2 Timothy 2:1-5 KJV
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

There is different types of endurance. The other day I was talking to my husband of whether or not the bumper of the truck was strong enough to hold a hammock swing when camping, If it was possible to attach it it it we had one. Now it sounds like a dumb question. Yet the thoughts on what the bumpers today are made of came to mind. The strength and endurance of really old cars are far greater then the models today, yet most would say because my vehicle is old and has endured more then 20 years, it a pretty hardy vehicle. Yet older trucks that come out of open field or even old shed seem to have endurance of even longer, yet vehicles do in their own time frame rust away. Nothing man made that has a destructible variable. I began to think how great of a hit can that bumper take of our truck, how much could it pull or claim to be able to pull if a small utility trailor was behind it. Then I realize the question was dumber then the response I got. There is a point that bumper can pull over 3000 lbs if the engine can handle it. The heart of the truck would fail before the bumper. In life our hearts will fail long before our endurance. Humanity endurance is strong, but our ability to live is not based on our endurance of what life throws us, it based on our physical limitations. There is spiritual endurance and that is based on the love of God and not our physical heart, though it can be effected by the race God sets before us to run. Spiritual endurance to love despite how many times they nail you to the cross, beat you, cause you trouble and hurt you. Spiritual ability to love despite the pain of what man has done to you. To continue the race. Paul re-enter places he been and was persecuted, his faith in God was not doubt tested. We can shut our doors and never walk where we been persecuted or we can continue to love. That is more then spiritual faith, but everyday life. How we deal with it, is can we love like Christ?

Not everything we come against as anything to do with our faith but it does have everything to do with our reaction. When we choose to believe to follow Christ in faith sooner or later we have a test of our endurance of our faith. It maybe one event in time that break our faith, or we think it might have, but deep within we find faith is still intact our reaction to the trial terrible. Our reaction to events terrible because of shock, human mind not able to receive what it preceived. In truth our humanity is our crushing blow of our spiritual faith. Our humanity of our reaction. For Christ say Father forgive them for they know what they do, is a great mystery to all that have suffered in life because of the hatred of mankind in someway. The religious leaders hated what Jesus was teaching and doing because of his popularity, his good works, and he seemed to be breaking their tradition(legalism of their laws), but in reality Jesus was obeying his Heavenly Father in his belovent work. Sometimes Jesus even rebuke the religious leaders.

What persecution comes from is with in the church world is normal, no Christianity not suppose to be like that. Love, love, love is what we are to do. We are not to become like religious leaders of Christ day that need rebuke Christ because of lack of obedience to God's word and understanding it fully has it was written in regards to faith and love. Our mine set not on the ten commandments but on God's grace that took that law and measured us by and still said to the world I love you and I sending my Son, to say the law was established to point out our sin, to show where we need improve in our life. Need to repent and work in areas of righteousness by faith and not the law. God will warn you of sin, things not recorded yet in scripture man/women do. If we keep the whole law then we are not without sin the answer would still be no. One sin against God would be preventing someone from worshipping God as well as obstructing their legal right to do so under the legal law of government. Some countries the legal law to worship God is forbidden, that government is breaking the first law of command of God's people to worship him, and so they do privately, because prayer, takes no physical action in the sense of performing prayer. Nothing can stop a man, women or child from praying as they walk to work or school, in a store, in the middle of terrorist attack and so forth.

We know that all those religious leaders when they had the time to go and sit and listen to Jesus did so, but not while they were working. Jesus dealt with them love, persuavive speech of truth and endurance to their rage, until the insurrection of the money tables being turned over and Barabbas killed. It the blaming of the teacher of the actionsof the student we see in Jesus. More then that the religious leaders seen Jesus as a trouble maker for the nation of Israel, going against Roman law. They choose the Roman law over faith, no they allowed the wrong man to face death for the wrong reason. Nothing changes it. Christ even still love the Jewish people, they were his people and are still his people that have faith as Abraham, and come to the saving faith through Christ Jesus under the new covernant establish through Christ death and resurrection. Christ was obedient to God even in death, even in clearing of the temple, and even unto his resurrection to love those who persecuted him.

Can we love the way Christ loved. Can walk in Christ footsteps. Some of us can and some only think they can, but none of us can do it without Christ in us. To love a Christ in some situations take an act of God in a believers life. The turmoil we see in city streets on the news is simply people learning to love despite gun fire and I think mercy on them for they are able to see to love still. Not all far as well. No doubt correction to those that kill will be force to face jail time if proven guilty by the law of the land. Does it help those that find themselves in need to forgive. I think in truth forgiveness takes Christ sometimes, Legal system can not heal the heart or even judge the crime with a long sentence to justify those seeking revenge. Legal system is only there to correct the problem. If it can not correct the problem then it fails at being a justice system. Love and forgiveness as no bearance on legal system if we go by the law alone.

There are three laws in man that he lives by the law of faith if he has faith, the law of the land as long as it breaks not God's law of love and worship, and the third one is social law that some break without cause or because of a lack of knowledge, that forgive unless it cross legal law. Religious law commands a believer to forgive as Christ forgave, but it does not stop legal laws from happening. Paul paid for crime more then once by the legal law of area, but also the religious law of the synagogue he went into. He knew he was facing the laws of the book based on the understanding they knew their Messiah Emmanuel had come.

f Persecution of the Christian faith comes with ignorance like anything that introduced without understanding unless it understood with a prior decision. Homosexual today are persecuted. They are sinners just like the rest of the world even believers have sinned. Now Christian we have a job to love the homosexual and treat them with human decency even if we consider their behavior indecent. God turned people including homosexual over to their decison not to do things his way. (Romans 1) Let us reason can they harm you only if they abuse you. Their life hopefully behind closed doors is only where their mating rituals lie. Now with that said can our country obey the law and respect these people's rights? Teach love first, and remove bullying from your own actions. You do not have to live with them in their home or on the street. There room on earth for everyone. Treating someone with hate never solved anything.

Our endurance is based on love based on our cross, based on our lessons in life to love. Based on if we learn the easy way or the hard way. Whether our heart grows like the grinch, or whether we remain harden to love Christ who came to redeem us and set the sinner free from sin if they would believe. Let God change people, and allow God to change your heart as you run the race with the endurance from persecution, from the enemy you learn to out whit and out play, because you have faith in God and Christ Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father teach us to love as you love, giving us the endurance in our faith to bear our cross of obedience to you. Help us to love those different and allow you to change them. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: 1 Peter 2:19-25 KJV
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.