Persistence

There are a lot of scriptures that speak about persistence and link that to faith. The idea of pressing on in faith until you see the answer.

1. What we must not imagine is the twisting of God's arm until He cries "uncle" and gives us what we are crying for. Don't misunderstand the parable for instance of the unjust judge. Jesus admonishes us: Luke 18:6-8
Then the Lord said, “ Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

I NO LONGER believe (note the change) that my crying out to Father is changing Him in any way.

2. Persistent faith is changing me. It is focusing MY attention on Jesus the miracle worker. It is stirring something in me. So, when I keep praying and praying and praying for the same thing--I keep focusing more and more and more on Jesus. I am not changing Jesus, He is changing me. Jesus is in process of removing whatever is hindering Father's will from being made manifest in any given situation.

3. Satan is an adversary and seeks to get me focused:
a) not on Jesus, but on my situation or my need
b) IF I focus on Jesus, Satan wants me to think of beating Jesus in a wrestling match to which Jesus' eventually caves in and gives me what I want (just in passing note the wrestling match Jacob had in Genesis 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. This is GOD wrestling Jacob and beating Jacob!)
c) Satan wants me to capitulate to the situation so that I begin to live in doubt. Doubt will defeat ANY measure of faith I have. Faith and doubt cannot live together--one of them will win.


The admonition of persistent faith is a call to focus on Jesus. LOOKING unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith-- or as J B Philips paraphrases this: "... let us run the race that we have to run with patience, our eyes fixed on Jesus the source and the goal of our faith..." (Heb 12:2)

Jesus, I persist in faith today--not backing you into a corner--for NO corner could ever hold you anyway--I persist today, because I must focus on YOU and YOU alone!

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