DON'T GIVE UP (part two)

Do you know that if you don’t give up, you will eventually win. Do you know that if you are following God and you refuse to give up, you will eventually succeed. This is the reason why you receive all the opposition to force you to give up because the devil knows that if you don’t relent, you will eventually make it. It is not the reputation of God to fail, Satan knows that so he discourages you and does everything by all means to have you discouraged so that you will not wait; so that you will give up and not have your desires met. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” You have to seek God, He does not find fault in any one who seeks him, God is not angry with anyone. Don’t qualify God as having the inability to help you by your actions because God is not angry with you. The moment you make up your mind to arise and seek God like the prodigal son, He will respond to you. You’ve got to arise and seek Him early, every great man of God seek Him early. You have to make up your mind to do the right thing at the right time. That's how to make it happen. If you want God to do what He has never done in your life before, you have to do what you have never done in your life before. There is no convenient Christianity. When you make up your mind that I am going to God like the prodigal son, He is so joyful. In Matthew 11:28 the Bible says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” You’ve got to come to Him for God to help you. Don’t wait for Him to meet you. The way to make something good happen in your life is to pursue God, be hungry for Him. Isaiah 55:1-2 says, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight in fatness.” Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” It is God’s desire for you to prosper and have a great future. How will you make it happen? Look at verse 12 and 13 of Jeremiah 28, “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” You want a great future? You have to call upon Him in prayer. After praying the next level is for you to seek Him. You have to search for Him with all of your heart. God helps those who does not have alternative other than Him. Don’t you ever think that you are depending on God when you are depending on man. All your focus should be on God if you want to receive from Him. So many people do not receive from God because they make God one of their options. They have a fallback plan if God doesn’t work.

Everyone of us likes glory. You have seen somethings that some people have in their lives and you begin to imagine having such glory in your life. There is no glory that comes easy; sometimes you read it in the Bible and it looks and sounds so easy but there is no space in the Bible to really explain what He or She went through to get what they wanted from God. For example Elisha wanted a double portion of the anointing upon Elijah. How did He get it? There are so many Christians who see the anointing upon a man of God and they want him to lay hands on them. It doesn’t work like that all the time. The only way it works that hands will be layed on you and you will carry that virtue is after you have done somethings like serving the man of God. Every baby you see is as a result of labour in delivery, somebody pushed, somebody did something for it to happen. Anything you get in a plater of gold will eventually leave you but whatsoever you labour for will stay with you. That is why God does not give miracle so easily most of the time. As the saying goes ‘easy come easy go’ but when you know what you went through to get it, you will know how to keep it. 2nd Kings 2:1-3 says, “And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as they soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the Sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.” There are a lot of things that will discourage you in this journey of faith but don’t give up. How much do you really want what you desire from God? If you really want it, you won’t give up. It is how much attention you give to the Lord that you get from Him. You may have started with a strong zeal to know Him, keep at it, don’t give up, don’t let that zeal die. Elisha followed Elijah from Gigal to bethel, from Bethel to Jordan, from Jordan they went to Jericho with so many people persuading him to give up but he never gave up. But he finally got his miracle when they got to Jericho, don’t you give up. Miracles don’t come easy, it often takes time and you must learn to be patient. Mark 10:46-48 says, “And they came to Jericho: and as He went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartemaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highyway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” It is one thing to cry but it is something else to keep crying. Is Something trying to shut you up? cry more. Is something trying to stop your progress? Keep walking. Is something trying to limit you? Refuse to give up. Some of you are too comfortable for what you need from God. There has to be some shaking, there has to be something that will discomfort you for something to happen. Mark 10:49-52, “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” Did you you observe what happened in the above scripture? Jesus didn’t lay hands on him, neither did He pray for the blind man. The man’s faith made him whole, that is what we call strong faith that brings transformation to your situation if you refuse to give up.

Finally look at Matthew 15:21- 28, “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth Lord: yet the dogs eat from the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” Inspite of Jesus’s response, this woman went and worshipped Him. Have you ever had a moment of silence in your life when you are praying and something seems not to be happening and things seem not to be changing? Nothing is working and yet you are praying? This is the point a lot of people stop serving God and they leave church. In your life, there is going to be a moment of silence from God, where all the miracles you used to receive seem to stop. What you do in that period of your life will determine if you will succeed as a Christian or not. When God becomes quiet what do you do? Serve Him and worship Him the more, He is just testing you to know what you will do. When it seems like all hell is breaking loose that is the time to serve Him more. Never be offended keep serving, keep believing, and keep following. Then get ready for your miracle. God may not be in a hurry but He will touch you if you don’t give up.

God bless you. See you next month.