#fight the good fight of faith

[wecanbeperfect]

DAVID ARMS HIMSELF

1 Samuel 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

[tabernacleheart]

Whosoever, He said, commits sin, whether Jew or Greek, rich or poor, king or beggar, is the servant of sin. O miserable bondage! ...when wearied with the hardness of his tasks... whither does the slave of sin flee? He takes it along with him, wherever he goes; for his sin is within him. The pleasure passes away, but the sin does not pass away: its delight goes, its sting remains behind. He alone can free from sin, Who came without sin, and was made a sacrifice for sin. [With these truths,] Christ purposely alarms us first, and then gives us hope. He alarms us, that we may not love sin; He gives us hope, that we may not despair of the absolution of our sin. Our hope then is this, that we shall be freed by Him who is free. He has paid the price for us, not in money, but in His own blood: If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Not from the barbarians, but from the devil; not from the captivity of the body, but from the wickedness of the soul. [Now] the first stage of freedom is, the abstaining from sin. But that is only incipient, it is not perfect freedom: for the flesh still lusts against the spirit, so that you do not do the things that you would. Full and perfect freedom will only be, when the contest is over, and the last enemy, death, is destroyed. Do not then abuse your freedom, for the purpose of sinning freely; but use it in order not to sin at all. Your will will be free, if it be merciful: you will be free, if you become the servant of righteousness.

Saint Augustine of Hippo

[aressida]

[heartofaangel01]

[georgiasedify]

Fight the good fight of Faith

Fight the good fight of Faith

Faith is a fight Death Satan Attraction of this world Flesh 1 Timothy 6:12 Faith is a fight Don’t let your desires tempt you to lose your faith. Let go of anything that is holding you from fighting the good fight. When allowing God to lead and guide you, you began a journey of faith. Becoming a disciple of Jesus, who follows his commands and trusting him. The journey of faith will often be…

[ae-cha08]

God knows every battle, every temptation, and every obstacle you will ever face. He has not only put it under your feet, but He has armed you with strength for that battle. You are a warrior, a victor and not a victim. He has already equipped you. You are full of can-do power.

Quit telling yourself, "This is too much. I can't handle it."

The greatest force in the universe is breathing in your direction. Tap into more of that power! ✨️

[bloomfish]

It's so weird that in angel s5e2 they do a little flashback to Spike's blaze of glory moment in the last episode of Buffy... but they leave out Buffy saying "I love you". It's such a blatant omission, the ONLY omission from that scene, that it feels totally deliberate and kind of dishonest. Considering a lot of the Spike and Angel moments in S5 revolve around their jealousy and rivalry towards each other, and a LOT of that is to do with Buffy like... Why would you leave it out? It's a pretty big moment for Spike's character in general.

As far as I recall they don't even mention it, they just mention the fact that Spike and Buffy have had a lot of sex compared to bangel's ONE disastrous time (that they remember) but it does kind of cheapen it for Spike. A big motivation for him not leaving LA could have been him not wanting to hold Buffy to her words, since he clearly doesn't believe that she loves him (even though she does, as per Whedon). He presumably thinks she only said that to make him feel better in his final moments, because she wouldn't have to actually follow through on her words. Which is sad. But it makes much more sense as a motivation than the weird 'it cheapens my moment of glory' excuse like since when does spike give a shit about that

[paintpanic]

🌙

[nientedal]

imagine you were mauled by a bear.

you were mauled and it was awful. it left scars on you that may never fully and completely heal. maybe it nearly killed you. bears are now a trigger for you. full on panic at the sight of a bear.

now imagine some people in your town enjoy dressing up as bears. they put on homemade costumes for fun and occasionally meet up. most people are just there to play dress-up with other folks who enjoy wearing bear costumes, but maybe a few of them also play pretend with each other. nobody gets hurt-- they aren't real bears, and they wouldn't want to be! it's just fun to play pretend.

but you were mauled by a bear, and one day you're out walking, and you see some of these people on the other side of the road, and you freak out. most of the costumes aren't even very realistic, but you start screaming at them anyway, throwing rocks, grabbing other people and pointing, trying to get them to throw rocks too, because what the fuck? what the hell? what kind of sick freak pretends to be a bear? don't they know bears are dangerous? and what if there's a real bear in one of those costumes! or what if they're dressing up as bears because they want to maul people! throw rocks! harass! throwing rocks at people in bear costumes is good and righteous! you were mauled by an actual real bear and this is all definitely a reaction to an actual real threat and not at all a trauma response!

meanwhile, the people who enjoy dressing up as bears are trying to explain it's just for fun. they just enjoy playing dress-up. even those who do enjoy pretending, are only pretending. it's just acting. and look-- Ted over there was mauled, too! he likes dressing up as a bear because it gives him a situation he controls. but nobody is trying to actually be bears. that would be fucking deranged.

but it doesn't matter. you were mauled by a bear, and people in bear costumes feel the same to you as bears. it doesn't matter why they dress up, they OBVIOUSLY deserve to be attacked like bears. and anyone who disagrees with you must also be a bear, because omg don't they understand bears are dangerous and people in bear costumes are basically the same as bears!!!

if you react to works of fiction the same way you react to harm done to a real live human being, you are failing to recognize that human beings are separate from works of fiction. whether you're experiencing a trauma response and can't make the distinction, or you were told this was the best way to support people who are traumatized, i don't know, but the result is the same. you need to understand that people are not the stories they enjoy. stop throwing rocks at people in costumes.

[camellcat]

first xander brought her back with human breath and determination... then willow with supernatural power and love.... smth smth two halves to keep their third in balance from drifting too far into either side and losing herself.....

[gotstabbedbyapen]

My journey in searching for Zeus and Persephone's father-daughter bonding had been rewarded with these gem pieces.

"Sow some splendor on the island (Sicily), which Zeus the lord of Olympus gave to Persephone; he nodded assent with his flowing hair, that as the best land on the fruitful earth he would make Sicily fertile and prosperous in her cities blossoming with wealth. And the son of Cronus sent her a people enamored of bronze-armored battle, horsemen often wedded to the golden leaves of Olympia's olive." - Nemean Ode by Pindar

This one paragraph gave three interesting things:

Zeus being a good father to Persephone!!!! He gifted her Sicily and a group of armored horsemen (probably for companion), and even ensured the island's soil to always be fertile and yield good harvest for the cities to thrive.

More evidence that Persephone is a vegetation goddess!!! I hate it when people erase her duality by claiming her to only be the Queen of the Underworld. Let Persephone be a paradoxical goddess and rule both life and death!!!

Zeus having flowing hair!!! (probably where Apollo got his pretty hair from)

There's also a version where Zeus gave Sicily to Persephone as a wedding present when she marries Hades. Yes, he did traumatized Persephone with the arranged marriage but at least the gift is a huge compensation XD

"The Siceliotae who dwell in the island have received the tradition from their ancestors, the report having ever been handed down successively from earliest time by one generation to the next, that the island is sacred to Demeter and Core; although there are certain poets who recount the myth that at the marriage of Pluton (Hades) and Persephone Zeus gave this island as a wedding present to the bride." - Library of History by Diodorus Siculus

On a final note, Zeus also helps Demeter and Persephone out with the harvest in Sicily apparently.

"That the ancient inhabitants of Sicily, the Sicani, were indigenous, is stated by the best authorities among historians, also that the goddesses we have mentioned (Demeter and Core/Persephone) first made their appearance on this island, and that it was the first, because of the fertility of the soil, to bring forth the fruit of the corn, facts to which the most renowned of the poets also bears witness when he writes: But all these things grow there for them unsown And e'en untilled, both wheat and barley, yea, And vines, which yield such wine as fine grapes give, And rain of Zeus gives increase unto them. Indeed, in the plain of Leontini, we are told, and throughout many other parts of Sicily the wheat men call "wild" grows even to this day." - Library of History by Diodorus Siculus

[tabernacleheart]

The [paralyzed] man’s eight-and-thirty years of illness had apparently been brought on by dissipation. It was a sin of flesh, avenged in the flesh, that had given him that miserable life... and so Christ comes to him again with this solemn warning: ‘There is a worse thing than eight-and-thirty years of paralysis. You fell once, and sore was your punishment. If you fall twice, your punishment will be sorer.’ Why? Because the first one had done him no good. So here are lessons for us. There is always danger that we shall fall back into old sins, even if we think we have overcome them. The mystic influence of habit, enfeebled will, the familiar temptation, the imagination rebelling, the memory tempting– sometimes even, as in the case of a man that has been a drunkard, the physical effect of the odour of his temptation upon his nostrils– all these things make it extremely unlikely that a man who has once been under the condemnation of any evil shall never be tempted to fall under its sway again. And such a fall is not only more criminal than the former, it is more deadly than the former. [I assure you] there is no blacker condemnation; and if I may use a strong word, there is no hotter hell, than that which belongs to an apostate Christian. [And so we Christians must take heed, for behold, we also] have been made whole. ‘Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.’ And turn to that Lord and say, ���Hold Thou me up and I shall be saved.’ Then the enemies will not be able to recapture you, and the chains which have dropped from your wrists will never enclose them any more.

Alexander MacLaren; Commentary on John 5:14

[roughroadhaley]

i don’t think it is humanly possible for the Robby-Johnny relationship to be as good as the writers want me to believe it currently is going, but i also don’t think it’s going half as bad as people on here or on reddit say it is, so it is incredibly challenging for me to find posts I agree with about them anywhere

[millionsknives]

I HAVE NEVER CRIED SO HARD IN MY LIFE

[ellena-asg]

He needs to hear this. He needs true friends.

@spacedustpan for you ♥️

[ae-cha08]

King Herod hated believers so much that he had Peter put in prison. With chains on both wrists, Peter was guarded by four squads of soldiers to make sure he didn't escape. Bible says the church was in prayer constantly for Peter, asking God to somehow bring him out. While they were praying in the middle of the night, an angel showed up in the prison & woke Peter up.

Are you praying for others? All of your family members, friends & relatives should be like Peters. Cover them in prayer. When you pray, Red Seas part, hungry lions can't open their mouths, blessings rain down.

Your prayer can bring an angel.