"Patient Endurance"

My daughter and I have been working our way through the book of Revelation. I noticed something the other day and today seemed like the perfect day to write about it. The last sentence in Revelation 13:10 says "This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints." Revelation 14:12 says "This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus." I guess I noticed the verse in chapter 14 because I realized it was so close to one I had just read the day before, in chapter 13. God has a really cool way of pointing things out to us when we miss it the first time!

As I've been reading about all the horrible things that the world is going to have to face during the end times, I am constantly reminded that Christians don't need to fear the end times because we know we are on the winning side! That doesn't mean the end times are going to be easy for us! The persecution and other difficulties are going to be very hard and the true Christians will be weeded out from those who call themselves Christians but haven't given their entire lives over to God. We very well may be faced with having to make the decision to die for our faith or having to watch our loved ones die for their faith. True Christians will know that no matter what happens, we need to stay faithful to God and not turn away from God when things get rough or dangerous.

It seems impossible to think of being patient during a long period of persecution, but we have the assurance that we have an awesome reward waiting for us if we successfully endure those times. No matter what happens, we know that one day we will be in heaven for all eternity with our Lord and Savior. That is something Satan cannot take from us! He may try to harm our physical bodies, but he cannot harm us spiritually. Our physical bodies may die, but our spirits will live forever with God! One day (and I belive it is going to be soon!), we are going to see our Lord! We are going to be able to bow down and worship the One who died for us so that we could live with Him in Heaven for all eternity. Now that's something to be thankful for!!