Have you ever given up on anything? I have. Have you ever given up on a friend? I have. How long does it take to give up on something or someone? Does the length of time depend upon how important it is to you? What things needed to happen before you gave up? When you were younger did you keep on asking your parents for something you really, really wanted? Did you ask one parent first and when they said no did you ask the other one? Have you ever asked for something so many times that it damaged your relationship? Have you ever given up on God? Many have tried but not many have been successful because He never gives up on us. How many times did you ask Him for something before you gave up? Let us look at what God has taught me about how being persistent, and not giving up brings hope.
I have learned four things I must be persistent in doing. I must be persistent in reading and studying God’s Word. It was so important that very early on in the nation of Israel God commanded them to do this. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (ESV) This is so important to God that He tells me to place it on my heart. Put it on doorposts and bind it on my hands and my forehead. I am supposed to talk about it when I am walking (in today’s world that would include driving or riding) and when I lie down and when I rise up. I have been trying to think about when I am not supposed to be doing it. The only time I am is when I am sleeping, although it would still be on my heart!
Well, there may technically be one other time and that is when I am praying. The problem is I am supposed to be doing that all the time as well. I never knew God created me to be a multi-tasker. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (ESV) Three ways I should be persistent are found in three short verses. I struggle at times to remember to do all these three let alone the first one.
I pray that you too will become persistent in your pursuit of God through prayer, rejoicing, and giving thanks, and studying God and that you with your persistence you build an amazing relationship with Him who cares for you no matter the situation and is the only provider of true hope from Him. Understanding that Jesus is the only source of true hope. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here. You can watch a book trailer about my book. You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here. eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
I mentioned that I was going through a difficult time right now. If you are interested in what I am going through, you can read about it here.
