PERSEVERANCE

SONG

I know He  will never, never fail me

I know He  will never, never fail me

I know He  will never, never fail.

TEXT

 "And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel..." (Second Kings chapter 2 verses 1 to 14)

  The word perseverance means a continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

It is a demonstration of true faith. It is a rare Christian virtue, a special gift. It's not everyone that can persevere over some situations. Like the example from today's reading, Elisha the man of God consistently and persistently followed Elijah, his master to the end of his journey. Elisha started his journey with Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho and to Jordan, even across the River Jordan.

He damned all the difficulties and discouragements he encountered along the way and he got what he so dearly desired. Hallelujah!

  Consistency and perseverance are two different, but important facets of the Christian faith. Your response to your trials is a demonstration of your faith or otherwise, in the Lord. Understand that God has set us as examples for others to follow. There are people that have to see in our lives wonderful evidence of serving God, so that they might be convinced that it's good to serve Him.

  True faith is based upon Scripture and it's a show of the embrace of its eternal principles. Genuine belief trusts that God is Who He says He is and that He'll do everything He has promised.        

 . Prophet Elisha has graciously laid down a perfect example for us to follow. This is to say, we must not only be persistent, but also be consistent in our prayers as well as in our services to the Lord

I heard about the story of a mother who prayed for about forty years for the conversion of the soul of her son. The son later became one of the early and most influential theologians in his generation.

 We know that it is not an easy thing for one to consistently pray for good forty years before seeing the results of the prayer.

 Thank God her prayers were answered, despite that it was very stressful. The important thing is that she didn't give up on God regarding the salvation of her son.

      The crux of the message this morning is that we shouldn’t give up on God, but rather, we should persevere to the end. What's more, the Bible says in the Book of Proverbs chapter 23 verse 18, "For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.'

    As Elisha was not disappointed and as the woman in our example was not disappointed, we also shall never be disappointed, in Jesus' Mighty name.

PRAYER:

Thank You Heavenly Father for Your unending love towards me and my family. I  know for sure that I will never be ashamed, in Jesus' Mighty name.