NEVER GIVE UP-PERSISTANCE & PURSEVERANCE

Good Evening to All!

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(Galatians 6:9 KJV)

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How many times have you wished you had not given up so easily when you wanted something? There's always that nagging feeling. "If I had just hung on for a little bit longer it might have happened, or I would have got it.

As it stands you were defeated in 2 different ways. First, you were defeated because you missed out on whatever it was that you were wanting so badly, and second, you were defeated because now you will wonder "what if". You feel like "I don't have any will power". You feel like "if I had just been persistent, it might be me who got the job instead of her. Believe me I know, I've been there. As a matter of fact, sometimes I'm still there. As the old saying goes, patience is definitely not one of my virtues. In this respect, I fit right in to the pre-approved, pre-cooked, pre-everything world. I fit right in to this fast-paced world. With its computers and printers that take a matter of minutes to type something and print that used to take an hour or two, (including proofing). It hurts my back for me to stand up for very long, so I fit right in with microwave ovens that cut cooking times in more than 1/2. (Although I only warm stuff up in the microwave because I don't like them). My point is I am impatient so I tend to give up quickly. I am getting better, but I still fall back into old habits if I'm not careful and listen to the Holy Ghost in my spirit.

As far as being persistent, I like to refer to the story in the Bible (Luke 18: 1-8) where a widow kept going to the judge for protection and justice against her adversary. He at first refused, because he didn't revere God nor care about people. She persistently kept pushing him, going into see him and asking until he finally gave in, because he realized she wasn't going to quit asking until he did something.

We must do the same thing with God. Not so much to get what we want, but asking Him to have His way. That is what we should always want. When you develop a relationship with Him, and receive the Holy Ghost, it becomes easier to not to say I want this or I want that, but "Not my will but thy will be done. After a while that will become second nature pretty much because the Holy Ghost will guide you into all truths and is there to teach you.

It helps me to remember Paul saying "I die daily". This helps because I have a tendency to think if I fail once, I might as well give up. The above statement helps me to realize that I am not the only one to "fall short" and make mistakes.

I pray to God all the time. When I get up in the morning, I thank Him for waking me up, and ask Him to include Himself in my day. I want Him in every aspect of my day, whether its driving, exercising (which I'm not back to normal enough yet to continue Curves), cleaning houses, it doesn't matter I want Him to be included. The more I pray and talk to Him the closer we become, and that's what it's all about, a personal relationship with Him. Before we know it, we are talking to Him just like He's sitting right beside us. God has His own timing for answering our prayers, but we must not give up asking. Just make sure that it's His will. Sometimes, He is like that judge and will Finally give in to a person even though He doesn't want to and it doesn't work out. A lot of times it is to show the person "see what happens when you don't wait on me"? "If you would have waited til I was ready to do it, it would have turned out better. "

We must be persistent. Persistent in our pursuit of God and our relationship with Him, persistent in our prayer life. I used to pray for the same thing over and over and over again, then I read the scripture about repeating words in vain, and that got me thinking I wasn't suppose to do that. Luckily, a couple of the ladies at church whose opinion I value greatly and my Pastor told me that it didn't mean not to pray for the same thing. It mean to just pray out loud just so others would hear you praying. As well as saying the same words over and over again, such as Jesus, oh Jesus, oh Jesus, ..........on and on with the same words. If you're going to pray, pray with substance and meaning. While I agree a lot of times we don't know what we should pray for, that's where "praying in the Spirit" comes in, but that's for another post. The point is don't give up praying. You might be just a "hair" away from getting your prayer answered.

I encourage you not to give up talking to God and waiting for Him to speak to you, no matter what. Spend time with God daily. A person who refuses to quit is one whom Satan cannot defeat. He wants you to give up right now and to say things like:

• "I'll never get a better job."
• "I'll never get married."
• "I'll never get out of debt.
• "I'll never lose weight.

These kind of attitudes are dangerous. The more you say "I'll never" the more you will believe it. Not only that, you are limiting God. You are saying He is lying to us. According to His Word, He says as long as we abide in Him and His Words abide in us, we shall ask anything and He will do it. There are several scriptures in the Bible pertaining to Him giving us what we ask for, but if we limit Him by saying I'll never, then we won't. After all, in Philippians 4:19 Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ WHICH strengthens me. We can do NOTHING, but with God All things are possible. As we are "creatures" with "free will" we have choices. We can also choose the attitude that says, "God is faithful to His Word and I will never give up."

Keep praying and keep obeying.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!