WBCA Podcasts
Never Give Up "Where Giving Up Is Not An Option"
[ Music ] >> You're listening to WBCALP 102.9 FM Boston, Boston's Community Radio Station. [ Music ] >> Hello, hello, you're listening to Never Give Up. We're giving up as not an option. I'm your host, Rachelle Jones. And I know we have been talking about praising God in the midst of the storm in order to strengthen your faith. You know, you have to think about when you're able to praise Him in the storms. And that is a faith developer. That's almost like doing barbells for the muscles, for the arms. You know, and you definitely build an arsenal against the enemy who's trying to come and attack you, right? By having and knowing and being able to praise and use praise scriptures against the enemy, you're going to begin to see changes in your life like never before. And that's what we're here. We're here to encourage you and to build you up and to help you think and to realize that all things are possible to those who believe. So keep praising God in the midst of the storm. We're going to provide you a few more scriptures this week. And just walk like your best days are yet to come. Like you haven't lived your best days. Even those days might have been good and best. You have better days are coming, amen, hallelujah. And being able to praise Him in the midst of the storm. So we're going to get on board. You know, I just can't stop praising the Lord. I just can't stop praising the Lord. I just can't stop praising the Lord Jesus, Jesus. And so we just got to keep praising Him. You know, sometimes we have to get out of the routine that we're in and just get crazy for Jesus, amen. And just letting it all go, like let your inhibitions down. You know, let's start thinking outside the box, being free. The Bible said whom the Son is set free is free indeed. Walk in that freedom, amen. And so definitely the joy of the Lord is our strength, amen. And so as we continue to strengthen ourselves through the Word of God, we realize, you know, and I love saying it this way, because 2 Corinthians 12, 9 and 10 tells us that my grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wow, right? Isn't that something? So as I boast in the Lord, as I boast, you know, all the more gladly of my weaknesses, it seems to activate a power, right? That the power of Christ may rest upon me. Woo, I need the power of Christ, rest it upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. What a trade-off. I give my weakness and God gives me strong, right? Gives me strength, gets me to the place of being strong. And in that scripture, just, you know, when I hear that, somehow it causes me to then think about the scripture in Ephesians, you know, where he tells us in Ephesians 6, 6 and 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong, amen. In my weakness, he's yet strong. So then Ephesians says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Isn't that amazing, amen? That definitely God's grace is sufficient because for his power is made perfect in weakness. Hallelujah. So as we begin to acknowledge and let go and share these weaknesses, I mean, it rests upon us the power of Christ, amen. For when we are weak, amen, then I am strong. And then we go over to Ephesians. Well, then there's nothing else to do, brethren, but be strong, right? I gave my weakness. He gave me strength, now walk in the strong. Be strong. I like it. You know, I be strong, like either I'm strong or I'm planning to be strong or I could be walking in my strength. He's just said, be strong. It's almost like a command. Be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the power of his might, amen. And that strength will cause us, then put on the whole armor of God, then you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Somehow it does seem kind of perplexed and it can feel confusing, amen. And so that's why when we read that scripture, we ask God, give us the revelation of your word. Help it to empower us as we walk this walk, as we journey towards our destiny. Hallelujah. Philippians 4.19 says, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory." Amen. In Christ Jesus. Praising him in the midst of storms and struggles and adversity. Sometimes we got to reach down deep and bring it up, or maybe not so. It could also be that we begin to just reach to the heart and pull out that thankfulness, that thanksgiving, reminding ourselves of what God has done. Sometimes if you start there, just being thankful and reminding, just reminding yourself of what God has already done, then we find ourselves. Hallelujah. It's like a snowball effect. It turns into a praise. And that praise can turn into a shout. Turn into a dance. And it changes the whole perspective that we had and we feel the joy of God. In Hebrews 2 and 12, we said, "Look, in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise." I mean, this should be no worship leader having to struggle to get people to praise God in the house of God. I mean, how is it that we can, you know, praise our basketball players and baseball players and cheer them on? You know, somebody asked me at a luncheon that I was at. Are you hoping for the Celtics to win? Now granted, I don't really follow basketball, but since I do live in Boston, of course I'd want the Celtics to win. I don't really know a Celtics player, but I'm just saying, if people can root on the Celtics for what they do and the skills that they use, I think we can root on as well and give God thanks for what he's done, for giving us breath in life, for pulling us out of the mirey clay, out of darkness, bringing us into his marvelous light, for loving us before we even knew him. Amen. Hallelujah. For loving us, he said, "I've loved you with an everlasting love." And so, God, we thank you for that love. We thank you for making ways out of no ways. We thank you for helping us to stand in the midst of our storms and our trials and our tribulations. So, I want to kind of follow what Hebrews 13, 15. Through him, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. I mean, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Amen. Continually offer up the sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. A second Peter 3.9 says, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but he's patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." You know, we shouldn't be so quick to give up on people and to down people. You know, that Scripture right there. Let's just know that, "Hey, you know, I know you think God's moving slow. I know you think that, you know, your ex spouse should have, you know, fallen into a snow bank." But, you know, God is patient. He's patients toward them. He's patient towards you, me. But what I like about it is it goes on to say, "God isn't wishing that any should perish." And I know sometimes people blame God for things. They're like, you know, "Why did the Lord allow the tornado to take out the family down the street?" And I get it, you know. God doesn't desire that any would perish. I know He's provided a way for us to have eternal life, to be reconciled back to Him. He doesn't desire a wish that anyone should perish. He doesn't want you to go to hell. He didn't even create hell for you. He wants you to see His love for you, you know. And the fact that He's a father waiting for you to come back home, to be reacquainted with Him, that you should reach repentance. And sometimes these situations we go through are to bring us to that place of repentance, to bring us to that place of acknowledging that we need a Savior, that we need help, we need support. We need you, Lord. We need your direction, you know, and not will bask in unforgiveness and anger, denial, you know, no hope if we didn't have the Lord, if we didn't have the word of God, amen. We have hope, like, you have to get upset, but we have hope because God can work it out, you know. You tell everybody you know, you tell your friends, like, God's not wishing that you would perish, amen, but that you would have repentance. Come out from amongst them, come out of sin, you know. It's sin blocking you from having a relationship with God and being able to have true repentance and eternal life. And so God is patient. He doesn't want anyone to perish, but that He wants you to repent and to turn and to come to Him. And to the saints who are holding on, 1 John 2 and 14, you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. I mean, we're striving for that testimony to walk in strength, to have God's word abiding in us, have that word hidden in our heart that we win sin against God, and to have us, you know, overcome the evil one. I mean, isn't that what we're striving for? Amen. And Revelation 21 and 4 says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." You know, until that day, we may have pain in crying, but we know that the Lord is here and He's with us, and that He is carrying us. I love the imagery of the Scripture that we are surrounded by many clouds of witnesses. And look at that as an arena, and all those who have gone before us, we're surrounded by them, cheering us, calling us, encouraging us. You can do it. You can do it. You can make it. You can overcome this. Hallelujah. I know that weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming. Hold on. Don't let go. Don't let go. Don't keep, don't take your eyes off the prize. But remember that God hears you, that He's with you, wherever you go, wherever you go, whatever you need, God is with us. Hallelujah. And just praise Him. Praise Him in all that you do. You know, when I find that sometimes sitting in prayer, I have to begin to think about what's on my heart and my mind, and just give it to the Lord. And when I started doing that, it just freed me up, freed me up from what people think, what people, you know, what things, what decisions, you know. I wanted to do my bathroom, and so I, you know, the contractor said, "You know, I need you to come and pick out some trials." I'm like, "Oh, man. I have no vision for the tiles. I don't, you know, I almost wanted to say you'd pick them out, but I know that was silly." And so I, I told Him, so I went and I asked the Lord. I mean, Lord, give me the color combination, you know, give me the tiles. And I had, I had the Lord just help me. I prayed to the Lord for Him to help me. And He did. Now, it's going to be interesting when it all comes together, and, but I trust that it's going to work itself out, as it always does, you know. And so stay encouraged. Stay encouraged. Hold on to the Lord. Don't let go. Put on your armor. Make sure you have the shield of faith, where you shall be able to quince, you know, all the fiery dots of the wicked one. Make sure you have your helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Praying, pray always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And it may seem boring. It may even feel like God isn't hearing you and nothing is getting done. It seems like the more we pray about situations, it can appear the worse it gets. But we have to continue to pray anyway, always in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance for all the saints, for all those who love the Lord. I pray, O God, that your journey be safe. I pray that your faith not fail. I pray that you're able to stand when you feel like sitting down. Hallelujah. I pray that you keep your eyes on the prize, which is Jesus Christ. I pray that you stay focused. I pray that those who may not know God may not understand His ways because of the way people represent Him. I pray that they can overlook people and realize that they're only enacting what they think at the moment until they had a true encounter with God as though the apostles did in the upper room. When they came out, there was evidence. Evidence that they had an experience with God. Peter walked and powered. Matter of fact, they say 3,000 came to the church. I get sometimes we don't understand everything. And I know this song that is sung that says that we'll understand it better by and by, but in the meantime, Hallelujah. Continue to pray. That's the faith. Praying. You know, I always am reminded that we want to walk in the peace, the peace of God, the peace that surpasses all understanding. We want to walk in that. And so therefore, we've got to do it. We've got to allow the Lord to give us that peace when we feel like it's too much. When things are overwhelming for us. And if your peace has been shaken, if your peace has, you know, been disturbed by an incident, a loss of a loved one, a sickness, maybe you don't see how it's going to work out. Maybe you don't see how it's going to end up. You don't see how it's going to work out. I know Leviticus 26 and 6 tells us, I will give peace in the land. And you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid. I will remove those harmful beasts from the land and the sword shall go through your land. Numbers 6, 20, 40, 26 says, "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his continents upon you and give you peace." Amen. Thank you for your peace. Psalm 29 and 11, "May the Lord give strength to his people. May the Lord bless his people with peace." Psalm 34, 14, "Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it." Now we have to seek peace sometimes. Now sometimes peace won't come. We just got to, you know, when somebody's being argumentative, sometimes we just have to get up and walk away and go seek peace. Sometimes when you have lots of thoughts, your mind's racing, you can't sleep. You might have to go on the porch and let God speak to you. You know, he speaks in so many ways through prayer, as you're weeping before him, looking out the window, the breeze, the trees, the insects, the birds that wake up, you know, tweeting in the morning. So many things can bring you peace and begin to speak to you. Allow God to speak to you. Amen. We got to think past the cement, you know, the city, the city life, the hustle and the bustle. Sometimes we got to think beyond that and get to that place of peace, of surrender and pursue it. Seek after it. Hallelujah. The future amen depends that you're able to pull away from the noise and get to peace and to hear God's voice. Amen. It's that quiet voice. And we want to be in that place of peace. Great, great peace. Have those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble. That Psalms 119, 165. God is going to speak peace to his people, to his saints. And don't turn back to the noise, to the folly. Amen. Continue to walk in the peace that God is providing for you. What about Proverbs 3, 1 and 2, my son? Do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. For length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you. Wow. That word of God is going to bring length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you. Thank you, Lord. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 12 and 20 that those who plan peace, amen, have joy, you know, they have joy. And when a man's way pleases the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. So I want my ways to please the Lord. Amen. That's Proverbs 16 and 7. You might want to write that one down. When a man's ways please the Lord. He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Hallelujah. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. When we can get to that place, when we can say, "Lord, you are my salvation, and I will trust you, and trusting you, I will not be afraid." Hallelujah. Isaiah 26 and 3, you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. I know we started out talking about praising in the midst of the storms and the things that you're going through, just praising him. Even if it doesn't make sense, praise him. Pray, praise. And then we wanted to end up with peace. We wanted you to walk away this evening knowing that God will keep you in perfect peace if your mind is stayed on him because he trusts in you. Because we trust the Lord. Amen. So allow the Lord to keep you in peace. Keep your mind stayed on him. Let your ways please him. Do not walk and devise, you know, evil plans so that you can walk in joy and that man, when we walk and keep God's commandments, we will have peace. Once again, you've been listening to never give up or giving up as not an option. I'm your host, Rachelle Jones. Have a blessed day and remember greatness is on the inside of you.