“…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”      1 Timothy 6:11b-12 (NRSV).
Please pray for this discovery group of seekers in Delhi. Babli, one of the ladies in this photo, is a new leader that Raj from the Karuna Vineyard is training. It’s exciting to see this group move to the next generation of believers to reach more of their peers in Delhi.

I love the apostle Paul’s use of a boxing metaphor to describe the Christian faith. Anyone who has watched a boxing match knows that there are rounds where a boxer is doing well and then there are rounds where they are not doing so well and taking a lot of hits. Paul is writing to young Timothy (and us) because he knows that being a disciple of Jesus does not eliminate suffering or difficulty from our lives. All of us will encounter seasons where we are doing great and we will encounter seasons where we struggle and even take some hits which is why Paul encourages us to pursue endurance and to persevere.

What does it look like to “fight the good fight of faith” and pursue endurance? First, we must remember that it is God who has called us into eternal life and it is his desire that we all fight with endurance so as to win. He is our biggest cheerleader! He is also our coach and he has given us his Holy Spirit to strengthen, encourage, and equip each of us for the long haul. 

Second, we join in the work of the Spirit by being intentional with our faith. Much like an athlete trains and conditions their minds and bodies to win we too must develop habits and rhythms of spiritual practices that will train and condition us to persevere no matter what we face. What might it look like for you to carve out intentional space in your life (and calendar) to engage in spiritual practices like silence and solitude, sabbath keeping, Lectio Divina, and the prayer of examen? I encourage you to take small steps in being more intentional this week with your habits and rhythms and pressing in to what it means to pursue endurance and persevere.
(this was shared by a friend of ours, Marty Reardon at Trinity Anglican Mission)

Let me know if you need help with how to do any of these practices and our prayers are with you as you go!