Nothing takes the place of persistence
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the
problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge. One of the biggest challenges facing people is the ability to keep on going even when the going gets tough. Many a child that came into the world with an enthusiastic shout, later died with a feeble whimper because they just
didn’t have the persistence to continue until success prevailed. Ralph
Marston confirms that long term, consistent success in any endeavor
requires persistence. “With enough persistence, anything is possible. It is
a quality that counts more than skill or knowledge or intelligence or the
right connections. The ability to persist is the ability to win.” One of the first action to creating persistence is to find a compelling reason NOT to give up. You have to be passionate about your purpose, and very clear about the reasons for establishing your goals in life. Do you want to achieve financial or spiritual freedom for your family? Or Do you
want to make a difference in your country like Nelson Mandela? For me, the knowledge that there are millions of people in interminable distress
motivates me to keep pursuing my goal of advancing the Good news of the gospel of my Lord Jesus Christ. It’s easy to keep going when you feel great and everything is happening according to plan. The truly persistent don't let personal feelings stop them from accomplishing their goals. As Nike says, “Just Do It"! Persistence can be difficult when there seems to be nothing but obstacles in your path. According to Marston, obstacles are not there to stop you, but to challenge you. “Obstacles are what make achievement worthwhile, if there were no obstacles, then achievement would be meaningless and without value.” Challenges can also develop your character and teach you valuable life
lessons.
In most endeavor, disappointments will come which can make you doubt
yourself and think of giving up. Fight the despairing thoughts by taking
action – take an honest and objective look at the problems you’re facing.
Seek the counsel of God. He can help you to change your approach and adjust your strategy to get to your result. as Marston says, “You can only win the race if you run it through to the end.”
Like what you have to do
The secret of happiness is not to do what you like to do, but to learn to like what you have to do. Many think of happiness as something that comes with lot of money or something that is discovered by constant and relentless searching. It is not found by seeking. It is not an end in itself.
Jesus once told His disciples, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The “things” He spoke of were the things that make us feel happy and secure—food, drink, clothes, and shelter. He told us not to make these the chief goal of our lives but to “seek the kingdom” and these needs would be automatically supplied.
Colour Life
It's the word of God that brings out the beauty of life, but people would rather believe the advertisements they see or hear about than believe what the Word of God says. They would rather believe the drug peddlers who offer a cure for their illness than believe the Word of God. It really appears that people are prepared to believe everything they read about in the magazines and on the internet but not the Word of God. It is only when we believe the Word of God and act on it that it becomes a reality in our lives. It is this faith that enables us to overcome the storms we face in life and project a radiance of inner beauty.
Light & Shadow
All the masterpieces of art contain both light
& shadow. A happy life is one filled not only with sunshine, but
one which uses both light & shadow to produce beauty. The greatest
musicians, as a rule, are those who know how to bring song out
of sadness. In a rat-infested jail Paul & Silas sang their song of
praise at midnight to the accompaniment of the jailer’s whip...which led
to the heathen warden’s conviction. Our hearts must learn to sing
praise to God even when everything around us seems so dark Learn more.
The high cost is cheap
Up is down. Down is up. The high cost is cheap. The cheap cost is high. For whosoever will save his life - That is, shall wish to save his life - at the expense of his conscience, and casting aside the cross, he shall lose it - the very evil he wishes to avoid shall overtake him; and he shall lose his soul into the bargain. See then how necessary it is to renounce one's self! But whatsoever a man loses in this world, for his steady attachment to Christ and his cause, he shall have amply made up to him in the eternal world. This is the “Redemptional Wisdom" -a wisdom that calls us to surrender our lives to the will of God, live for him, and serve others. It is in giving up our lives for something and someone greater that we truly find life. There are so many things we can invest our lives in that ultimately become our masters. The harder we work to attain them, the more we find we have lost that vital essence of living that is God's gift to us. The radical example and call of Jesus is to follow him in laying down our lives to honor God and redeem others -- there
are no short-cuts. The cross casts its shadow over all of us.
are no short-cuts. The cross casts its shadow over all of us.
Dividend Through Eternity.
We are stewards of our time. God has given
each one of us a little “chunk of eternity” called time. These golden
moments of opportunity are doled out to us for our benefit and for God’s
glory. If we use them wisely, they are woven by God’s omnipotent
hand into the fabric of eternity. He who has no vision of eternity has
no hold on time. Only one life, it will soon be past; only what’s done
for Christ will last. If we invest it wisely, it will pay dividends
throughout eternity.
The Thrill..The Excitement and The Exhilaration
How do you explain the joy of following
Christ? The thrill, the excitement, and the exhilaration— knowing where
you come from, why you are here, where you are going! In retrospect
explain television to a blind man. He can understand a little
of it, but it doesn’t make sense to him. Try to explain a sunset to
him. He’s blind to it. Not until the scales are removed from the eyes
and only Jesus Christ can do that. He can remove them right now and you can
start living and seeing a whole new world that you never knew existed,
if you will let Him open your spiritual eyes.
es.
God in our Circumstance
If our circumstances find us in God, we shall find God in our circumstances.
...YOUR NAME TO THE LIST
Job was a God chaser. He said, "Oh that I knew where I might find
Him!" David was one; he said, "My soul followeth hard after Thee." Paul
was one too: "That I may know Him..." A God chaser is a person whose
passion for God's presence presses him to chase the impossible in hopes
that the uncatchable might catch him. A child chases a loving parent
until, suddenly, the strong arms of the father enfold the chaser.The
pursuer becomes the captive; the pursued the captor. Paul put it this
way:"I chase after that I may catch that which apprehended me"
(Phil.3:12).
The passionate paths of God chasers can be traced across the pages of history from Moses the stutterer, David the singer, and Paul the itinerant preacher, to contemporaries like A.W. Tozer, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Udousoro, and countless others who share one common bond: an insatiable hunger to know their Lord.These are people whose relentless, passionate pursuit of Christ often made them appear foolish in the eyes of others. Yet, having tasted His goodness and glimpsed the invisible, they could be satisfied with nothing less.
Add your name to the list...become a God chaser. Who knows? You might be one whom He catches.
The passionate paths of God chasers can be traced across the pages of history from Moses the stutterer, David the singer, and Paul the itinerant preacher, to contemporaries like A.W. Tozer, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Udousoro, and countless others who share one common bond: an insatiable hunger to know their Lord.These are people whose relentless, passionate pursuit of Christ often made them appear foolish in the eyes of others. Yet, having tasted His goodness and glimpsed the invisible, they could be satisfied with nothing less.
Add your name to the list...become a God chaser. Who knows? You might be one whom He catches.
The Snail Made it.
It's
inconsequential how long it took the snail, but it made it into the ark
before the flood. likewise It's pointless rushing when you are on the
wrong track, you will only get to your doom on time. Jesus ask a
profound question in Luke 18:8 “... when the Son of Man comes, will He
find faith on the earth? The demonstration of that faith is persistent
prayer. When you stop believing a prayer will be
answered, you stop praying. You have given up hope. You loss faith.
Charles H. Spurgeon said “If any of you should ask me for an epitome of
the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word- Prayer.
Live and die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get
to hell.” Perseverance is a great element for success in our walk with
God. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are
sure to wake up somebody.
The Wreck is Driven upon the Shore
Sinking times are praying times with the Lord’s servants. Peter
neglected prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, (Mt 14:30) but
when he began to sink his danger made him a suppliant, and his cry
though late was not too late. In our hours of bodily pain and mental
anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the wreck is
driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox flies to its hole for
protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the
tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven’s great
harbor of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have
found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us
to make for it with all sail. Short prayers are long enough. There were
but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out, but they were
sufficient for his purpose. Not length but strength is desirable. A
sense of need is a mighty teacher of brevity. If our prayers had less of
the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be all the better.
Verbiage is to devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things lie in
small compass, and all that is real prayer in many a long address might
have been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter. Our
extremities are the Lord’s opportunities. Immediately a keen sense of
danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with
him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the
last moment we appeal to our Master, but his swift hand makes up for
our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by
the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto
our Saviour, and we may rest assured that he will not suffer us to
perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist
his powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.
Axe up of justice: Grace
Grace is a provision for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift
the axe of justice, so corrupt that they cannot change their own
natures, so averse to God that they cannot turn to Him, so blind that
they cannot see Him, so deaf that they cannot hear Him, and so dead
that He Himself must open their graves and lift them into
resurrection. What manner of love has the father displayed through
grace?
I called upon the Lord
Prayer is that postern gate which is left open even when the city is
straitly besieged by the enemy; it is that way upward from the pit of
despair to which the spiritual miner flies at once when the floods from
beneath break forth upon him. Prayer grows in vehemence as it proceeds, from the calls into the cry. Invoking God under various names like Jehovah, Adonai, Yahweh etc, these are beautiful names but then we need to advances to more familiar names that we can relate to, like “my God” thus
faith increases by exercise, and he whom we at first viewed as Lord is soon seen to be our God
in covenant. There is never an ill time to pray; no distress should prevent us from using the divine
remedy of supplication. Above the noise of the raging billows of death, or the barking dogs of
hell, the feeblest cry of a true believer will be heard in heaven. The psalmist declared In Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice” His cry came before God, into his ears. He heard his voice out of his temple, and his cry came before him, even into his ears. Far up within the bejeweled walls, and through the gates of pearl, the cry of the suffering suppliant was heard. Music of angels and harmony of seraphs availed not to drown or even to impair the voice of that humble call. The king heard it in his palace of light insufferable, and lent a willing ear to the cry of his own beloved child. O honoured prayer, to be able thus through Jesus blood to penetrate the very ears and heart of Deity. The voice and the cry are themselves heard directly by the Lord, and not made to past through the medium of saints and intercessors; the operation of prayer with God is immediate and personal. We may cry with confident and familiar importunity, while
our Father himself listens. “This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” 1 John 5:14-15
beneath break forth upon him. Prayer grows in vehemence as it proceeds, from the calls into the cry. Invoking God under various names like Jehovah, Adonai, Yahweh etc, these are beautiful names but then we need to advances to more familiar names that we can relate to, like “my God” thus
faith increases by exercise, and he whom we at first viewed as Lord is soon seen to be our God
in covenant. There is never an ill time to pray; no distress should prevent us from using the divine
remedy of supplication. Above the noise of the raging billows of death, or the barking dogs of
hell, the feeblest cry of a true believer will be heard in heaven. The psalmist declared In Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice” His cry came before God, into his ears. He heard his voice out of his temple, and his cry came before him, even into his ears. Far up within the bejeweled walls, and through the gates of pearl, the cry of the suffering suppliant was heard. Music of angels and harmony of seraphs availed not to drown or even to impair the voice of that humble call. The king heard it in his palace of light insufferable, and lent a willing ear to the cry of his own beloved child. O honoured prayer, to be able thus through Jesus blood to penetrate the very ears and heart of Deity. The voice and the cry are themselves heard directly by the Lord, and not made to past through the medium of saints and intercessors; the operation of prayer with God is immediate and personal. We may cry with confident and familiar importunity, while
our Father himself listens. “This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” 1 John 5:14-15
THE FAITH-FACTOR OF THANKSGIVING PT 3
“The key to
keeping your faith strong while waiting for a miracle —thanksgiving” Larry Sparks
In John 6:11
the Bible says “Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, he
distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they
wanted” notice here that when he gave thanks the hand of God was revealed.
After He blessed the food they had received of the young lad, he gave it to the
disciples and they gave to the crowd. Notice also that the Lord did not create
a vast amount of food to feed the over 5000 persons from the five small barley
loaves and two small fishes all at once but the miracle happened continually,
it is to be assumed that as the disciples broke off bread and passed it on to
the people, that the miracle kept happening in their hands i.e. the bread
continued to be present.
I
believe this is a great model to walking
in the supernatural power of God and receiving miracles, to celebrate a seed
like it actually was the harvest. We need to start seeing all signs of
breakthrough with a prophetic eye and learn how to thank God for the small
cloud in the same way we would thank Him for the abundance of rain.
Most times we reserve thanksgiving for when
the miracle comes to full fruition, we wait for the spectacular or for the
total healing, we wait until everything come into perfect alignment and we get
exactly what we have been believing God for, this is not the essence of faith.
Faith is not required when we receive everything we have been praying for; it
is essential when we are living in the gap between our present situation and
what we are believing for. so how do we maintain faith to keep us going while
we are waiting for our miracle? the key to sustaining faith is giving thanks
for all signs of progress.
THE FAITH-FACTOR OF THANKSGIVING PT 2
We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving
is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction. Harry A. Ironside.
The sweetest blessing are those that are won with
prayer and worn with thanks. Thanksgiving is simply an act of faith whether the
situation has changed or not, when we acknowledge our faith in Him through a
thankful attitude, even though circumstances suggest otherwise, God releases His
miraculous power and intervention on our behalf. He often turns tragedy to triumph, discord to
harmony, and defeat to victory. When we thank God in advance for our needs, we
are abiding and living in the highest form of Faith in God. Thanking Him in advance tells God that we
totally trust Him to supply our needs.
Colossians 4:2 states, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being
vigilant in it with thanksgiving."
When we thank Him in advance in our prayers daily, we build an image in
our heart of the answered prayer. The greater your thanksgiving grows daily the
greater your faith will grow.
Jehoshaphat and
all of Judah learned firsthand the importance of offering thanksgiving to God
in the midst of war. Their praise to God brought God's power on the scene in
their defense, and the end result was total victory. the Lord set ambushments
against all their enemies.... and they were smitten. Jehoshaphat and all of
Judah did not have to engage in physical battle with their enemy, II Chronicles
20:17-21 The king had a very unusual way of organizing his army: his battle
plan was to put a choir before the infantry. “There’s a very important truth
here: The Israelites were thanking God in advance for the victory. Praise and
thanksgiving are verbalized faith. If you thank God after the fact, that’s gratitude. If you thank God before it
happens, that’s faith”. Rick Warren.
There is power
in expectation, we can take a clue from the scripture by organizing our battle
plan for life behind a thanksgiving choir in our life to the Lord.
THE FAITH-FACTOR OF THANKSGIVING
What do you do with the rest of the year, when your set goals for the
year is achieved on the first day of the
year?
Michael Dean
adviced I should switch from Thanksgiving to “ Thanksliving”, he said
parents
Teach their kids to
say “please” when they ask for something. And when they receive something, they are to
say “thank you.” Teaching a child to say
“please” is relatively easy.
You just
withhold whatever they ask for until they say “please”. If
they want it badly enough they
will eventually get around to saying it. Getting kids to say “thank you” is a
little harder. Parents lose their leverage on the kid(s) when they
have what they want in their grubby
little hands . He also retorted the difference in saying “thank you” and expressing
gratitude. Gratitude is an attitude. One can say “thank you,” but not really be thankful. It’s a profound shift in ones outlook on life when one truly
begin to feel gratitude in his heart for what has been given to him. This is
when “thanksgiving” turns into “thanksliving.”
Thanksliving
happens when one is overwhelmed with the realization that he is blessed… that he is a recipients of great
kindness and grace from God and from other people.
Then, you have
gone from thanksgiving to thanksliving when you want to give something
back.
Thanksliving comes in many shapes and sizes:
• God has blessed me financially; I want to use my
financial resources to bless God and others.
• My parents sacrificed for me; I want to return the
blessings and sacrifice for them.
• Someone took the time to tell me about Jesus; I want
to pass my faith along to others.
• People have gone out of their way to say kind words
of encouragement to me; I want to do the same for others.
• Saints in my church invested their lives to build a
great fellowship for today; I want to
invest my life in building something special for the
next generation.
It’s great to say thanks. It’s even better to live
thanks.
