“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:56-58

Quitting may ease the pain for a little while, but will burden you with regret for the rest of your life.

Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish composer-pianist, was once scheduled to perform at a great American concert hall for a high-society extravaganza. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage. Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing “chopsticks.” The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, “Get that boy away from there!” When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a countermelody to “chopsticks.” As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy’s ear, “Keep going. Don’t quit, son…don’t stop…don’t stop.”

—— we all have times where we feel like giving in. Life becomes overwhelming, the devil’s attacks never cease, and we are weary from fighting so hard. So what do we do? Do we give into Satan’s temptations and quit fighting against him? God forbid!

Just as Paderewski stood over the young boy, encouraging him to go on, so God stands over us, encouraging us to keep going. The Lord is saying to us, “Don’t quit, my child. Don’t give in. It’s only for a little while longer. I’m coming soon.”

Also, when the boy was playing his version of chopsticks, he did not know the composer would be playing along soon. He just played with all his might. In much the same way, in the midst of our struggles or times of weariness, our song may not sound beautiful (we may not think our effort is making a difference). But Christ is working behind the scenes, perfecting our song.

You may not be able to see where God is or how He is working, but trust me, He is at work. If you are following His commands and walking with Him, you don’t have to question His sovereignty in your life.

What has you feeling overwhelmed today? Christian, do not give up. Do not believe the lie that once you quit, everything will be better. The devil always presents the other side as more relaxing, peaceful, and more enjoyable. But what he does not show you is the heartache and pain that comes when you stop living for the Lord.

Determine today that no matter what comes in your life, you will not quit. Do not let the devil trick you into thinking giving up is the answer. Trust that God is working in your life and that He will work all things out in the end.

Ask God today to help you be “stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).–From Daily in the Word

“—pressed out of measure–“—2 Cor. 1:8 “—that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”—2 Cor. 12:9   If you throught graduation day meant the end of school, think again. Every Christian is enrolled in the School of Christ and every experience is meant to teach us a lesson—sadly, some never learn. Do not curse your trials. God means to use them for some good.   A.B. Simpson wrote,”Nothing but the extremities in which Paul was constantly placed could ever have taught him, and taught the Church through him, the full meaning of the great promise he so learned to claim, ‘My grace is sufficent for thee.’ And nothing but our trials and perils would ever have led some of us to know Him as we do, to trust Him as we have, and to draw from Him the measures of grace which our very extremities made indispensable. Difficulties and obstacles are God’s challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fulness and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him,we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work; but we surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing.”

“I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” -Habakkuk 3:18

If ever, as we pass through this wilderness, we feel one drop of solid joy, of true happiness, it must flow, it can flow only from one source–the manifestation of Christ to our souls. This joy may be very transient–we may have to look upon it through a vista of many years; and doubts and fears may becloud the mind whether we ever rejoiced truly in Christ, or whether our joy might not have been “the joy of the hypocrite” that perishes. And yet we are brought to this point–we can find true joy and peace in Him alone. Sin, the world, the things of time and sense, business, amusement, pleasure so called, afford now no lasting joy; there is an aching void, a feeling of dreariness and misery connected with everything short of divine communications of mercy, favor, and love. So that though we may not be enabled to say, ‘we greatly rejoice at all times, in all places, at all seasons, in the Lord;’ yet we can come to this point–we can rejoice in no other; we can take real pleasure in nothing else. One smile from the Lord, one word from his lips, one gracious breaking in of the light of his countenance does, while it lasts, communicate joy; and from no other quarter, from no other source can a moment’s true joy be drawn.(from Daily Portions)

“–God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”–James 4:6   A.W. Tozer wrote,”Because Christ Jesus came to the world clothed in humility, he will always be found among those who are clothed with humility. He will be found among the humble people.”   In this”make me feel good” world, we don’t hear much about humility today. And who would dare write a book about it. But Andrew Murray did. Of his 240 books it is my favorite. While in his mid-fifties he had a throat ailment that kept him from preaching for two years. Many years later, as he recalled the lessons learned from that experience, he preached twelve sermons on the subject of humility. They were published when he was nearly eighty. Listen as he speaks:   “There is nothing so divine and heavenly as being the servant and helper of all. The faithful servant who recognizes his position, finds a real pleasure in supplying the wants of the master and his guests. When we see that humility is something infinitely deeper than contrition, and accept it as out participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our true nobility—When I look back upon my own religious experience—I stand amazed at the thought of how little humility is sought after.”   “The only way to dignity is humility”

“—forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”-Philippians 3:13-14 Some people can’t get ahead because they are always looking back. They live in the past. Their mind is constantly occupied with things that have already happened. This can be a number of things: failures, sins, trials, injustices, accomplishments, etc. It doesn’t really matter what it is, the effect is the same. You can’t be a safe driver if you are always looking in the rear-view mirror. Nor can you live successfully unless you get past the past. The following story tells of a man who figured it out. A man’s sight left him. He sought the counsel of a trusted medical friend who prescribed a medicine for him. The man took the medicine regularly for four days, and his sight returned to him, but he could no longer remember anything. His friend suggested a remedy for that, too. After a few days his memory came back to him, but he went blind again. This continued for sometime. Eventually his friend said, “It looks like you have to decide which you want-your sight or your memory.” The man thought for a moment and then said, “I believe I would prefer my sight. I would rather see where I am going than remember where I have been!” So, how about you? Are you trapped in the past? Are you content with what you’ve done, or are you committed to God’s plan for your future? Do you see where you’re going?