Luke 21:19

“By endurance you will gain your lives.”

            The context of the verses before is when Jesus is foretelling the wars and persecution that will come at the end times. He told us that we would see persecution and wars and condemnation toward us, but He will give us the wisdom and ability to contradict it all and fight against it. In this verse, Jesus is telling the people that if they endure then they will gain their lives, even if they lose it. This is a promise from the Lord that if we hold steadfast to Him that He will give us eternal life through His blood that was shed for us. So, even if we die fighting for Jesus or we get persecuted and mocked, He will give us true life because we endured with Him.

            Enduring in the Lord is something that I struggle with. I get my eyes, heart, and mind fixed on other things in my life. I get focused on my past struggles of anxiety or depression or frustration at myself for messing up instead of focusing on the cross and what the Lord has brought me through. When we endure with Him we ultimately gain our entire lives. He is the only one who can give us true life and satisfaction and the ability to endure. I will never be able to fully fix my eyes on Jesus apart from Him doing it in me. I won’t be able to find His promises of endurance, life, and peace in Him if my eyes aren’t fixated on Him. I should come before Him in prayer asking for guidance and endurance and the ability to fix my eyes on Him. Our lives before Christ are nothing because we are dead spiritually, but when we know him and have a relationship with Him, He gives us life. My life is not my own, it is the Lord’s.

Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This life that I live isn’t mine to do whatever I want with. It is for the glory of the Lord. He is true life. When I endure with Him, He will carry me and be right there with me even when none of the odds are in my favor. He is always growing us and working on us in every situation, good or bad. My application for this is to pick a verse that talks about peace in Christ and write it down every day in my journal to remind me of His promises to me.