With every passing day we’re closer to the Lord’s coming.  This morning when I awoke, the Lord spoke to me, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”  That is found in Matthew 10:22. To me that was a word of encouragement, saying, Hang in there, you can do it!  He pointed out to me to pay attention to the word “saved”, which in the Greek is the word “sozo”, number 4982 in the Strong’s Concordance, which means;

to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): – heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

    In Matthew 24:7-13, the Lord Jesus said, For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.   And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

    We are seeing things now that I never thought could ever happen, for example, a man bringing lawsuit against two Bible publishers for making him feel uncomfortable because he is a homosexual.  I never thought society could stray so far from God. We’re seeing wickedness and lawlessness increase, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, wars, hatred against the people of God.  Folks, if this isn’t what the Bible said would happen in the end times, then I don’t know what is! 

    Some have called and said they are so discouraged and don’t know what to do.  I have an answer to that:  Just endure for this minute.  When this minute is over, do it for another minute, and minute by minute, you can do it.  This is really a time to be thanking God that He will not let your foot slip.  He has begun a good work in you, and He WILL finish it!  Hebrews 10:36 says, “For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”  Patience and endurance go hand in hand.

    Now, what advantage is it to you to endure?  Every reason!  First off, reviewing what the word “sozo” encompasses: to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, do well, be whole, don’t you want that?  Jesus is saying if you don’t endure, you won’t have all that.  That’s not “thus saith Jerry“, that’s “thus saith the LORD” If you want to debate that, don’t bother arguing with me, I’m just telling you what the Bible says.  Go argue with the LORD.  Think of this, if you throw up your hands and give up, you’ll stay right where you’re at.  If you’re broke, give up, you’ll stay broke.  If you’re sick, and give up, then you’d better learn to like it.  If you’re out there with the devil beating your head in, depressed, worried, without hope, if you give up, then nothing’s going to change.  There’s no salvation, deliverance, healing, or preservation from anywhere but the LORD. 

    Now, I’m not the smartest person in the world, but I’m smart enough to know who loves me and died for me to save, heal, and deliver me from the evil one.  If I don’t see the immediate results of my faith, and what I’m believing God for, I’m not moved, for I know God is always good for His word.  Nope, I’m not moving, and God the Father will not be moved, neither will the Lord Jesus, or the Holy Ghost.  So if someone’s gonna move, it’ll have to be the devil and his crew.  I’m going to endure, because the stakes are way too high not to.  What I have to endure for my remaining time in this life, versus the results for enduring, to be enjoyed for all eternity, is a mere drop in the bucket.  You tell me if it’s worth it or not.  That’s what Jesus looked at, too, and it got Him through the suffering and the cross.  Now He’s set for all eternity.  Was it worth it to Him?  Why don’t you ask Him?

    Of course, the devil WANTS you to give up.  That’s why he turns the heat up.  He’s hoping you’ll take the path of least resistance, like water does.  He absolutely hates you, and so do the people who work for him.  Many people give up after the devil turns on the persecution.  But some don’t.  I look at it like this; if I give up, the devil wins.  If I don’t, then I win.  Who do I want to win?  And who does God want to win?  God chose us to be His very own, because He knew we had the right stuff to overcome.  How can that be? Because He created us, He would know!  And when you feel like giving up, just cast those thoughts down in the name of Jesus.

    God has not brought you this far for you to belly up and fail!  Get those thoughts of failure out of your head, they’re lies from the devil.  God will bring His word to come to pass if you will refuse to be moved from your rightful position of a joint-heir with Christ Jesus.  Tell the devil to take a hike, because you’re having your healing, your salvation, your deliverance, and everything else the LORD has laid up for you, and he isn’t going to stop you, not today, not ever…..period. 

    Remember, the promise is to those who endure to the end.  How long is that?  Well, you endure till you get the promise, that’s all I know.  If you’re sick, you endure and stay on the Word until you get results and you’re well.  If you’re broke, you keep doing what God says to do until you’re not broke anymore.  Endurance: that’s a winning characteristic we all need.  If you want something bad enough, time is not important.  Getting it is all that matters.  Jesus could tell you all about that one, I’m sure. 

     You have one less day to endure now than you did yesterday.  Payday is coming!