The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance

February 22nd, 2012 by JDVaughn Leave a reply »

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).
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February 22, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, I used to wonder how I could be certain that You would answer my prayers; and I knew that certainty was (and is) an essential ingredient for the faith necessary to see my prayers manifest. Nowadays I am more and more certain that you will answer my prayers, when I am connected to and with You. When I am connected and in relationship with You, Your will seems perfectly clear.

And God says…”This is the confidence you can have in approaching Me: that if you ask anything according to My will, I hear you. And if you know that I hear you—whatever you ask—you know that you can and will have what you asked of Me. The key is to get into relationship and stay connected so that you are living, breathing and praying in My will. It is an exciting and peaceful place to live. You live in eager anticipation, wondering what amazing thing I will do for you and those you love and pray for, while at peace about the timing of it all. ”

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