~~~PURPOSE OF HEART ~~

--"Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."
----(ACTS 11:23)

-[Please READ/ Daniel 1]

---IN TODAY'S key verse, Barnabas was glad to see that God's grace was at work in the lives of the believers at Antioch. So Barnabas encouraged the Christians of that city to continue clinging to the Lord "with purpose of heart." How could that apply to us today?

To have purpose of heart is certainly more than a halfhearted, intellectual desire. Rather, it involves a deliberate intention and a determined resolve from deep within. Daniel is an example of one who had a firm purpose of heart. Though he was a captive far from home, in a strange land, and among foreign people, he did not flinch in his firm determination to be true to his convictions. "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank" (Daniel 1:8).

The Bible gives other examples of those who resolutely stayed faithful, come what may. Moses chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25). Joshua courageously declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). The three Hebrew men in Babylon refused to bow to the golden image at the king's command.

Like the believers at Antioch, we too need to persevere continually in our Christian walk. May we have a settled purpose of heart that by God's grace, we will not waver in our commitment to follow the Lord in full obedience to His Word and surrender to His will. ~~

--'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.' [1 Corinthians 16:13]
~~BSW/MK
---"Only You" // (lyric/video) Phillips, Craig, Dean //<https://youtu.be/tZHg0U3qjoI>
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