Claudette's Blog

I am not giving up!

Do you ever have those days when you feel you?re thinking too much about what you do not see happening in your life? I mean like good change taken place, especially when you know you?re working hard toward a better outcome. 

As I was writing this blog message I remembered having a conversation with a friend of mine, he?s an evangelist; originally from New Zealand.  My husband and I met him last year at a small revival service; this young man has the fire of God following him.  My husband and I had dinner with him, and he was telling us how he was determined not to give up, he knows the call on his life, and he was telling us about a time when things were not going good and that even his truck was not working I believe he said the transmission went out, and he said out loud to himself ?I am not giving up.?
I thought to myself that is the attitude to have,  I know how he feels, you know the Lord?s promise to you, but you?re not seeing it,  instead it feels like everything just went two steps backwards as soon as you heard those promises for your life. I wrote earlier in one of my blogs how the Lord is setting it up, but during those times of not seeing or knowing, we must not give up.

There is a Parable in the Bible of a Persistent Widow who did not give up.

Luke 18

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 what people thought.  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 what people think,  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won?t eventually come and attack me!??
  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??

As you read in the Parable Jesus said always pray and not give up, and at the end of the scripture justice will come quickly, for his chosen?s ones who cry out to him day and night, if you?re a child of God than he chose you, remember the word of God says I first chose you.(John 15:16)

I have my own perspective of this scripture, and I would like to share it. The Lord is telling us to chase him down, pursue him fervently and you will be rewarded. Have you ever played chase with your child, they love to have you chase them and pursue them, sometimes they cannot run because they belly laugh too much, and it slows them down and before they know it you caught them.   Now there are also times when your child chases you down, you start to run and you begin to laugh, and before you know it you?re caught because, well let?s face it they can out run you. 

 The Lord loves us to pursue and not give up, and in this pursuit HE wants to hear us belly laugh ?cry out.?  Even though in this parable the women was determined and it was no laughing matter, she received justice.  However, there are times when we need to stand and say ?I am not giving up? and pursue the Lord in prayer and knock on the door, then stop, and have a hearty belly laugh.   Laughter is good medicine, the Lord created it, and it gets the Lord attentions, remember Sarah?s son, she named him Isaac meaning laughter. 

The bible says that David encourage himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30)

David?s circumstances felt insurmountable at the time, but he did not give up, instead he encouraged himself in the Lord.  I encourage you to encourage yourself in the Lord, have a good hearty belly laugh and offer your laughter up before the Lord, a good father loves to hear the laughter of their child, you don?t know that one belly laugh might open the door to quick justice being served.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,?The Lord has done great things for them.? Psalms 126:2

Blessings,
Claudette Moss