I am writing a book on Christian Ministry Mentoring but for almost a year, I had put it on the back burner. I have in the last few months made significant progress on the book and will be completing it shortly and submitting it to an editor for a manuscript analysis. I will share more about that in a later blog. For this week I want to share a powerful principle of which I have been reminded as I reflect on what Jesus endured on the cross.
Any time you do try to do anything to improve yourself or to make the world a better place you will meet with resistance. Existing systems within yourself and your environment seem to take on a personality which maliciously conspires to stop you from fulfilling your mission and purpose. And undoubtedly the enemy of our souls is part of that resistance. One of the ways the apostle Paul explained it this: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” (Romans 7:21–23, NIV). He then points to God who delivers us from this struggle through the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it is not always an instantaneous deliverance. The pathway to that deliverance usually involves perseverance, endurance, and persistence. So how can you sustain that? Jesus shows us how it works. As he faced the humiliation and suffering of the cross, he focused on “the joy set before him” and “endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, NIV). He kept his eyes on the ultimate prize. He persevered through the resistance because of the joy set before him–the joy that comes from an accomplished mission of providing salvation for humanity. There are undoubtedly many spiritual resources you can draw on to push through the resistance. At least one of them is to keep your eyes on the ultimate prize as Jesus did.