"My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you" (Gal. 4:19 NASB).

"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:2 NASB).

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18 NASB).

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10 NASB).

(Happily Ever After: Walking with Peace and Courage Through a Year of Divorce by Kristin Armstrong) New York, NY: FaithWords. Copyright- Kristin Armstrong, 2007.

Eclipse of the Son

The Holy spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

LUKE 1:35

I always considered myself a woman of vision. I like to picture good things happening, favorable circumstances working in alignment, and sweet surprises hidden along my way. I thought that the harder I tried, the more I would achieve. Until I hit some difficult times, I was one of those women who said without emotion and exception, "I can handle it," "I got it," or "I'm fine."

          When I was at my weakest, and my ego was squashed, the Holy Spirit finally had some room to work in me. The power of the Most High literally had to overshadow me (actually, "eclipse me" is more accurate!) and my foolish sense of self-sufficiency. I struggled for a bit, valiantly trying to hang on to the "I'm fine" persona, but soon realized that I was far from doing fine. I didn't "have it."

          It was very humbling to be overshadowed in this way, but humility quickly led to relief when I finally figured out that God never expected me to do it all, or to do anything well, all by myself.

p. 159

(Eternal Perspectives: A Collection of Quotations on Heaven, the New Earth, and Life After Death by Randy Alcorn) Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House. Copyright- Eternal Perspective Ministries, 2012.

It is virtually beyond our power to conceive of a future as consistently delightful as that which Christ is preparing for us. And who is to say what is possible with God?105

          A. W. Tozer, Born after Midnight

105.      A. W. Tozer, Born after Midnight (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1992), 138.

p. 34

(Pause for Power: A 365-Day Journey Through the Scriptures by Warren W. Wiersbe) Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook. Copyright- Warren W. Wiersbe, 2010.

. . . "I don't want my life to end in a swamp," said British expositor F. B. Meyer.

p. 175

(The Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli) Mesa, AZ: Scriptoria. Copyright- Scriptoria Books, 2009.

Let your one desire and your one prayer be, that God would enable you to bear all adversity without marring the virtue of patience, and without any thing that may displease your Lord.

p. 58