#Standing Firm

[in-tenebris-et-in-solitudine]

Once I lose respect for you there's nothing you can do to win it back.

[poligraf]

Who in Life's battle firm doth stand Shall bear Hope's tender blossoms Into the Silent Land.

— J. G. Van Salis

[tom4jc]

October 9, 2024 Promise Of God

[tj-van-heerden]

Perseverance, endurance, standing firm.

We need to have perseverance to be able to stand firm in our faith in this world. We can actually put after every word or commandment or teaching the following phrase: "Stand firm in it." In the near future there will be more persecution and oppression of Christians. We already see it happening in the world. We already have oppression of demons, and that will get worse too, especially the battle of the very clever influencing of our minds.

Rom 5:3-5 [WEB] Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Eph 6:18 [WEB] with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints…

Col 1:10-12 [WEB] that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy…

Col 3:12 [WEB] Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance…

Rev 2:3 [WEB] You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

1Cor 16:13 [WEB] Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!

Phil 4:1 [WEB] Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

2Thess 2:15 [WEB] So then, brothers, stand firm and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word or by letter.

Matt 10:22 [WEB] You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

Matt 24:12, 13 [WEB] Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

1Cor 10:13 [WEB] No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1Cor 13:4-8 [WEB] Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails…

2Tim 1:7, 8 [WEB] For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God…

2Tim 2:3 [WEB] You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2Tim 2:12 [WEB] If we endure, we will also reign with him…

Heb 6:15 [WEB] Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Heb 12:2, 3 [WEB] looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.

Jas 1:12 [WEB] Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.

Jas 5:11 [WEB] Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Rev 3:10 [WEB] Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Eph 6:11-13 [WEB] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

[toqiuh]

My friend showed me this new au yesterday and I've been possessed ever since

[artsymeeshee]

[dumas1969]

The Priorities of the Gospel and Unity

Philippians 1.12-30 Two priorities for Paul are clear: proclaiming the gospel and unity of the body. The first might be done out of mixed motives, but the second requires oneness of spirit and mind…an attitude of togetherness. As individuals, sharing the gospel…telling our story, investing our mina…should be a motivating, a driving factor in our lives. We weren’t saved to go to heaven…we were…

[its-kinda-snowy]

You did very well today, Dan. Don't forget to clean yourself up, we don't want any cross contamination.

[snail-noodle]

guys... I may be slightly obsessed with past shadow milk cookie... help

[zaahvi]

a flashback of solas and ghilan'nain! [source]

[astorianyxkings]

Oldest Daughter Dick™ is probably one of my favourite things ever. And it always will be and here's why:

Of course Dick loves his siblings and of course he loves that they know Bruce as the father he is. But it won't stop the jealousy he feels. And no one gets it, not even Jason. They were all raised by Bruce Wayne, he was raised by Batman.

When Dick came to live with him, Bruce had no idea how to he a father. How to handle normal kid stuff like sicknesses and school events let alone the fact he was an acrobat. He was Batman and Dick was raised to be not just his successor but the only contingency plan he had against himself.

Bruce never held his punches ("That was a good block but I still got you, didn't I?" Bruce had said, rubbing cream into the blossoming bruise on Dick's side. "I'll get you next time," Dick had promised, young eyes challenging. "You better." Bruce had grinned back.) All attacks were to remind him that he was at a disadvantage strength wise and thus needed to re-evaluate his lines of defense and offense.

Dick was raised by the paranoid-in-his-late-twenties-probably-shouldn't-be-a-dad-despite-what-Marisol-said Bat. A fun game of catch? He was dodging Batarangs. Learning to drive? It was the Batmobile and he was age 14 (and a half). School events? He was fumbling, awkward and did not want to be there (but still was because he'll be damned if his boy didn't have his support.)

And you know that's fine, Dick was fine. It wasn't Bruce's fault he didn't know how to be a proper dad, despite Alfred's parenting books and videos. And he did try, he was always there. But it just really hits a sore spot everytime he sees Bruce hold a punch before he knocks Tim out cold or when he's behind the wheel with Steph telling her what not to do. Or even when he's at school with Damian and Duke making Marjory and her cupcakes look ridiculous compared to him and his coconut crumble cakes.

It also irritates Dick beyond senseless whenever the topic of sparring with Bruce is mentioned. ("We can all beat the old man Goldie, he's ancient." Jason shrugs off and Dick wanted to scream.) The only one who even tries to sympathize with him was Cass. More than likely because she'd seen him fight as Batman The Dark Knight before seeing him fight as Bruce The Father of Six-Almost-Eight.

And it just really stings because he can't relate to being raised by Bruce the way the others can't. Bruce changed for them, not him. And maybe that kind of hurts. But maybe he's overreacting.

What he doesn't realize is he's the reason why Bruce changed. Bruce saw the hurt and anger in Dick's eyes when he fired him from Robin (Think Shifu denying Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior scroll). He knew the second he saw the betrayal in Dick's eyes after seeing Jason as Robin, that he'd have to change. (The same way Shifu should've changed for Tigress but I digress, not that fandom).

Bruce pulls his punches because he hated seeing Dick limp away from their sparring matches—despite the fire and promise of a rematch in his eyes. He teaches them how to drive regular cars before the Batmobile because the one time Dick crashed (while trying to avoid some of Poison Ivy's vines) his heart rate skyrocketed so high Clark had called him up demanding to know if he was okay. He shows up for Duke and Damian and Cass and Tim because Dick's smile whenever he saw Bruce in the parent's lounge never failed to make him melt.

Bruce stands firm on the fact that while he may have made a hero out of Dick, Dick Grayson made a father out of Bruce Wayne.

[thegroundhogdidit]

did i ever show y'all my very important tma chart

[tagthescullion]

Do you think Rick went a little overboard in making Percy too Mary Sue?

absolutely, I hate that I'm about to say this but percy suffered from like MCU levels of "well now no villain is more powerful, what do we do?" and got sent to uni as if that was idk being grounded or smth

pjo percy had his flaws, hoo-toa-etc percy is just.. bland. like, proper bland. disappointingly bland! he has like every single power in the universe and became the most boring character in the series!!

also he shouldn't have been able to beat jason, if "big three gods" was a real sort of "category", zeus and hades should be just as powerful as poseidon, and thus their children should be relatively matched in a fight.. except that jason only knows fighting, that's all he's done since he was like crawling, he held weapons before he held a pencil, he should beat the absolute shit out of the others!!

[tom4jc]

April 22, 2023 Verse Of The Day

[my-name-is-apollo]

One of the best parts of rereading the Homeric hymn to Apollo is that I get to read these moments again:

"But Leto alone stays by the side of Zeus who delights in thunder...and the Father gives him nectar in a golden cup welcoming his dear son, while the other gods make him sit down there, and queenly Leto rejoices because she bare a mighty son and an archer."

– Homeric hymn to Delian Apollo (trans. Evelyn-White)

"And they, even gold-tressed Leto and wise Zeus, rejoice in their great hearts as they watch their dear son playing among the undying gods."

– Homeric hymn to Pythian Apollo (trans. Evelyn-White)

It seems so domestic and mundane. Zeus has plenty of moments where he dotes on his children, but it's really rare to see him do that alongside his lover. He is relishing these moments with Leto, who stands beside him. This is more of a family moment than just a father - son moment.

[unpretty]

i will be nice and not reblog my own slightly-long post about my podcast app of choice but just know that every time i have to add videos to a youtube playlist and then sort it manually i resent it deeply