Ever blessing, ever blest
“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:2-4,13 Angelic directions are common for Joseph Matthew. 2:19-20
Hosea 11:1 ‘out of Egypt I have called my son’ Jesus from birth endured hostility, and his earthly father Jospeh as his faithful protector guided him safely to Egypt. Your heavenly Father guides you through your hostilities as well. (Matthew 23:9) Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. Hebrews 12:7-11 NIV. Like Jesus you can know the protective power of your Father and his Kingdom. “Do you think I cannot call on my Father?” (Matthew 26:53-54)
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91:11
To the One Who Endured
How do I do the same, today?
Didn’t your stomach growl
and the hot sun make your head ache
When you walked the desert for forty days?
Was it easy for you to believe
That the Father was with you the whole time?
Did He speak when you wanted,
or did He speak at the last moment
When you thought you might die
From the pressure?
To the One Who Endured
Did their gossip make your Spirit sad?
Did their sleepy uninterest make your Soul lonely?
Did their mocking make you ashamed?
How did you endure?
When did you know that the mountain you climbed
Wouldn’t end in death?
To the One Who Endured
Will you help me today?
Will you help me up the lonely mountain way?
Will you teach me to pray?
The path is narrow and I’m afraid I might miss the next step
The pain in my feet is distracting me from your voice
The uncertainty of what’s to come
through the high rocky slopes is
Making me want to turn around
To the One Who Needs to Endure
Listen, look!
The One Who Endured is here
The keys of death dangle from His finger
His belly laughs with delight at the rocky way
His hand now grabs your right one
His blood now pounds in your chest
Those many waters of old
Are flowing through your very ear!
Those eyes of flames warming your icy core!
The mountains melt like wax before you
And the way becomes smooth
The Endurer has come
The Endurer lives in your very bones
Giving strength when strength is needed
Giving blood where blood is needed!
Giving peace where peace is needed!
Praise the One Who Endured!
—Stacey Meekhof
Pray for endurance. Consider these words from Robert Murray M’cheyne
When old companions, old lusts, and sins crowd in upon you, and when you feel that you are ready to sink, what can save you, sinking sinner? This alone – I have a high priest in heaven, and he can support in the hour of affliction. This alone can give you peace – I have a high priest in heaven. When you are dying – when friends can do you no good – when sins rise up like spectres around your bed – what can give you peace? This – “I have a high priest in heaven”
