Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Rev. 14:12.
In his book Pure Desire Ted Roberts defines the Greek word for patience as "integrity in the midst of personal pain." It is one thing to maintain integrity when things are going well, and quite another to do so in the midst of personal pain or opposition. Integrity is about being who you really are, even when no one's looking or when the consequences are severe. The opposite of image, integrity is about being consistent and being real no matter the outward circumstances.
Integrity often gets lost in the little things. A man says, "I love my wife," and then flirts with the girls at work. A woman acts like a saint at church, but flies into a rage at the kids when she gets home. A husband's primary goal should not be respect on the job or with his friends, but respect from those who know him best. It takes a lot of integrity for anyone to retain their family's respect year after year.
As with the saints of Revelation 14:12, integrity happens when we keep ourselves constantly aware of God's kingdom and His presence. "Who will know if I do this?" Joseph knew the answer to that. God will know. But when we lose that sense of His presence, little impurities creep into our lives and compromise integrity. And without integrity disaster lurks just around the corner.
In 1912 the Titanic sailed for America from England. A new method of construction led its builders to declare it unsinkable. But when it struck an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic, it took only a couple of hours for the ship to sink, carrying more than 1,000 passengers into the depths with it.
For years people wondered, Why did the ship go down so rapidly? How could the unsinkable ship have sunk so quickly? Some answers finally came when searchers discovered the wreckage at the bottom of the ocean. They were able to recover some of the steel plating from the hull, along with the rivets that had held the steel plates together. Analysis of those objects indicated that the steel contained a high level of impurities. This weakened the hull and the rivets, and in the icy waters of the Atlantic, the metal became brittle. The small impurities in the steel helped compromise the integrity of the ship and led to disaster.
When God's saints pass through the icebergs of the end-time, they will have an integrity not shattered by opposition or even personal pain.
Lord Jesus, You endured the cross for me because You had Your eye on the big picture (Heb. 12:2). Keep my eyes on you when I'm tempted to let the little things slip.
In his book Pure Desire Ted Roberts defines the Greek word for patience as "integrity in the midst of personal pain." It is one thing to maintain integrity when things are going well, and quite another to do so in the midst of personal pain or opposition. Integrity is about being who you really are, even when no one's looking or when the consequences are severe. The opposite of image, integrity is about being consistent and being real no matter the outward circumstances.
Integrity often gets lost in the little things. A man says, "I love my wife," and then flirts with the girls at work. A woman acts like a saint at church, but flies into a rage at the kids when she gets home. A husband's primary goal should not be respect on the job or with his friends, but respect from those who know him best. It takes a lot of integrity for anyone to retain their family's respect year after year.
As with the saints of Revelation 14:12, integrity happens when we keep ourselves constantly aware of God's kingdom and His presence. "Who will know if I do this?" Joseph knew the answer to that. God will know. But when we lose that sense of His presence, little impurities creep into our lives and compromise integrity. And without integrity disaster lurks just around the corner.
In 1912 the Titanic sailed for America from England. A new method of construction led its builders to declare it unsinkable. But when it struck an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic, it took only a couple of hours for the ship to sink, carrying more than 1,000 passengers into the depths with it.
For years people wondered, Why did the ship go down so rapidly? How could the unsinkable ship have sunk so quickly? Some answers finally came when searchers discovered the wreckage at the bottom of the ocean. They were able to recover some of the steel plating from the hull, along with the rivets that had held the steel plates together. Analysis of those objects indicated that the steel contained a high level of impurities. This weakened the hull and the rivets, and in the icy waters of the Atlantic, the metal became brittle. The small impurities in the steel helped compromise the integrity of the ship and led to disaster.
When God's saints pass through the icebergs of the end-time, they will have an integrity not shattered by opposition or even personal pain.
Lord Jesus, You endured the cross for me because You had Your eye on the big picture (Heb. 12:2). Keep my eyes on you when I'm tempted to let the little things slip.
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