A Quitter Never Wins

A Winner Never Quits

6/26/05

 

My dad and his persistence. The example of the fishing line.

Persistence: the quality of continuing steadily despite problems or obstacles

Our Lord and Savior Jesus exercised persistence like no one on earth ever did!

Lk. 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

Jo. 4:31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

³³Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Here are two other examples of persistence with Jesus.

Mk. 8:22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Mat. 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

What if Elijah and Elisha had not had persistence?

Elijah - 1 Ki. 18:30-46

Elisha - 2 Ki. 4:8-37

God rewards persistence when it's channeled through Him!

Why did Elisha tell Naaman to go dip seven times in the Jordan? 2 Ki. 5:1-13

There are four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently.

Be persistent unless the Lord shows you otherwise.

2 Cor. 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ^{8Three times I pleaded with the Lord} to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

If Paul hadn't dropped it, Godly persistence would have turned to ungodly stubbornness!

Code of Persistence

1. My persistence is first and foremost in the knowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, He loves me, He is with me, He corrects me, and He always guides me.

2. I will never give up so long as I know I am right.

3. I will believe that all things will work out for me if I hang on until the end.

4. I will be courageous and undismayed in the face of odds.

5. I will not permit anyone to intimidate me or deter me from my goals.

6. I will fight to overcome all physical handicaps and setbacks.

7. I will try again and again and yet again to accomplish what I desire, unless the Lord Jesus shows me otherwise.

8. I will take new faith and resolution from the knowledge that all successful men and women had to fight defeat and adversity.

9. I will never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming obstacles may confront me.

Persistence is very often the determining factor in winning a spiritual battle!

Read about Daniel - Dan. 10:1-14

Are you on the verge of quitting?

Have you lost hope?

Be persistent in your walk with Jesus and in everything you do and the Lord Jesus will never let you down!