Quitting is one of the most powerful tools of the enemy. If Satan is successful in deceiving you into quitting, then He gains much ground in your life. That is his plan! He wants to sneak into your thoughts and tell you…
“You can’t,”
“You will never!” “
You’re not good enough!”
“You suck”
and hundreds of other short 2, 3 or 4 word thoughts which he uses to take you out.
Satan can take you out in your own thoughts. He can stop you dead in your tracks. With a thunderous voice, my words to you today would be, “Don’t take Satan’s BAIT!” All thoughts are followed by actions. All actions are preceded by our thoughts. We have got to pay attention to what and how we are thinking and which of the voices in our minds we are allowing to dominate!
God created us. He sent the Holy Spirit and gave us His Word so that we could defeat and battle the enemy. Have you ever heard the expression, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”? Well, in regards to Satan, you don’t invite him to be around. In fact, you tell him to leave but you better know and be able to recognize his tactics and how to defend yourself. So we all need to understand, if Satan can invade our thoughts and defeat us in our mind, then he can influence our actions!
The very first and best defense against our enemy is to have a strong offense! 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run but only one receives the prize, so run in such a way to get the prize.” God tells us to live our life and run to GET THE PRIZE. He also tell us in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season WE WILL REAP, IF WE DON’T GIVE UP!” [emphasis mine]. He tells us to “take every thought captive and to make it obedient to Christ” (see 2 Corinthians 10:5). All of these verses emphasize the need to pay attention to our thoughts, to what we are thinking and to what voice we listen. This, my friends, is our offense.
Perseverance is key.
Perseverance begins with the right attitude which starts with how you think. Strength lives in tenacity. And God is the best equipper and rewarder of tenacity. Ephesians 4:12 reminds us that God, “…equip[s] his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” James 1:2 tells us, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trials, for when he has stood the tests he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
I encourage you today, when you “feel ” like quitting, don’t rely on your feelings. They are deceiving. Satan can use our feelings against us in the most clever of ways. I don’t always feel like exercising but I know the benefit..and how I feel afterwards. I am always GLAD I DID it. I love a Krispy Kreme doughnut but almost always don’t like how I feel after I have gobbled it down.
I sometimes don’t feel like getting up for that morning quiet time but I have never regretted doing it. Our feelings can be used to by the enemy to cause us to quit right before we “win” or “achieve,” or to, in the heat of the moment, do something that is not for our “greater good!”
Today, ask God to increase your tenacity, your inner motivation, your perseverance to finish, to help you take your thoughts captive, to help you not be deceived, and to give you wisdom in an area where you “feel like quitting!” He is faithful. He will reward your desire to persevere.
As Winston Churchill once said, “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”