"Overpowering Purpose.."

"But rise and stand upon your feet,

 for I have appeared to you for this purpose…" 

Acts 26:16 (ESV)

overpowering-purpose

"forever ago to forever from now"

"But the LORD’s faithful love is from 

forever ago to forever from now

 for those who honor him.

 And God’s righteousness 

reaches to the grandchildren."

Psalm 103:17 (CEB)

"Perseverance"

"Be still, and know that I am God…"

Psalm 46:10

Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere…” (Revelation 3:10).

(My Utmost for His Highest- February 22)

Spiritual perseverance

"...even to old and gray.."

"Even to your old age and gray hairs

    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

    I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Isaiah 46:4 (NIV)

"By this all will know"

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:35 (ESV)

" no one like you.."

"Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind;

 no one like you has been before you and 

no one like you shall arise after you."

1 King 3:12 (NRSV)

"Thy love to me was wonderful."

"O my dear....,

I’m crushed by your death.

Your friendship was a miracle-wonder,

love far exceeding anything I’ve known—

or ever hope to know." 

2 Samuel 1:26 (MSG)

"this far surpassed the highest degree of conjugal affection and constancy. See here,That nothing is more delightful in this world than a true friend, that is wise and good, that kindly receives and returns our affection, and is faithful to us in all our true interests. That nothing is more distressful than the loss of such a friend; it is parting with a piece of one’s self. It is the vanity of this world that what is most pleasant to us we are most liable to be distressed in. The more we love the more we grieve."(MHC)