DONT GIVE UP : YOU ARE ON THE BRINK OF A MIRACLE
*************************************************
OUTLINE
1. REST
2. REJOICE
3. RENEW
4. RECEIVE
5. REQUEST
6. REAP
7. RACE
INTRODUCTION
The Lord wants us to be strong in the day of adversity . We should not become discouraged and give up when we face challenges. Our spiritual strength is revealed in the way we cope with adversity. When we are strong in the Lord , we can bear our burdens easily. But if we are weak in our spirit , even a small burden can be too heavy for us. Therefore we must seek to be filled with the strength of God. We must persist and persevere in order to experience the fullness of God’s blessing in our lives.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
PROVERBS 24:10
" If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small. "
THE MESSAGE
DONT GIVE UP : YOU ARE ON THE BRINK OF A MIRACLE
*************************************************
1. REST
The Lord wants us to rest in Him when we become weak and weary . We must spend time alone with God in order to receive His strength . We must listen to His voice and receive His encouragement. We must stop fretting and worrying and rest in the Lord.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
ISAIAH 40:29-31
" He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."
ISAIAH 30:15
" This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. "
PSALM 37:7
" Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass."
2. REJOICE
The Lord wants us to rejoice in Him even in times of adversity because the joy of the Lord is our strength. The Apostle Paul encouraged the beleivers to rejoice in the Lord always .He knew that the joy of the Lord would give them the strength to face persecution. The presence of God in our lives gives us a great reason to celebrate and rejoice in the Lord . The Lord is a greater treasure in our lives than wealth or wisdom or human strength.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
NEHEMIAH 8:10
" Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
PHILIPPIANS 4:4
" Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! "
JEREMIAH 9:23-24
" This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
3. RENEW
The Lord wants us to renew our strength daily. Our inner man need not become weak even though our physical body may become weaker as days go by. We should always be strong in our spirit. The Holy Spirit fills us with divine strength and power to overcome every challenge we may face . Therefore we should not lose heart and get discouraged in times of adversity.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16
" Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. "
EPHESIANS 3:16
" I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, "
COLOSSIANS 1:11-12
" being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. "
4. RECEIVE
The Lord wants us to receive His mercy and grace and favour in our life. The mercy of God causes us to receive favours in our life that we do not deserve. We need not lose heart thinking that we are unworthy to receive the blessings of God. When we understand the mercy of God , we would reach out in faith and receive all the blessings we need in our life. And therefore we need not lose heart or be discouraged because we receive the mercy of God in our lives.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1
" Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart."
HEBREWS 4:14-16
" Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
5. REQUEST
The Lord wants us to receive answers to our prayers and requests. We should not become discouraged and give up our prayers when they are not answered immediately. The Lord wants us to be like the persistent widow who did not give up until she got justice from the unjust judge .We must keep on praying day and night until the Lord answers our prayer.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
LUKE 18:1-8
" Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.
And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ’Grant me justice against my adversary.’
"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ’Even though I don’t fear God or care about men,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ "
And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
6. REAP
The Lord wants us to reap the harvest for all the good seeds we have sown in our life. We should not become weary of doing good and give up our good work . We should keep on sowing good seeds and in due season we will reap the harvest of our good deeds. We must remain confident and persevere after we have done the will of God in order to receive the promises of God. We must not get discouraged and give up our hope and expectation.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
GALATIANS 6:9
" Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. "
HEBREWS 10:35-36
" So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
7. RACE
The Lord wants us to run our race with patience looking to Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith. We must remove every hindrance and besetting sin that can destroy us. We must follow the example that Jesus set for us . He endured the cross by focussing his attention on the joy that was set before Him . He did not focus on the shame but rather despised it. We must focus on the joys and rewards that the Lord has promised us rather than focusing on the shame and humiliation that we may go through when we carry our cross.
When we consider the opposition that Jesus endured from sinful men , we would not lose heart over our own trials and tribulations as they would pale in comparison. When the Lord disciplines us we should not lose heart because the Lord does so because of His love for us. The discipline of the Lord would only prove to be a blessing in our lives in the long run.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
*******************
HEBREWS 12:1-6
" Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:"My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
***************************************************************************
