1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose].
Now the word "persistent" means never ceasing or refusing to give up. In the above scripture Apostle Paul shares his own experience to the church of Corinth, encouraging them to stand firm in the service of the Lord. As a new born believer, we have noticed often people being on fire for the Lord, they are determined to pray, fast, Bible reading, church activity, evangelism, etc., but as years pass by the passion for things of God starts diminishing and life becomes too normal and busier and worries start multiplying.
As a young believer boy in late 90's, I was not matured in faith completely, but when I often heard some new believers grumbling in life about their situation and condition without any dedication and passion towards God, I used to be heart broken when they said "we were better off as heathen and non-believers than being believers and experiencing hard ships in life. Those days I never understood why people go through such process after becoming an intermediate believer, why does the enemy enter their life and make havoc? But down the line when I started studying my Bible and receiving revelation continually, I came to an understanding that the only reason that can sustain every believer in life is the key to be persistent or else the enemy will gulp our faith down his throat.
Persistency is very important in this life journey whether spiritually or physically. One reason why believers are struggling in their faith is because they are lacking in this area of being persistent. Every believer whether off season or on season is a sower, and if you stop sowing, then you will even stop reaping. We read in Genesis 27, Isaac sowed in famine, it means Isaac also sowed when there was abundance and he kept on doing his duty without ceasing.
The Bible tells us Pray without ceasing (1 Thesslonians 5:17). Pray and continue to pray despite difficulties and challenges. Don't grumble, you maybe very close to your blessing and your blessings seem to be so far for you but in reality there is no intervention of the devil but indeed the Lord has withold your blessing and he wants to test you how far can you go, maybe the Lord is testing your faith.
Years back, I heard a powerful testimony of a brother who was desiring for the Gift of Tongues, he had attended a night vigil and that was the 40th day of his fasting, imagine nothing has happened in 39 days and it was last day to go, but he did not give up at all, just minutes before the vigil was about to end, he cried and prayed and said, Lord no problem if you don't touch me with your hands but do touch me with your feet, that's all, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon him in such a way that he was thrown on the ground and he spoke in new tongues. The principle here that was used is stubbornly persisting, refusing to give up.
You see many top personalities in this world, maybe sports athletes, musicians, singers, celebrities etc., have one principle in common and that is being persistent in life and that's the reason they have reached the peak of success. Why can't we as the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, use this similar strategy and reach our spiritual and professional goals.
Let's continue with this topic in part 2.
THANKS for the motivation Pastor 💪