PERSEVERE
BREAD
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition
from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews
12:1-3 (NIV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games
goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we
do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore
I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating
the air. 27 No, I beat my body
and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not
be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by
faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God. 3 Not only so,
but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, 3 because
you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James
1:2-4 (NIV)
10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face
of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those
who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what
the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5:10-11
(NIV)
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be
richly rewarded. 36 You need
to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what
he has promised. 37 For in
just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 10:35-39 (NIV)
38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 10:35-39 (NIV)
5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's
perseverance. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NIV)
BUTTER
“He who
perseveres makes every difficulty an advancement and every contest a victory.” Charles Caleb Colton
“By perseverance the snail reached the
ark.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Patient
endurance kills the despair that kills the soul; it teaches the soul to take
comfort and not to grow listless in the face of its many battles and
afflictions.” Saint Peter of Damaskos
“Our fight is to be a
fight of faith, and the moment we doubt, our fight ceases and our rebellion
begins.”
Hannah
Whitall Smith
“If
there is one doctrine I have preached more than another, it is the doctrine of
the Perseverance of the Saints even to the end.” Charles
H. Spurgeon
“What is needed is
not mere present professions, but perseverance to the end in the power of
faith.” Ignatius
of Antioch
“The perseverance
of the saints is only possible because of the perseverance of God.” J. Oswald Sanders
“Authentic Christian love is exhibited through labor. What kind of labor? The labor of sacrificing. The labor of forgiving. The labor of persevering. The labor of stretching oneself out to the very limits of endurance in service to God and others. Any so-called ‘love’ that does not labor is mere sentimentality.” Michael Youssef
“It costs much to
obtain the power of the Spirit: It costs
self-surrender and humiliation and a yielding up of our most precious things to
God; it costs the perseverance of long waiting, and the
faith of strong trust. But when we are
really in that power, we shall find this difference, that whereas before, it
was hard for us to do the easiest things, now it is easy for us to do the hard
things.” A. J. Gordon
“Many of life's failures are
people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas A. Edison
“Be of good cheer. Do not think
of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set
yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you
will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to
attain something beautiful is ever lost.” Helen Keller
“Only the man who follows the command of
Jesus without reserve, and submits unresistingly to His yoke, finds his burden
easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the
right way. The command of Jesus is
hard—unutterably hard—for those who try to resist it.” Dietrich
Bonhoeffer
“I make it my priority to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I maintain a simple attention and a fond regard for God.” Brother Lawrence
“Storm the throne of
grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.” John Wesley
“Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” Sir William Osler
“Faith raises the soul above the difficulty, straight to God Himself, and enables one to stand still. We gain nothing by our restless and anxious efforts….It is therefore true wisdom, in all times of difficulty and perplexity, to stand still – to wait only upon God, and He will assuredly open a way for us.” C.H. Mackintosh
“Whenever I haven’t known what to do, I’ve just tried to do what comes next, to take the next logical step by faith. I’ve decided that sometimes plodding is better than plotting when it comes to finding God’s will.” Robert J. Morgan
“So,
take a deep breath and recall this deeper secret of the Christian life: when you are in a difficult place, realize
that the Lord either placed you there or allowed you to be there, for reasons
perhaps known for now only to Himself.
The same God who led you in will lead you out.” Robert
J. Morgan
“He
knows the way He taketh,” even if for the moment we do not.” J.I.
Packer
“God’s
will will never put us where His presence will not sustain us.” Robert
J. Morgan
HEART
SAVOR
- · Believers are to persevere in the faith through the achieving power of the Holy Spirit.
- · God sustains us where His will puts us. There is always purpose in His plans for our good – always!
- · Our best course of action is to fix our gaze on the Author and Perfecter of our faith Who does not grow tired or weary and Whose understanding no one can fathom.
