The word ‘work’ has many definitions. Today I want to look at this word as a potter works water into dry clay. That is the meaning I give to Isaiah 32:17. It says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.” Think also of Philippians 2:12 which says, “…work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

2 Peter 1:5 says that we are to add some inner graces to our faith. We can use add as we use work. We need to work these graces into our faith like the potter works water into clay. Instead of kneading clay, we knead our faith with: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.

James 1:3-5 was written about our trials. In verse 3, the J. B. Phillips says that we are to welcome them like friends. If we resist our trials, the work of patience will not be accomplished. Verse 4 says, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

How does the Lord word patience into our lives through our trials? He uses impossibilities. Facing the impossible allows the dross in our faith to rise. Impatience is usually the first one. The hidden lie of ‘I need to do something’ rises to the surface. Waiting is another way that causes our fleshly impatience to come out of hiding.

We are a work in progress. The Lord is using His orchestrated trials to develop a deeper dependence on Him. He uses them to reveal Himself to us in a new way, and to bestow benefits that we lacked. The dross is always something fleshly that blocks His work of righteousness in conforming our thoughts, purpose, and actions to His will.

The progression is seen in Romans 5:3-4. The Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance, and endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character (of this sort) produces (the habit of) joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.”

If it was not for our trials, we would never develop the character qualities that exemplify the Lord to others. Our trials are His wondrous works, working His righteousness into our hearts that can not come in any other way. How do you welcome friends into your home? Joyously, and with hugs and words of welcome. How do we do this with our trials?

It is all in our perspective. When we truly believe that our trial is His best, we will be able to follow His example. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy set before Him. That joy was us! He knew that if He did not die we could not live with Him through eternity. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Let us be good stewards of the trials He has entrusted to us.

I want to start with Psalm 145:9 again. It says, “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Five times in this Psalm, we find ‘works’ in David’s words. You can read them for yourself: verses 4, 5, 9, 10, and 17. We are part of His works. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship. 

It is essential to remember that every trial in our lives is covered with His tender mercies. Tenderness is one of the Lord’s attributes. We are bid, in 2 Peter 1:4, to be partakers of His nature. How many folks do you personally know that exemplifies the Lord’s character of tenderness? It is a rarity. Why?

Colossians 3:12 is our mandate. It says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.” The Amplified helps us. It says, “Clothe yourselves…by putting on behavior marked by) tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, (and) patience (which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper).”

Tenderness is a heart issue. When there is any unresolved issue in our hearts, it will block any heart response of tenderness. Colossians 3:12 is bursting with truths that will keep us free to serve the Lord with gladness. I want to unpack it a little bit. It’s too full to cover in one sitting.

Tenderness is a character quality that is only revealed through one who is wholly submitted to the Holy Spirit. I think a cousin to tenderness is gentleness. Here is Strong’s definition of gentleness: a disposition that is even-tempered, tranquil, balanced in spirit, unpretentious, and that has the passions under control. The person who possesses this quality pardons injuries, corrects faults, and rules his own spirit well.

Let’s look at this from Ephesians 4:22 and 24. It says, “That you put off, concerning your former conduct…and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Sandwiched in between these two verses, verse 23 says, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” 

If there is bitterness in our heart, we have to deal with that first. We cannot ‘put on’ the new man’s character over the old man’s carnal behavior. We must take off the bitterness through repentance. Then we renew our mind. Let’s let Ephesians 4:31 speak. It says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” When we recognize the fruit of our emotional walls, we can correct our course.

Tenderness in our interpersonal relationships is God’s strategic tool to tear down emotional walls ~ ours and others. When we exemplify this character quality of the Lord, we are His shining light that will dispel the darkness in other’s hearts. Folks with emotional walls are prickly. Our physical or emotional pain is never an excuse for being caustic, bitter, or ornery. We are called to walk as Jesus walked. Luke 6:35 says, “…He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”

In reading the book of Ruth this time, the character of the Lord that stood out was His mercy. Deuteronomy 23:3 says, “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever.” Yet, Ruth was a Moabite. 

Here is Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. Ruth 1:16-17 says, “…your people shall be my people, and your God, my God…The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” Boaz commended her. Ruth 2:12 says, “The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

We know from chapter 1 that Naomi was a bitter woman. Have you ever lived with a bitter person? It is not an easy road. Ruth showed Namoi unconditional love. She respected her and followed her advice. Ruth had a generous nature. When Boaz let Ruth eat with them, she ate until she was satisfied. Ruth 2:14 says that she kept some back for Naomi.

Boaz had a generous spirit. He spoke to his reapers. Verse 16 in the Amplified says, “And let fall some handfuls for her on purpose and let them lie there for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” Notice what Naomi says in verse 20 about Boaz. “…Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!…” 

Boaz honored Ruth with his words. Ruth 3:11 says, “…for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.” When she left the threshing house, he lavished grain on her. Verse 17 was Ruth’s recounting to Naomi. “…These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.”

Bitterness creates an emotional wall around our spirit. We were created for love. It imprisons us through toxic thoughts. The bitterness causes caustic acid to drip down upon our neural connections, destroying their pathways. It also causes chemical changes in our bodies. Our health suffers. Naomi’s heart was full of inner defilement. Remember Hebrew 12:15 about the bitter roots? They defile us and those around us.

Yet, Ruth did not allow Naomi’s bitterness to affect her spirit. She was leaning on the Lord. She found her refuge in Him. God brought a Moabite woman into His land, to live with His people. He miraculously intervened through His mercy to strategically set Ruth in His own blood line. How amazing is that! Boaz married Ruth and she had a little baby named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse who was the father of David.

Watch now how the Lord used Obed in Naomi’s life. The women of the town blessed Naomi with these words about her little grandson. Ruth 4:15 says, “And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, she is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” The Lord, in His mercy, in our Restorer and Nourisher. Psalm 145:9 says, “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.”

Emotional walls become a prison of our own making. We are called to freedom in Christ. He came to set the captives free. That’s a gift for everyone. Those who choose His gift enter into an abundant life. Those who don’t? They remain captive to the prince of the power of the air, who works diligently to keep them bound in sin.

John 15:16 sets the record straight. It says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” Truly, what do we lack? 2 Peter 1:3 says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him…”

We lack because we do not know the Lord intimately and His provision for us. James 1:1-5 was written about our trials. Verse 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him.” Open ended offer. I smile as I type this. Colossians 2:3 says, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Ah, the key is walking in the fear of the Lord. Psalm 34:9-10 says, “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him…those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

Psalm 25:14 Amplified says, “The secret (of the sweet, satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His  covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner) meaning.” We can camp right here. We enter into all that the Lord has for us through our intimate communion with Him.

Emotional walls barricade our hearts. They become a garrison that we hide behind. Though they are a figment of our imagination, they were built in deception to keep us believing that they work. 2 Timothy 2:26 says that the enemy uses them to keep us captive to do his will. He hates God and will do everything possible to keep us from truly entering in. Enter into what? Experiential knowledge through our life-giving relationship with the Lover of our soul.

I accepted the Lord when I was eleven. I was thirty years old when I fell into the ravine. It was during my bedridden years that He wooed me. He looked through my walls and drew me to Himself in a way I had never experienced Him before. It was all His doing. All I did was respond. He brought me out to bring me into an intimacy that still sustains me.

Our chains don’t stop His love, Our walls don’t keep Him out. We are the ones who wall off our hearts. Though this is speaking to the Corinthians, hear these words from the Lord to you about your walls. 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, “…Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you…”

Dichotomy means a contrast between two opposing things. We see this played out in the heart of Naomi. By the way, her name means pleasant. During the famine their family went from Bethlehem, Judah to the country of Moab. In Ruth 1:8, Naomi spoke well of the Lord to her two daughters in law. She indicated that God was kind. The Hebrew word for kind is hesed, which means a covenant love relationship. 

She told them about God’s loving kindness, but could not receive it for herself. Verse 13 says, “…the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!” Note the exclamation point. As I read this passage yesterday, I realized that she had an emotional wall erected in her heart. Her husband died, her sons took wives, and after ten years they died. Naomi heard that the famine had lifted. She decided to go back to her land. As she entered her city, folks thronged out to greet her. She shocked them.

Listen to her words. Ruth 1:20-21 says, “…Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty…the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.” Her erroneous accusations against the Lord were spoken from behind her emotional wall. She had allowed her circumstances to make her bitter.

Bitterness is always a choice. God’s covenant love never changed, but her heart did. Her emotional walls caused her heart to be dichotomous. She believed lies that separated her from receiving His love. She knew the kind character of God, yet she was not a partaker of His nature of kindness. She saw Him as vindictive.

I used to be like Naomi. That was years before I learned the truth about my thoughts. I didn’t blame God, but I blamed myself. I lived behind my emotional walls of self-hatred and self-rejection. It was a very lonely dark place. No one, nor any circumstance changes our outlook. It is always our choice as to how we process the hard things in our lives.

Our emotional walls block His light, love, peace, joy, and comfort. We wall ourselves off from His provision. Nothing can separate us from His love. Let me remind you of Romans 8:38-39. It says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is our positional truth. Yet, we often in our state of mind, refuse to believe it. I didn’t for years. Oh, I believed it for you. I just had bought into the lie that I was the exception. Even as I type it now I marvel how that lie controlled every aspect of my life. That is how the lies of the enemy work. Remember, not every thought comes from our own origin. 

David had a prayer that we can adopt for ourselves. Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” David’s request was for God to give him singleness of heart. We know from James 1:6-8 that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Knowing about God’s character, but not walking as a partaker of His nature reveals a dichotomous heart. What lies are you believing that keep your heart divided?

As I sit down to type this, Jesus’ words about Nathaniel come to mind. John 1:47 says, “…Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” 1 Peter 2:21-22 says that we are to follow Jesus’ example, “…Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.” Hebrews 3:12-13 says that the deceitfulness of sin hardens our heart.

Think about walls. They block light, warmth, and restrict access. Emotional walls do the same. Paul addressed a group of folks about this very issue. 2 Corinthians 6:11-12 says, “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.”

Emotional walls are built through self-deception. We ‘think’ they will keep us from being hurt again. Yet, in truth, they block what we need the most ~ heart connection with others. 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

In my High School years I heard this definition of fellowship: two fellows in a boat, rowing together. Paul wrote some amazing words in Philippians 1:7-8, “…because I have you in my heart…how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.” Verse 9-10 recorded his prayer for them. “…that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment…that you may be sincere and without offense…”

It is likely that we built our emotional wall because someone offended us when they sinned against us. Anytime we sin against another we open them up for offense. Jesus told His disciples that offenses would come. They are a given in our lives. How we react or respond is in our court. 1 Peter 1:22 says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth…”

What truth are we supposed to obey? Ephesians 4:29-32 is our mandate. Verse 32 says that we are to, “…be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 says, “Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another…even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

An emotional wall blocks our love. 1 Peter 1:22 continues, “…in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” The verse started out that God’s way to purify our heart is through obedience to His word. What part of His word have you not obeyed? Matthew 18:35 says that we have to forgive those who have hurt us from our heart.

We cannot have an open heart of forgiveness with our emotional walls in place. They have to be torn down through confession of our sin, renouncing the lies that we have believed, and turning away from self-protective measures. God’s way is openness, transparency, speaking truth in love, and releasing our hurts to Him the moment we are hurt. It is harboring the festering hurt that jamms our emotions.

What are emotional walls? They are lies, facades, deceptive plots, self-delusive, inner strongholds, and they are self-protective measures that are futile. So why do we build them? We are deceived into believing that they will protect our heart from further hurt. They are only in our mind. That is actually good news. It means that they are figments of our imagination, therefore we can dismantle them through truth.

It is good to review this truth before I write anymore. Isaiah 49:16 says, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your WALLS are continually before me.” I like to link this with Song of Solomon 2:9. Though this is the picture of the Shulamite’s beloved, I like the word pictures. I read this verse as though the stag is the Lord. 

It says, “My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; he is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice.” The Lord see through our walls. Nothing in our life is exempt from His eyes. Think about after Jesus’ resurrection. His disciples were in a room. Capture these words in John 20:26, “…Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst…”

Walls in the natural are designed to surround. Think of the walls around Jerusalem. See the walls of Jericho in your mind. They were wide enough for chariots to ride on. Yet, they fell flat under God’s direction. Joshua 6:5 says, “…that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat…”

What emotional walls have you erected? An inner vow builds a strong emotional wall. Have you ever said, “I will never…!” That is an inner vow declaration that is rooted in emotional pain. Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.” Vows are made to be a binding contract. What have you bound yourself to? We have NO control over our lives. The only thing we do have control over are our thoughts. 

Here is a character of Jesus that we can be partakers with. He is Self-Existent. That means that He has no boundaries, no fences, no walls, and no barriers. When we exemplify Him through character quality, our hearts would be free as well. As we dwell in Him, as He dwells in us, we become more like Him.

How do we rename our walls? First of all we need to recognize that our walls were erected without Him. Therefore they are sin. When we confess our emotional walls as sin, Isaiah 30:13-14 illustrates what happens. It says, “Therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.”

And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water from the cistern.” In other words, there is nothing left for the enemy of our soul to keep us bound with anymore! Now we can walk in Isaiah 60:18 which says, “…you shall call your walls salvation, and your gates Praise.”

We are made in the image of God. We are created to walk upright, not only physically but spiritually. In the natural, we have to first stand before we can walk. In the spiritual, salvation gives us standing in grace. Romans 5:2 says, “Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Ephesians 1:4 says, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” That is the beginning. Jude verse 24 gives us the end. It says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless  before the presence of His glory  with exceeding joy.”

1 Peter 1:15 says, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Our standing never changes. We stand in His grace, holy and blameless. Our state is another aspect altogether. Think about your state of mind at any given moment. Where does your mind go when you are facing an impossibility? What are your thoughts when you worry? Things like doubt, fear, worry, anxiety, anger, or unrest come from our state of mind.

Isaiah 26:3 clearly puts the responsibility for our thoughts on us. It says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” No one makes us think a certain way. All our thoughts come from our heart. Therefore it is our heart that we need to focus on. We can ask the question: What is in my heart?

In order to walk in grace, we have to first stand in it through our thoughts. Remember my grace box? His grace is sufficient. It is through standing in His grace that we are empowered to resist all temptations to sin. All sin is first a thought. I encourage you to read Psalm 15. It is God’s template for walking in grace. Verse 2 says, “He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.”

Here is an example from my own life. In 1967 I bought my first house. It was 720 square feet with two bedrooms. I acquired a roommate. Then we had a friend that wanted to move in with us. No room. I looked at a larger house. It required a $1500.00 down payment which I didn’t have. The Lord specifically told me to not borrow money for the downpayment.

This house was my desire. It was in my heart. One day I walked into my bank. Mildred called me over to her desk. She said something like this: Marilyn, we have something new. It is called a line of credit. You can borrow, say $1500.00 and pay it off in installments. Let’s jump to James 1:14. It says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” To make this short: I paid for that disobedience for 10 years!

We reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked…” James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.” When we entertain unrighteous desires, we leave the door open for satan’s deception. Mildred’s innocent words to me, opened me to a temptation I did not resist. I did not stand in His grace, but gave into my fleshly desires and reaped a storm of consequences.

I had a dream Sunday morning. It was about a man of God who strayed from the truth. Can you imagine what Moses felt like when the Lord told him how the children of Israel would act after he died? Deuteronomy 31:16 says, “…Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land…they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.”

I finished the book of Deuteronomy, and then started to read the book of Jude. Verse 3 says, “…I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Why was he exhorting them? 

Verse 4 says, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed…who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude wrote to believers. My dream was about a believer. We need to stay alert. Everything we hear preached needs to align with the truth of God’s word. If it doesn’t, and we continue to listen, it will erode our faith. 

Paul warned his son in the faith. 2 Timothy 2:18 was about two men, “Who have strayed concerning the truth…and they overthrow the faith of some.” The youth pastor I knew, passed on his erroneous doctrine of grace, and destroyed the faith of a good number of his youth group.

Think about all that you know about grace. Grace is a gift. We are saved by grace. We live in that empowerment which sufficiently enables us to persevere in all our trials. It is His special endowment, but it is not a license to sin. Romans 6:15 says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” 

Years ago our youth pastor was led astray by a false teacher. He unreservedly embraced the erroneous doctrine that you can sin because there is grace to cover that sin. That is not what Romans 5:20-21 says, “…where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God’s righteousness is His heart-work of conforming our thoughts, purpose, and actions to His will ~ NOT away from it. Romans 12:2 tells us to not be conformed to this world’s system. Ephesians 2:3-4 wrote about those in the system, describing us before salvation. It says about the prince of the power of the air, “…the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh…”

That was Jude’s warning. We need to heed it today. There are those who preach a manmade doctrine of grace. Grace is so precious, but we block it when we live in sin. Sin breaks our fellowship with the Lord. 1 John 1:6 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

We miss His provision of grace: when we use it for a license to sin, hold unforgiveness in our heart, walk in pride, and seek to do things in our own strength. Rather, let us diligently search our heart. What are we believing about grace in this very moment? Then let’s humble ourselves so that His grace can flow freely into our needs. His grace is indeed sufficient.

Colossians 1:11 says, “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.” Grace is the catalyst for endurance with joy. I think back to the folks in Hebrews 10:32-33. In their reproaches and tribulations, they endured great struggles with sufferings. It set them up for what verse 34 says, “For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods…” Why? The verse goes on to say it was because of their eternal perspective.

The writer was encouraging them to maintain that perspective. Verse 34-35 says, “…knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.” The next words are timeless truths that we need to take to heart in our own trials. 

Verse 36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Our trials are the will of God. They are never punishment. They are loving corrections administered through His heart for us. They are His best, and through them He supplies what we lack. 

The word ‘endurance’ in the Greek means ‘to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat’ (my Bible’s note about hupomone). Let’s take Jesus’ example of endurance. Hebrew 12:2 says, “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore…” What is the therefore? Verse 15 says that we have a High Priest that can empathize with our suffering. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree…” Not just your sins and mine, but the sins of everyone in the world. Think of the most despicable person. He bore their sins. The anguish He went through is not comprehended by us.

Back to our verse in Hebrews 4:16. We are bid to come boldly to His throne of grace, “…that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Paul learned a huge lesson from his thorn in the flesh. It was when he acknowledged his weakness, God’s grace was there to sustain him and help him endure.

Ephesians 3:16 Amplified says, “May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the (Holy) Spirit (Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality).” His grace-strength comes to reinforce our inner being so that we are able to endure with joy. Joy is the high water mark of one who is an authentic follower of Christ.

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Matthew 6:20-21 says to, “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 says that we do that, “While we do not look at the things which are seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”