| 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 a trial of their faith with affliction and persecution. Some will be offended and fall away, back into the world. "By your firm and patient endurance do you [possess] attain the true Life of your souls." 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. | |||||||||