BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

*********** ADVERTISEMENT ********** Rick Renner is now on bvovn BELIEVER’S VOICE OF VICTORY NETWORK REAL. LIFE. FAITH.® ///photos of ministers/// Watch on: dish® CHANNEL 265 apple tv® 4th Generation Roku® bvovn.com YouTube® amazon fire TV facebook Apple® iOS android ********************************************* * * * * * article continues below * * * * * The Art of Continuing I understand the urge to quit. Quitting used to be a way of life for me. I’d get under pressure, and I’d look for the path of least resistance. It started when I was young. After high school, I planned to go into the automotive business like my dad, but my dad had other plans. He wanted me to go to college, so that’s what I did. Then two weeks before the first semester ended, I quit. “Son, what are you doing home in the middle of the week?” my dad asked when I pulled up in my ’57 Chevrolet. “I quit,” I said. “I want to work on cars. Can you give me a job?” Two weeks later, in the fall of 1964, I received a draft letter for the war. Since I didn’t want to go to Vietnam, I returned to college. During the day, I worked on cars. At night, I took classes. After Carolyn and I married, I decided that balancing everything was too much, so I quit college again. I started doing paint and body work for my dad, who was now the body shop foreman at a Buick dealership. About six weeks later, I quit and started working for the Lincoln Mercury dealership. Two months later, I quit and changed jobs again. Quitting became my lifestyle. If someone made me mad, I’d quit. If I believed I’d been wronged, I’d quit. Thankfully, all that changed when I first heard Brother Copeland, dedicated my life to the Lord and got into the Word of God. The first scripture I read was John 8:31-32: “If ye "continue" in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (emphasis mine). That little word “continue” jumped out of my Bible and into my heart. The Lord said, 'This is the missing ingredient in your life. You have always been a great starter, but you’ve never been a great finisher. And if you don’t develop the art of continuing you will never be the minister I want you to be, the husband I want you to be and the father I want you to be. You have to settle it once and for all that from this day forward quitting is no longer an option in your life.' God turned a quitter into someone whose life’s theme has become “Don’t Quit.” Forty-nine years later, quitting is still no longer an option. Why People Quit Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” If the devil knocks you down seven times, then get up eight. That’s how you beat him. Sadly, many in the Body of Christ give up too quickly. I believe they do so for one of three reasons. The first reason is that they are not convinced that God will keep His Word. One day after reading Hebrews 11:1, which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” I asked the Lord, “What is Your definition of faith? Give me something easy to relate to.” He said, 'It is a deep conviction of the reality that it is impossible for Me to lie.' Read what the Lord said to me again: 'It is a deep conviction of the reality that it is impossible for Me to lie.' That’s faith! You can find confirmation of this in several other verses of Scripture, including Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; Psalm 89:34; and Isaiah 40:8. If you’re not deeply convicted that it’s impossible for God to lie, then you’ll always struggle with your faith. As Brother Copeland has said, when you get to the place where you believe God’s Word as quickly as you would the word of your doctor, your lawyer or your best friend, then you won’t struggle with your faith anymore. Another reason people quit is because they’re not willing to wait. Believers who give up have never developed the force of patience in their lives. Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “Cast not away therefore your confidence [or your faith], which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” "The Message" says, “So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.” 24 : BVOV

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