There’s nothing about God, that’s going to cause you problems, or make life worse. When you get into God, you find blessing, all of life gets better, and it’s an amazing adventure.

“Anyone who listens to my teaching, and obeys me, is wise – like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise, and the winds beat against that house…” – Matthew 7:24

Understand this, Christians…those of you who love Jesus, it says that the rain will come, and the wind will blow. The stuff we may hear on television, or maybe even from other Christians, that says, “If you live right, you’ll never have any trouble, any problems”…that’s a lie from the pit.

Jesus said the wind will blow; trouble will come our way.

That’s why we need to have Him as our foundation. Because when we do, the Word says that, even though these things come, the house won’t collapse, because it’s built on the rock!

- Pastor Stan

You must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

There’s no other way.  This is the foundation. If you want your home to stand and to last, it must be built on Jesus Christ.

When I was a young man, fifteen years old, I got my first job, working for minimum wage on a construction crew. I had to travel from Dallas, Oregon to Corvallis (about thirty miles) every morning to work. When we walked up to the first site where I was going to work, it looked like a very nice house to me. It was a little aged, but the exterior was nice. I asked my boss, “What are we going to do here?” and he told me that we needed to replace the foundation.

I remember thinking; It looks pretty good to me.

Then we went inside and I saw that all of the floors were warped, the walls leaned, and the whole house looked to be on the verge of collapse. My boss told me that, many years ago, someone had built the house on great timbers, but they set those directly onto dirt.  Now, those many years later, the timbers were rotting and the foundation wasn’t any good. Everything looked great on the outside, but it was rotting away on the inside.

Did you know that can happen in a marriage, as well?

We look good when we show up at church! Everything’s nice, and the smiles are there…and nobody can see the pain. No one can see our sagging floors, our leaning walls…not yet.

However, when the foundation is firm, it’s not only the exterior that looks good, but the interior is just as solid, valuable, and long lasting.

On that first job site, I had to dig two ditches – east to west all the way underneath that house.

Think of that. Digging, dumping stuff into a bucket, dragging it out, and then going back in with short handled picks and shovels digging up dirt. Then we went the other way, north and south, digging two more ditches. Next, we had to jack up that house and replace the timbers, and then pour a new concrete foundation under there. Then, when we let the house back down, everything was level.

Once the foundation was right, we could move into the house and fix the floor and walls, and everything was made good.

Today, that house in Corvallis is still standing, because the foundation is good.

“But anyone who hears my teaching, and ignores it, is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. Then, when the rains and floods come, and the wind beats the house, it will fall with the mighty crash.”

You must build your house, and your life, on this foundation…if you want it to have all of the fullness that God wants you to have.

Jesus asked, “Why do you call me Lord, and not do what I ask you to do? Why do you call me Lord, and not obey my commands?” There is something about foundational living that says, “I’m totally His, and I want to follow him with all of my heart.”

When we have Him as our foundation, life goes better.

The book of Psalms says this, “Unless the Lord builds the house. The work of the builders is useless.” Another version says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor, labor in vain.”

A relationship with God, an understanding of His love, and obedience to His word… all make a difference for growing a great family.  It doesn’t matter where you are, you may have a wonderful marriage…you can still grow.  An old adage says, “If you think you’ve arrived, you have.” If you think your marriage and family are as good as they can be, then they probably are…because you’ve stopped moving forward.

The beautiful thing about love; those couples we see who stay together for decades and decades, is that their love continues to grow, when they’re working at it. If you’re single, don’t be alarmed, if you’ve been divorced, and you feel alone, don’t worry. God wants to take each of us where we are now, and help us to grow!

If you’re married, He wants to make your marriage better. If you’re single or divorced, he wants to prepare you for the wonderful relationship he may have waiting for you. If you’re young, maybe even a teenager, you can learn now to love the way God wants you to, and find great blessing in your future.

He has something for all of us!

-Pastor Stan

How I know that?

Look at the lives of our politicians, even this week. There is yet another one who was unfaithful to his wife, and is going to step back from his office and let someone else be elected because he’s not electable anymore. He’s going to lose his family, as so many have before.

It doesn’t have to happen, but if we are unfaithful to the Lord and to people, we lose influence, and we lose out on what God has for us. If you want to have an impact in your life and be a good influence on your kids, on your coworkers, on the people around you, the people in the community, and the people of the world…you have to be faithful!

Here’s what it says in Proverbs 11:3 – “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

I love that word, “duplicity.”  It means that they’re saying one thing, but it’s incongruous with the way they’re living. It may not even be hypocrisy in the mind of that person, but ultimately, it is, because when you say one thing with your mouth, publicly, and yet live another thing privately, it can only lead to damage and destruction.

The Bible says: “That which is secret, will eventually be revealed.”

I used that Scripture, and talked about duplicity, in a service almost twenty years ago. Afterward, someone came to me, who wasn’t living right, and shared with me for the first time that they weren’t living right. I remember meeting with that person, and their wife, later and feeling the pain and the destruction that came out of all the sin that had been hidden.

When we live a life of duplicity, we’re going to have a result that is damaging.

“That which is secret will be revealed.”

“You reap what you sow.”

John Maxwell says that talent is a gift, but character is a choice. I would add that your character will make a lot more difference in your life than your talent. As a matter of fact, your talent will be spoiled and squandered before the Lord if your character can’t back it up.

It’s the way we live that impacts people.

God-given gifts are just things. If you play well, or sing well, or speak well, or do business well, those are all God-given gifts, that He’s bestowed upon you. You didn’t do it, He did it! You can get better at the things He’s put in you, but He’s the one who put them there.

Our character, however, is completely up to us. Will we do the right thing? You may ask, how can we make sure?

We get in the Word, and we read it every day. We apply it to our hearts; we get in accountability groups, and we walk with people. We stay connected and learn to tell our brothers and sisters when we’re having thoughts that are wrong. We pray together and we stay on the right path, because it’s important to us.

It’s your life, and you’re going to determine whether you’re going to be faithful and have character!

Psalm thirty-four verse three says, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord; who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

God love purity.

God works through character in our lives. Our lives become impactful when we live for Him, with a heart to be faithful.

- Pastor Stan