Look UP!

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls ."
Hebrews 12:1-3

God knows that Christians need encouragement.  Weariness and discouragement are real adversaries faced by every Christ-following believer.  God has given me great encouragement today not only from Him but from His people.  At times I was filled with great excitement about the wonderful things God is doing in the lives of my brothers and sisters.  As if right on cue, the devil attacked my heart and mind through a conversation with a person very hostile to the idea that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

God has provided spiritual armor through the Holy Spirit to protect our hearts and minds.  Because God has taken my heart of stone and replaced it with a sensitive heart of flesh I am vulnerable to biting and harsh words.  When God speaks in His still small voice I can sense Him, and I also have come to recognize through much pain the hostile tone of the accuser and enemy of my soul.  I need not take a single word of Satan to heart.  How the devil rejoices to burden us with guilt and wound us with baseless lies.  He labours continually to trip us with temptation, bring shame upon us through our failings, and mock us in our weakness.  The devil delights to back a child of God into a corner through worthless arguments and debate.  But it is unwise and unnecessary to stoop to his tactics for it is written in Matthew 7:6:  "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."

When we feel discouraged or are wounded through harsh words, may we remember to look to Jesus and consider He "who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."  Jesus endured all the mockery, scorn, and power of the devil and rose victorious!  He did not escape from the hideous trial of faith:  He faced pure evil and experienced death only to cast off the bonds with new life!  The same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead indwells every follower of Jesus Christ and empowers us to endure without weariness or discouragement.  This is hard to fathom given the condition of the world and the deceptions of our own flesh.  But the promises of the Word stand true and we accept them in faith!

Praise God for the encouragement we have in the person of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit!  May I continually avail myself of the strength only found in waiting expectantly on the LORD.  Psalm 27:14 says,  "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"  God is no liar and His Word is true!  Look up these promises yourself believer!  Look up to Christ and consider Him with thankfulness and joy, praising Him for His faithfulness!