| Mark 4:17,19 17 But have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time; afterward, when affliction or persecution rises for the word's sake, they are immediately offended. [Every believer who takes up the inward cross of self-denial will eventually undergo trials of their faith with affliction and persecution. Some will be offended and fall away, back into the world. "By your steadfast endurance do you possess your soul." Luke 21:19. You must endure to the end when you enter the kingdom while still on the earth. From the Word of the Lord within: "Accept everything; take offence at nothing; just sit and wait. We deliver."] 19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. | |||||||||