Barns and Being Stedfast
Good evening sister saints!
How is your day going?
We made it to our destination for the evening and we're very thankful. We don't normally stay in truck stops but this is all there was for us on this leg of the journey but it's looking like a nice place to stay for the night. Praise God for all things:-)
Brother Jim gave me this idea for the post and it is about being stedfast in the faith.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
I love taking pictures of barns...
...so brother Jim said I should talk about how they are like "in your face" and rebellious against the culture and it's progress.
A lot of the barns we see were built many, many years ago and have withstood the elements of the weather. Makes you think about the Christians who have withstood the test of their faith in this wicked world.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12
One can only remain stedfast in the faith on a solid foundation of a biblical GOSPEL.
And one must remain faithful, enduring daily in Spirit and truth, obediently following after our Savior.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:21-24
Some only get so far then cave in to the pressures and temptations of the world.
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. Mark 4:13-19
And then some go from old age...enduring through the years until everything wears away from old age, having finished their work.
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:5-8
Maybe many of you have barn stories? Brother him said that there was a big barn in his past that he remembers sitting up in the haymow and one day when nobody was in it, it caved in.
I grew up on several farms and one time one of my older brothers who wasn't very nice to us, told me to stand at the bottom off the haymow ladder and he said 'catch' then threw a cat down on me. I'm sure you all can guess how much damage a scared cat can do to the face and arms of child. In also remember jumping down from the upper level to the lower level into piles of hay, itching for the next couple days because if it. Lol.
But anyway... We Christians can be like the old fashioned barns.
Not flashy or fancy but built on a solid foundation with strong walls and a solid roof.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Peter 2:9
Able to withstand all that Satan and the world sends our way and enduring our time whether the Lord comes to get us or we turn back into the dust from which we came.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:8-11
New barns, if they endure, will become old as well. Some built with better walls and roofs that others but all able to be destroyed if the foundation is faulty.
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12
Sometimes we may need help from older seasoned believers who help stabilize and reinforce our structure to help us along.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:14-21
But in all, we can withstand whatever pummels us if we remain stedfast in the faith, clinging to our Saviour and hold fast to the hope that is set before 
us.
us.
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began Titus 1:2
Brother Jim and I are here to help you in your walk to remain solid and grow old in the faith as those barns.
Just a simple post for a bit of encouragement for you:-)
