“If we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
2 Timothy 2:12-13 Berean Standard Bible
HELPS WORD STUDIES on ENDURE and DENY ~
Endure: Cognate: 5278 hypoménō – literally, remaining under (the load), bearing up (enduring); for the believer, this uniquely happens by God's power (cf. 1 Thess. 3:5)
Deny: 720 arnéomai – properly, deny (refuse); hence, contradict, refuse to affirm or to confess (identify with); disown (repudiate).
Psalm 37:5 encourages us to Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness”. The NAS reads ‘Cultivate faithfulness’ but the literal rendering is to ‘feed on faithfulness.
Another example, promoting endurance is found in Jeremiah 29:4-7. We learn Israel, even in captivity, was to increase and flourish. Life demands a continual awareness of the faithfulness of God. Good times, tough times, we need to pay attention to what we are cultivating in our lives. What are we feeding on? What are we giving consideration, observation or meditation to beyond the necessary routine affairs of home and work?
Moses set before the people the law and then told them to choose what they would hear and obey. The law was designed to bring life. Without adherence to the law, the default choice was death. Joshua constantly fed upon this book of the law. Assured that his obedience to it would make his way successful.
Jesus said ‘feed on me and live’. The daily cultivation of the word of God sustains and enables us to endure as we wait on His times. Without a daily diet we are tempted to question, doubt, and ultimately deny the validity of what God has decreed. Without endurance, we can’t increase.
We are told how to walk on water in the midst of a storm and shown that sinking always comes when we look at the storm, rather than at Jesus. I’m thankful for His faithfulness in those moments to reach out and save. This isn’t to encourage us to continue fretting and doubting while we consider our troubles. Jesus’ response to Peter ; “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
In these moments the doubting reveals what our trust is in. Doubting Him reflects a lack of trust or knowledge in His character. How awful it is to doubt the very nature of a God who is the epitome of a loving Father.
Our new covenant is established on the very nature of Gods innate character revealed throughout scripture. Let me concluded with just few scriptures to remember. These are foundational to our believing in the character of God and sufficient to hold us through any storm.
Exodus 34:5-7
The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him (Moses) and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty ….
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Romans 3:3-4
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? / Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
1 Thessalonians 5:24
The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.