8/15- Perseverance

Devotional using scripture, quote from John Calvin and thoughts for the day each day- on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?.. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, [m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31ff).

Calvin: “There is no other reason why some persevere to the end, while others fall at the beginning of the course. For perseverance itself is a gift from God, which he does not dispose on all discriminately, but imparts to whom he pleases.” (II.5.3)

Thought: Our own strength is small, and even that is a gift from God. I once knew a huge weightlifter who caught a rare illness that devastated his body. Even the strongest of us is vulnerable. The ability to persevere through the trials of life and the crosses is itself a gift from God. We are called to persist and be faithful, however, because Christ is faithful and persisted for us. Today I am sending my son off to college (he is a freshman). My prayer for him is to be faithful to God, and to grow in his faith while he is away. Calvin certainly persevered. He was exiled from his home country, robbed, ridiculed, kicked out of Geneva, faced family illness, his wife died, they had three miscarriages/still births. Yet he did a tremendous amount of good- and attributed it all to God.

Prayer: Our help lies in you, O God. Help us to persevere through the heartaches and problems of life. Help us to find you hope, joy, and strength. Keep our eyes focused on the finished line.

5/21- How do We Keep Faith?

Devotional using scripture, quote from John Calvin and thoughts for the day each day- on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:7,8)

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Rev. 2:4,5) To those who are victorious and do my will to the end I will…give authority over nations (2:26), I will make pillars in the temple of my God- never will they leave it; (3:11); I will give the right to sit with me on my throne (3:21)

Calvin: There is no other reason why some persevere to the end, while others fall at the beginning of the course. For perseverance itself is indeed also a gift of God, which he does not bestow on all indiscriminately, but
imparts to whom he pleases. If one seeks the reason for the difference — why some steadfastly persevere, and others fail out of instability — none occurs to us other than that the Lord upholds the former, strengthening
them by his own power, that they may not perish; while to the latter, that they may be examples of inconstancy, he does not impart the same power. (II.5.3)

On this day (1536) Geneva declared itself Protestant. Ironically, today there are more Roman Catholics (39.5%) in the city than Protestant (17.4%). In 1816 the city allowed Catholic parishes within its bounds. On June 30, 1907 the city declared a separation of church and state. Since World War II the city state has steadily lost its Protestant population base.
Many Christians in the West are losing their faith (down 8-10% in the USA in ten years), while the faith is growing in China, Africa, and South America. There are many reasons for this from a secular point of view: 1) The secularism of the West, and the cutting out of the government’s even subtle support of the faith. 2) The accompanying degrading of a corporate day of rest and worship (time for God); 3) The sexual revolution and its accompanying rebellion against scriptural principles; 4) The Enlightenment idea that we are the judges of religion instead of religion judging us. 5) A lack of desire to believe the scriptures and a scholarly justification of that through hyper-criticism of scripture.
There was a study done concerning those who grew up Presbyterian and were still Presbyterians as adult, to find out what they had in common. The study basically found that those who went to summer camps or on mission trips as youth tended to keep their faith as adults. Those kind of retreat settings allow those in a secular environment see what it might be like to live as Christians in a non-secular, God-centered, believing environment.
In the end, Calvin had it right. We can go to camp, go on a mission trip, read the scriptures on our own, attend church regularly, but we still could fall away. Perseverance is a gift from God as much as anything else. So we should ask God for the gift of perseverance for our young people, and for the next generation. We need to ask that God would move again in our midst.

Prayer: Lord, you are able to keep us from stumbling. In a world full of darkness, keep our light shining that we might glorify and bless you. Move again, by the power of your Holy Spirit, and renew, reform, and remake us.

4-21 Perseverance

Devotional using scripture, quote from John Calvin and thoughts for the day each day- on the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Calvin: There is no other reason why some persevere to the end, while others fall at the beginning of the course. For perseverance itself is indeed also a gift of God , which he does not bestow on all indiscriminately, but imparts to whom he pleases. (2:5.3). “The righteous …will be remembered forever.” [Psalm 112:6.] And
another, “The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants.” [Psalm
34:22.] For the Lord often leaves his servants not only to be troubled by
the lust of the wicked but to be torn and destroyed. He lets good men
languish in darkness and filth, while the wicked almost shine among the
stars. And he does not so cheer them with the brightness of his
countenance that they enjoy lasting happiness. For this reason not even
David disguises the fact that if believers keep their eyes fastened upon the
present state of things, they will be smitten by very grievous temptation,
as if there were for innocence neither favor nor reward with God. So very
greatly does impiety prosper and flourish, while the company of the godly
is oppressed by disgrace, poverty, contempt, and every kind of cross!
“My foot,” David said, “had almost stumbled, my steps had well-nigh
slipped …while I was envious of the prosperity of fools, while I saw the
good fortune of the wicked.” [Psalm 73:2-3 P.] Yet he concludes his
statement: “I pondered whether I could understand this, but it is a torment
to my spirit, until I shall go into the sanctuary of the Lord and perceive
their end” [Psalm 73:16-17] [II.10.16]

This week in Calvin’s life was one of his roughest. This was the week that he was kicked out of Geneva in 1538. Calvin hadn’t wanted to go to Geneva in the first place, and went primarily because Farel threatened him with God’s wrath if he didn’t answer God’s call. But after answering the call, Calvin was told by the Council in Geneva to go somewhere else. So this week in my blogs we’ll look at suffering and perseverance. Before we look at suffering, let us look at our resolution to persevere in suffering, and perseverance in general.
There is perseverance through suffering and there is perseverance to salvation. For Calvin, these things are not necessarily separate, just distinctions in the same act. When we persevere through suffering, we are making it closer to the end. Perseverance through both suffering and to salvation is a gift of God.
Today some are giving up on their faith. There are so many pressures. There are many skeptics out there who would encourage you to doubt just for the sake of doubting. There is not the external supports to the faith as there once was. When I was a child the public schools in the south basically supported the Protestant church beliefs. But now (right or wrong) there is little support. Many are giving up because the churches are wavering on their belief themselves. Churches have been dividing at rapid rates since the mid-1960s. It is not a conducive atmosphere for peace and inspiration. So some just stay home.
Calvin has a word for us today. In his day the church was divisive. Every doctrine of the church was thrown into question (which is why heretics like Servetus were springing up). Sometimes the best people were being kicked out of church (as Calvin was kicked out of France and then Geneva). On top of that there was little physical comfort in Calvin’s day. While Calvin lived to 54, the average person of his time lived to about 40. There was no heat, ac, lights, indoor plumbing, antibiotics, washers/driers. It was hard to get access to the best of writings (no google searches back then). There were no computers much less typewriters or copying machines to help with writing. Yet Calvin wrote voluminously. Calvin persevered through his wife’s death, at least three miscarriages, rejection of his writings, being mocked by those in Geneva and those outside. He lived in fear for his life. He had very few possessions at all. Yet he persevered to the end. He is a living testament to perseverance. Calvin believed that the passages in scripture that spoke of the good being blessed must be interpreted in the light of persevering to heaven. While it is possible that God blesses in this life, the ultimate blessing is found in heaven (II.10.16). I believe Calvin's perseverance warrants that we listen to what he has to say.

Prayer: Help us, O God to not give up. Give us grace to persevere in the face of temptation, sin, and the headaches of life.