When You Feel Like Giving Up
BY RICK WARREN — OCTOBER 16, 201
“All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.”(Hebrews 11:39-40 NLT)It’s not easy to live by faith. We live in a broken world. The weather doesn’t work right. Our bodies don’t work right. Our relationships don’t work right.When God kicked Adam out of Heaven, he told Adam that life would be hard. And it is. There’s a cosmic battle for your life going on inside of you and outside of you. You battle with your own sinful nature. You also battle against Satan himself, who wants nothing more than to “steal, kill, and destroy.”And sometimes it just gets to us. We just want to give up.But in Hebrews 11, God urges us to hang on, because God hasn’t forgotten us and will fulfill his promises one day. He promises to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He promises to take away our tears (Revelation 7). And he gives us multiple other promises throughout his Word.Hebrews 11 mentions a variety of biblical heroes who demonstrated faith in God’s promises — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Gideon, Samson, and others. Though they endured many difficulties, they kept going in their spiritual journeys.Then Hebrews 11:39-40 says, “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us”(NLT).Talk It Over
- Living by faith involves pain. If you give up when life isn’t going well, you never learn to trust God. Why do you think this is so?
- It’s easy to love God and serve him when life is going well. Will you trust him when it’s not?
Where Strength and Joy Are Found
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:
"Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary."
(1 Chronicles 16:27, AMP)
(1 Chronicles 16:27, AMP)
TODAY'S WORD:
Do you need more strength and joy in your life? The Bible tells us that in God’s presence, there is fullness of joy—the most abundant and complete! And when you have His joy, you have His supernatural strength. There’s nothing that can come against you when you are filled with the strength and joy of the Lord.
Notice this verse says that strength and joy are found in His sanctuary. One translation says they are found “where He is.” Do you know “where He is?” His Spirit is alive in every believer. It also says that He inhabits, or manifests, in the praises of His people. That means when you begin to praise and worship God, either corporately in a church setting or privately in your personal time, God’s presence is there. You are His sanctuary, and when we worship together, God shows up in a special way.
Anytime you feel depleted or overwhelmed by life, just begin to sing a song of praise to Him. Declare His goodness and faithfulness. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. He’ll fill you with His joy and strength because in His presence is where that’s found!
Notice this verse says that strength and joy are found in His sanctuary. One translation says they are found “where He is.” Do you know “where He is?” His Spirit is alive in every believer. It also says that He inhabits, or manifests, in the praises of His people. That means when you begin to praise and worship God, either corporately in a church setting or privately in your personal time, God’s presence is there. You are His sanctuary, and when we worship together, God shows up in a special way.
Anytime you feel depleted or overwhelmed by life, just begin to sing a song of praise to Him. Declare His goodness and faithfulness. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. He’ll fill you with His joy and strength because in His presence is where that’s found!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father, I bless You today. I thank You for Your goodness in my life. Thank You for filling me with Your strength and joy as I praise and worship You this day in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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