Now Is Not the Time To Quit

Watching my childhood friends and me playing, it was always possible that right in the middle of a game someone would walk away, go home, and quit.  I’ve seen my own children want to quit when they were kids.  We always tried to encourage them to stay the course.  The grandchildren are no different. If the game is especially hard it’s easy to just quit.

There are times as an adult that I’ve felt like quitting. I imagine you have too. Whether it’s a relationship, a job, a heart issue, or something else, that feeling of wanting to throw in the towel seems like a great solution, at least temporarily.  Frustration mounts when things don’t go just right. Perfectionism tries to rear its ugly head and make us feel that we’re not good enough, haven’t done enough or have no natural talent. You’ve heard the lies in your head I am sure. Each of us has our own set of quit buttons – those things that make us want to run. To be sure, there are times when God directs us to make a change and that change is necessary; but that should never be decided because we want to quit. There are also those times when another may tell you that you’re done and God knows. He will revive your spirit and take you to another level when you let Him do the leading.

I love dictionaries and definitions so I like to look up synonyms and antonyms for words. I find that to quit means resign, abandon or vacate. When I see those words I hear God speak. These words denote that you are involved in something. To quit you will have to vacate your place of My blessing. To abandon what you are doing speaks that you are willing to entertain thoughts of ditching your place in the Kingdom of God. When you think about vacating a place or a position, you are literally leaving an empty place, often the very place I want you to be. This is not the same as moving with God’s Spirit into another place of service. Quitting means to desert and often pessimism and defeat come right along with it.

God’s Word gives us the sure antidotes for feelings of defeat and resignation that might come our way. While we cannot control what others do to us and with us, we can control our own feelings. The only way to live a life that is thriving even in the midst of pain is to rely fully on God’s Word.  God tells us in His Word that our success does not lie in our natural talents. Yes, we have natural abilities, but God says He takes those things that seem foolish to the world confound the wise.

Oh beloved, your call from God is supernatural! The way you see yourself needs to come into focus the way God sees you. His words to you are successful, achieving, thriving and overcoming. He speaks love songs into your heart that say keep on keeping on, abide in Me, rest in My promises, I AM your strength. As you rehearse the truth that you are called of God, not of man, to do the work of God, not man, then you can continue even when the going gets tough. Every word of God to you will speak love, consideration, comfort and care. You may hear other things from other areas, but God only speaks love, even when He is correcting you it’s in love. He never speaks rejection to His own. He never puts down His own or makes them feel humiliated. Yes, there are times when you will be humbled by the situation you are in, but God will comfort you and wrap His arms around you and speak strength to your mind and heart.

Keep on keeping on Beloved. The end to the troubled time may be just around the corner. The answer to your prayers is on the way. The strength for your weakness is always available. You have been selected by God to do what is intended for your best life now and He will enable you to stay the course. He loves you and He’s for you and that will keep you going all the way to heaven.

Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Psalm 71:16  I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Haggai 1:13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”

I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Repeat the Sounding Joy of Life in Christ!

How many books and movies have begun with these words: “It all started with…”  As I was reading these words this morning, “It all started with a young man named Brother Andrew saying yes to God in 1955” the Lord began to speak to my heart.  The story unfolds of the man who started smuggling Bibles into countries so that someone could read God’s Word.  He did not set out to set the world on fire, but God lit His heart with the fire of the Gospel and the rest is history. (you can read more about his life at http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/brother-andrew/ )

As I think of Christmas I hear those words, “it all started with” God Incarnate appearing in the form of a baby. He went on to satisfy the regulations against us and free us from the law of sin and death.  But more, He set us free from ourselves. He set us free to be more than we ever could on our own. No education, no bank account, no accolades can give us a new life. Only God can do that.

As I think of you this morning, beloved, I think how “it all started out with” Jesus calling you unto Himself. 

You didn’t wake up one morning and say I think I’ll give God a try. No, He wooed you and beckoned you and called you. Until one day you heard Him. Your heart responded and the rest is history. And the never ending saga of the Gospel is continuing for you. You are not done. You are not finished. You are just beginning. You are standing on the cliff of glory. You are stepping out into what seems a chasm of trials, disappointments and errors. But no, look again. It all starts with Jesus, who has touched your heart and taken it for His own.

Oh beloved, your story is so incredible! It is full of the Christmas message, full of the Gospel song, and full of the music of the glory of God, for He is in resident in your heart and you are His. He is carefully watching over your life and all the events that involve you. Even those things that seem so out of control are cared for.  And since “it all started with” Him, beloved, it will all “finish”.  No short term trip this life in Christ. For you are His beloved and His banner over you is love.

Relax in this holy season. Rejoice in His love. Remain in His service. Relinquish the hurt and pain and concern and enter into the joy of His never ending, magnificent care! He loves you and He’s for you and that’s why you can repeat the sounding joy with the carolers of old and rest in the light of His Word.

Psalm 43:4 There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!

John 15:11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

2 Peter 1:4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Psalm 146:6 He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever.

Romans 12:8 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts He has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be His own special treasure.

Summer Vacation? Not From God...

Our pastor was talking Sunday about the drop in attendance at church which usually occurs in the summer with all the vacations and fun times people partake of during those couple of months, it gets easy after missing a Sunday to fall out of the habit. He encouraged us to call one another if someone misses, because it means more to get a call from a friend than to get a call from the pastor. The pastor is supposed to call. But if we do the calling it’s not something that’s generally expected of us. He encouraged all of us to keep in fellowship with one another.

It reminded me of our tendency in the good times, summer days if you will, to leave God’s presence.  We have hard times and we cling ever so closely to Him. But come a warm breeze and joyous occasions and we tend to drop the spiritual emphasis. Whether it’s Church or Bible Study or Christian fellowship, these things are important to our spiritual welfare. Yet these are generally the first to go when times are good.

Somehow we think we are safe to relax our relationship with God in the good times. We may have survived a storm where we called out to Him. Then He rescued us and made things right. Now it’s summer time and the living is easy. The only problem with this kind of thinking is that we don’t know when another storm of life may blow in suddenly, finding us out of fellowship and weakened from not having daily quiet time and Bible reading. As long as the lovely days of summer are in our lives everything looks rosy. You can’t really “see” a person’s spiritual relationship in the easy times. It’s when the storms come in that the strength or lack thereof in the person is found.

Oh beloved, summer’s arrived but winter will return. Won’t you take a few moments everyday just to thank the Lord for His benevolence. And then look into His wonderful Word and see how He has plans to take care of you, prepare you for hard times and bless you in good times? His amazing love will carry you through the seasons of life. His amazing care will keep you throughout all the changes that come your way. Even when you find yourself out in the storms, He will come after you and rescue you and return you to His loving arms. He knows your problems, He knows your history and He knows the weather ahead. Trust Him, for He is your everlasting God. He loves you and He’s for you and He will guide you always in His loving ways.

Psalm 27:4-5 The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in His temple.   For He will conceal me there when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

Psalm 148:14 He has made His people strong, honoring His faithful ones— the people of Israel who are close to Him. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 25:4-5 Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You.