Steadfast And Steady As You Go Psalms 57:7-10 Psalms 112:5-8 Joshua 10:25 James 5:10-11 Philippians 3:10-16 Isaiah 35:3-4 Romans 12:12 Psalms 51:10-12 11.16.20

 

STEADFAST AND STEADY AS YOU GO

BREAD

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. ⁸ Awake, my soul!  Awake, harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn.  ⁹ I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  ¹⁰ For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Psalms 57:7-10 (NIV)

 

⁵ Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.  ⁶ Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. ⁷ He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.  ⁸ His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.   Psalms 112:5-8 (NIV)

 

²⁵ Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”  Joshua 10:25 (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)

 

¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.  Philippians 3:10-16 (NIV)

 

³ Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; ⁴ say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”   Isaiah 35:3-4 (NIV)

 

¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12 (NIV)

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.   Psalms 51:10-12 (NIV)

 

BUTTER

“Be patient, hold steady through the days that lie ahead, and know that the trials and sufferings are working toward a consuming glory.”   Frances J. Roberts

“Oh that I may be roused out of my slumber, and be watchful and ready against the coming of my Bridegroom...Even the wise virgins fell asleep.  Let this be a warning to me, O Lord.  Set thou a guard before my eyes, ears, and other faculties, lest the world again should enter through these avenues of the heart; if the spark be not speedily extinguished, it will soon break out into a flame:  thus sin is of a progressive nature, and its venom spreads very quickly and very wide, unless it be stopped and opposed in time.  Watch, therefore, over this unsteady heart of mine, O Thou Keeper of Israel; that as soon as it begins to wander from Thee, I may be alarmed to flee from sin as from a serpent.  Give me grace to look upon every hour as my last; so that being ever wisely upon my guard I may meet Thee with joy when my time is run out, whenever it shall please Thee to call me hence.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

 

“Until a man learns how to take a blow and keep on standing he will never produce a steady walk of faith.”   Alan Stewart

“The problem with unsteady commitment is not centrally a problem of the will; it is rather a deficient belief.  We simply do not believe that the God who tells us to remain committed…is good.  It follows that the basic cure for weak commitment is renewed faith, not rededicated effort.  Urgings to ‘love your wife and submit to your husband whether you feel like it or not’ fail to lay the axe to the root of the problem.  Unless God’s goodness is clearly established as the context for obedience, such exhortations will at best keep the weeds of anger and dissension from spreading.  They will not expose and rip out the hidden, flourishing root system whose flower is the ugly growth of broken promises…Obedience to God’s orders deepens our awareness of His goodness, and our awareness of His goodness provides motivation for further obedience.”  Larry Crabb

“A field has to be broken open before it can grow anything up.  Just stay steady.  No fits and starts – just stay steady.  Trust it as it comes.  I hear too… nod too. Steadiness is a balm to brokenness.”   Ann Voskamp

“It is vastly important where our steady gaze remains – fixed on Jesus – as we traverse this dusty earth on our way home.  It is easy to grow weary and loose heart without a proper focus.  He gives us everything we need to do His will.  We don’t muster “it” up because “it” is not in the flesh.  The flesh will fizzle out while the Spirit is a steady stream of achieving power and joy and peace as we remain in the center of His good and pleasing and perfect will.   It is the best place to be – hands down.”  BHY  

“‘Unfair,’ says some voice within us.  ‘That’s not right,’ says another.  Desires become expectations; expectations become rights.  And instead of bringing our disappointments to God, and allowing His words to steady us, we let unmet desire fester into discontentment.  We grumble.”   Scott Hubbard

“God is honored when we approach his words as those that revive the soul and rejoice the heart, as those that are more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey. The summary and culmination of Psalm 119’s unashamed tribute to God’s words is this: great reward. He means for us to experience his words as ‘my delight’, as ‘the joy of my heart’, as ‘the delight of my heart’, as ‘kindling for the fires of our joy.’  God gives us his own life-giving words to steady our souls and the souls of others.”  David Mathis

“All we have is in His loving, capable, Hands and His heart is as tender as His arms are strong.  We can trust Him with our lives and the lives of those we love.  Convert fear into faith.  How steady is His Hand to guide me through this world.  My needs shall be His care. Make your faith a defiant response.”  BHY

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.  Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.  Commend all to God, and then lie still and be at rest in His bosom.  Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God……Maintain a holy simplicity of mind, and do not smother yourself with a host of cares, wishes, or longings, under any pretext.”     St. Francis de Sales 

“How to be pure?  By steadfast longing for the one good, that is, God.”  Meister Eckhart

“Immerse yourself in God’s Word, apply what you learn, and He will fan into flames the fire of your passion which keeps you yearning for further still and creates within you a pure and clean heart and a steadfast spirit.  Nothing this life offers equal this.”  BHY

“God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring—that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.  There is a lighthouse out at sea: It is a calm night—I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm. The tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit's work: If it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we would not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we would not know how firm and secure it was. The masterworks of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties steadfast, unmovable-- Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory. The one who would glorify his God must be prepared to meet with many trials. No one can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts are many.  If, then, yours is a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will be better able to display the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, never dream of it--hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now should be trusted to the end.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg

HEART SAVOR

·         Remain steadfast and steady through all the trials and tribulations of life knowing He is with us, empowering us and creating in us the image of His Son purifying us from all sin.  Everything He allows has purpose.

·         Our God steadfastly loves us with an undying love – He even rejoices over us with singing.  He desires our lives both for our good and His glory never one surpassing the other.  You can trust Him with your life.

·         Finish well. Stay steadfast and steady as you go forth.