A few years ago my wife and I took a trip to Branson MO. While we were there we decided to take a tour of talking rocks cavern. Just outside the visitor's center they have a huge wooden box with two openings a person can barely fit into. It said it was a speleobox (a box designed to simulate what it is like to crawl through caves.) Inside the box you wind your way through going up down left right and sometimes several directions at once!
On the outside of the box was a sign that reads, "WARNING!" Now to "challenge guys" like myself we do not see the word warning. We see, "I dare you to!" Under the large letters "warning," had a list of two warnings. The first said, "weight limit" (which I exceeded by at least 20 pounds.) I thought to myself, they always make those things a little lighter than they need to just to be safe. I was definitely the largest person that could fit (and that is still questionable) in that thing. The second warning said, "know your physical limitations," which in my mind I have no physical limitations (that is in my mind and not necessarily in my body). So naturally I climbed into the box.
This was one of the most physically challenging things I have ever attempted. Another thing stated on the outside was on average it takes 20 to thirty minutes to complete the maze. I was in the box for an hour and a half! There were times I was flipped upside down with my feet and head on two different levels pointing in the same direction. There were times I thought my life was going to end in that speleobox. My wife and one year old daughter were on the outside trying to encourage me, but we all know those times when you are in a frustrating situation and people try to encourage you. You just want them to be quiet and leave you alone. That is where I was.
I am a challenge guy. It doesn't matter how challenging something is I love to do things people think I shouldn't be able to do. There is no reason I should have ever climbed inside that speleobox, however, there is a reason I am a challenge guy...VICTORY IS SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Christian life is full of challenges. If you thought that being a Christian was going to be a "cake walk," you are probably finding that to be false. When we strive to follow God and to live conformed to the image of His Son, sickness still finds us, death knocks at our family members' door, our children disobey and fall away, people will dislike us because of our beliefs and practices, marriages struggle, people mistreat us, sin continues to find us, Satan attacks, we suffer, we suffer, we suffer! (You are probably thinking: this is supposed to be an encouraging blog? Wait for it...)
James reminds Christians in James 1:12 "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." We need to remember the people James were talking to were facing severe persecution. Now, I am not saying what you are facing isn't severe. However, even people who were being killed for their faith were reminded to persevere through the worst. Why? Because we have VICTORY IN JESUS.
Today I want to remind us that if we are Christians we have Victory in the Blood of Jesus. The Christian life is challenging. Continue to have perseverance and to take joy in the trials you are facing because you will have Victory in Jesus, and VICTORY IS SWEET!
If you are not a Christian and you are reading this, God loved you so much that he gave His son to die on the cross so that you too can have victory (John 3:16). Jesus died and rose from the dead so that we too can raise to live eternally with Him. Paul tells us in Romans 6:3-4 when that death and resurrection takes place for us. Talking to Christians reminding them of when they were raised new and living creatures (Christians), Paul says; "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
My prayer is that all would come to know the love that God has shown for us and the Victory that is offered through the blood of Christ. I hope and pray that all will come to know and believe in the Gospel of Jesus, that he died for our sins and rose from the dead. Through that belief I hope that all will confess Jesus as the Lord of their life and will repent of their sins. Then being baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit (Acts 2:38).
Finally, my prayer is for all who are living the righteous life as a new and living Creature, that you will persevere through the challenges in your life knowing that you have Victory in Jesus. VICTORY IS SWEET!!!
Blessings,
Jeremy
"Encourage one another, build up one another"
God bless you! I am enjoying reading about your youth and vitality. When i was young, i was very physically active as a ballet dancer, then teacher. Alot of the dares i faced were physical, as i got diabetes at age 8 & there were ALWAYS hurdles. I have been blessed with God's help to exist with it 56 years. Without Jesus i never would have made it. Movement is a constant dare for me now. But spiritual, artistic, and interpersonal challenges often still have me crawling along mazes. Thanks for getting me to reflect!
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