Dear friend, even today God’s life is running into you, and we are going to run with that life of God. It comes from the words of life from Jesus. We are going to hear those words from II Thessalonians 3:5: “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” Through the love of God that comes into you today, He is going to help you persevere in your life’s journey. It says Christ’s perseverance. We know how much Jesus persevered in His journey to the cross. Even though He knew He had to go through death, it was not easy in human form to go through death willingly. Yet He was so patient and kept quiet through that journey of death. That perseverance is going to come into us. Jesus did it for us. 

Now, we are going to do it for the Lord. We are going to do it for His sake, to humbly carry the cross. Even today, in your business, you might be going through downs. In your job or work, you might be going through ups and downs. In your studies, you might go through defeat sometimes, and it may be so painful. But this perseverance is going to uplift us and make our heads come back up and say, “I am going to continue to do this.” In this lowly situation, God is going to make us rise again and continue forward.

This path of lowliness and defeat is only to humble us and teach us lessons. So, it is not really a defeat, my friend; it is God’s path for us toward success. He wants us to learn, to be humble, and to be better in order to rise up to God’s great heights. In this path to success, God is going to give you perseverance so that you continue to run the race, patient in obeying Him, following Him, and not giving up. One football manager once said, after a season of 38 games, that it was good his team lost one match, otherwise they would think they were perfect. That loss showed them what to work on, and they would become better and win the championship. In the same way, God is teaching us to persevere, to grow, and to rise up.

PRAYER: 
Loving Lord, please help me to be patient. Help me to endure every defeat I face. Help me to persevere and continue in my journey. I will not give up, Lord. I will not be disappointed. I will not be heartbroken or keep crying. This is not the end for me, Lord. This is only a moment of teaching, a moment of learning, a moment of humility. I choose to trust You and obey You. Holy Spirit, please strengthen me in my moment of weakness and perfect Your grace within me so that I can rise up and shine. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace. I will rise up to great heights. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.