People who didn't give up

       Many of us think we have angered God so much and because of that, he hates us 

and wants to punish us by bringing pain and agony to us. Nope! God is full of love and 

mercy, not condemnation. One of the reasons you’re going through those tough times is 

because God sometimes uses tough measures to train his loved ones.Think of it this way. 

Doesn't a father sometimes use strict measures to discipline the child he loves so much? 

What more of the wise God. Another reason God lets us to go through tough moments is 

to prove to satan how string and resistant we can be. When the holy spirit makes you 

strong and the devil sees how strong you are, the devil would be ashamed and would 

escape. Amen?? We are the light. You are a conqueror in Jesus’ name. As we often said 

as kids "You are the main actor(as in the movies) and not the bad guy". As we say in 

pidgin, “You no be chef bang”. LOL. You never give up and you are not a fugitive. I tell 

you my dear friends, "…in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him 

who loved us"(Rom 8:37). 

     The famous preacher 'Paula White' once said that "every single person who came in 

and out of your life is part of your divinely chosen experience, purpose, destiny, and 

associations". This statement implies that your friends are a huge contribution to your 

success and even your enemies contribute to your success as well. You know why? 

Because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Your enemies will always do 

everything in their power to bring you down and fight your progress. But in so doing, 

they challenge you to fight back. In other words, they are training you to be stronger 

thereby getting you ready for future bigger challenges or battles. So, even though it 

sounds crazy, we should be grateful for the experiences we have or had with our 

enemies. Remember, Jesus said "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute 

you"(Matt 5:44). This life we are in is a spiritual warfare that takes place between 

good(God's people) and evil(satan's people). And so far, satan's people are leading simply 

because folks won't accept Jesus wholeheartedly; and these folks easily give up in life 

because they don't really believe that Jesus is the all and all.

     Below are some examples of folks who did not give up in life despite their very 

challenging painful situations:

*Job, God's elect:

    

      Job in the Bible did not end up giving up(Job 1). Job lost his wealth, family(Job 

1:18-19), and he was very sick(Job 2:7). Event though he felt so discouraged and lost at 

one point, he remembered who truly God was and who still is. He did not give up 

because he knew he was serving not a god, but the God. He was serving the untouchable 

toucher, the unshakable shaker and the unmovable mover, Jehovah almighty. It was so 

bad that Job’s wife told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9b) but Job chased not to. It is 

so amazing that even after your own spouse tells you to do something which seems 

logical to the human way of reasoning, you still don’t believe it is the right thing to do. A 

good husband going through such torments will obviously succumb to his wife’s advice 

at this point in time. Job went through pain and felt almost lost for a minute to the point 

that his friend Eliphaz told him to confess for rebuking God.

      After tests upon tests, Job got back up and this time, his faith was so solid that even 

death couldn’t scare him. God gave back all the wealth he lost and even double what he 

had. “And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job….and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as 

had before”(Job 42:10).  I am telling you guys that if you have given up in life due to 

one reason or another, it is time to get back on your feet, trust in God and see for 

yourself his Glory in your lives; for the God we serve is the same God. The God who is 

slow to anger but fast in mercy. 

*Lincoln, God's chosen president:

       Also, the story of Abraham Lincoln.  Lincoln lost some of his children, lost his 1^st 

wife, ran many elections and lost. Everything he ever touched or did went wrong. But 

this man kept up and finally at 51, he became president of the United States. This man is 

one of the most famous presidents because he stopped slave trade completely. Had this 

man given up, would he have created history? If this man had given up, slave trade 

would probably not have stopped and there would probably still be slaves existing in 

America. God used him to do a great thing. You never what God has in stock for you 

until you believe that all is well. You may go through very tough moments in life but I 

challenge you to hold on tight and keep praising God. The Bible clearly says that blessed 

are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven 

(Matt 5:10). So I tell you, your moment is coming. 

*Murray, an overcomer:

          

        The famous tennis player from Britain by name Andy Murray is another good 

example of a gentle man who never gave up in life. Murray turned pro in 2003 at the age 

of 16 and like every other tennis player was aiming high in his career. He was a good 

player to the point that he became a top 10 player for the first time in April 2007. Until 

then he had not yet reached Grand slam final let alone winning one. In 2008, he saw 

great improvements in his game which produced wonderful results. Improvements which 

he used to take out the then world number one Rafael Nadal at the U.S Open 2008 semi 

finals. Unfortunately for him, Murray was beaten at the finals of that same competition 

by the then world Number 2 Roger Federer. Having in mind that it was his first grand 

slam final, Murray now had more prospects of winning a grand slam in the future. In 

addition to that, Murray won the Madrid open of that same year by beating Gilles Simon 

in the finals and went up the ATP rankings to world number 4. In January 2010, Murray 

reached his second grand slam final which was at the Australian open in Melbourne, 

Australia. Again, he couldn’t overcome and ended up losing the match to the then world 

number 1 Roger Federer, the same tennis player who beat him in his previous slam 

finals. In his ceremonial speech, while in tears, Murray jokingly said and I quote “I can 

cry like Federer but I can’t play as well as he does”.  Roger Federer had shed tears the 

year before when he lost at the Australian open finals to Rafael Nadal. So Murray was 

implying that getting emotional was a thing he could copy from Federer but winning 

grand slams was almost an impossibility. You could see signs of discouragement from 

the British tennis star but at this moment, he probably forgot that God’s time is the best. 

     After trying for seven years in his career, was it enough reason for Murray to give up 

trying at the grand slams? Nope. He kept practicing and pushing for success. At the 

Australian open of 2011, Andy Murray reached his third grand slam final and was 

defeated by the then world number 2 Novak Djokovic. That same year, Murray made it 

to the semi finals of the French open, Wimbledon, and U.S open and was defeated by 

Rafael Nadal all through. One could think that Murray was cursed not to win a slam but 

God is the God of all possibilities and his watch is different from man’s. At the 

Australian open of 2012, Murray made it to the semi finals and fought a serious battle 

with his previous rival Novak Djokovic but ended up losing again. In his after-match 

commentary, he said that he felt a lot more confident because of how well he fought. 

That my friend is what I call ‘not giving up’. At the Wimbledon championship in Britain 

of that same year(2012), Murray reached his fourth grand slam final and lost to the same 

Roger Federer for the third time. Federer was becoming a serious pain in the neck and 

wouldn’t let Murray cross the border. For over seven decades, no British male had won 

the British Wimbledon title. So the British fans were all hoping for a British player to 

win another Wimbledon title ever since Fred Perry won the previous title in 1936. As 

God will have it, his decision is final. Murray felt a little disappointed but never gave up 

on wining a grand slam plus the Wimbledon grand slam title.

     In August 2012, he reached his fifth grand slam final and after struggling for over 

five hours against the world’s best player Djokovic, Andy Murray finally won a grand 

slam title. As if that were not enough, Andy Murray went ahead to win the Wimbledon 

title in 2013 and therefore became the first British player in 77 years to win the British 

grand slam championship. If Murray had given up, he wouldn’t have made history. 

People, God has a plan for you. Just hold on tight, rely on him, ask him to give you 

strength and you will be amazed in the end. Please don’t give up for Jesus still loves you, 

more than you know it. 

*Jesus, the one:

      

     Jesus himself(God the son) did not give up. You might think that because he was the 

messiah, he couldn’t be hurt physically. Jesus was human and therefore was exposed to 

human pain in the flesh. Before he was crucified, Jesus saw a vision of what was coming 

ahead and the torture he was going to receive. So he said to God the father “My father, if 

it be possible, let this cup pass away from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou 

wilt” (Matt 26:39). This verse suggests that Jesus' flesh wasn’t yet ready to be sacrificed 

for the sins of mankind. That explains why he went further to say "the spirit is willing 

but the flesh is weak"(Matt 26:41). After reading this story over and over, this is exactly 

what caught my attention. Although he knew how much pain he was going to receive, 

Jesus didn’t give up on us. He knew prophecy had to be fulfilled and the Son of Man had 

to change the world. He had to fulfill the father’s will so that the world would be back in 

place. This is what we need to understand. As a result of Adam and Eve’s act at the 

beginning of time(Gen 3), man was full of sin and had lost a good relationship with the 

Heavenly father. So mankind needed to be punished for sin and that is one of the reasons 

God flooded the world during the time of prophet Noah as proven in (Gen 7:24). 

   

        

        Even after saving some people in the ark, mankind continued to sin tremendously. 

Brother killing brother, friends betraying friends, lies and slander all over the world. Sin 

was so much that man had to be punished for his atrocities. If God doesn’t punish for sin, 

then God wouldn’t be a judge. So because God is the judge, mankind must be judged. 

And knowing fully well that the wages of sin was death(Rom 6:23), we all were 

supposed to be dead, buried, and sent to hell fire as punishment for sin. Under normal 

circumstances, all that pain Jesus went through was the same pain mankind was supposed 

to go through as punishment for sin. But God the father, so filled with pure love, wasn't 

ready to do that. Still, someone had to take the blame for the sins of mankind. So he(God 

the father) made his only begotten son to die for all of us. Assuming that Jesus got scared 

and gave up, we all will still be under the law and going through guilt of sin right? If 

Jesus gave up, the relationship between God and man would still be in anarchy, and 

people wouldn’t know how to forgive one another for sinning. We know that in the Old 

Testament times, for sins to be forgiven, serious confession and animal sacrifices had to 

be done for a long period of time, sometimes all year round. Folks were spending more 

time on confessing instead of focusing on praising the Father. But Jesus never gave up on 

us and shed his blood so that our past, present and future sins would be forgiven in just a 

day. Also, satan had control of the world ever since the Adam and Eve scandal. The 

devil took that power and authority which God had given Adam and as a result, the 

world was in serious chaos. Effects included: hatred, child abuse, sexual immorality, 

murder, just to name a few. Man didn’t know the most effective way to flee from these. 

But Jehovah(God almighty) decided to someone(Christ the Messiah)who was equal to 

him to come to the world and change all that. God told satan “you will bruise his heel but 

he will crush your head (Gen 3:15b). This means that even though satan bruised Jesus’ 

heel by torturing him to death, Jesus’ act crushed his head by causing satan to lose 

dominion over the earth. So at the end of the day, Jesus was way smarter than the so-

called wise satan. 

      Because Jesus didn’t give up, by his blood, we are born again in the spirit. Because 

Jesus didn’t give up, he restored power and authority to man and rendered the devil 

toothless. Because Jesus didn’t give up, by his blood, we are made Holy and righteous in 

Christ. Because Jesus didn’t give up, by his blood, we can now resurrect after life and 

enjoy life everlasting with the Father. Because Jesus didn’t give up, he restored man’s 

dominion as kings over the earth. Because Jesus didn’t give up, he restored man’s 

communion by making it possible for man to commune in fellowship with the father.  

Amen???

*Men of color:

      

      As we all know, men of color(blacks) have been through a lot 

in life but have never given up on their rights. Slaves from Africa 

never gave up. Martin Luther King, one of the most well renowned 

preachers in the world started the civil rights movement. He never 

gave up on the rights of African Americans. One day he said and I 

quote “I have a dream that one day my three little children will 

live in a land where they won’t be judged by the color of their skin 

but by the contempt of their character. I have a dream”. 

       Barack Obama, the 44^th president of the United States of 

America knew very well that an African-American could become 

president of the United States. He had prospects of making the 

country a better place. As a democrat and a man of color, he never 

gave up on his people and on November 4^th 2008, for the first time 

in the History of America, Barack Obama became the first 

African-American president of the United States of America, 

something people could swear would never happen; at least no 

time soon. But this is what we need to remember,  “...with God, all 

things are possible” (Matt 19:26). Whether you go to Jericho or 

Australia or to the moon, whatever God has said will happen in 

your life, must come to pass. He is the “I AM”, the God who never 

did and never will change. God can decide to make one of the least 

successful and least heard man to be the most influential and well 

known man on earth. God often uses the less privileged persons in 

life for his glory. As we can see, President Barack Obama and 

Martin Luther king happen to be good examples. 

*Disciples who never gave up:

             

        The famous British apostle and healer "Smith Wigglesworth" 

never gave up on himself. He didn't know how to read until he was 

married. So, you could say that he was more or less an illiterate. 

But guess what? His wife thought him how to read; and the first 

book he ever read was the Bible. In fact, he claimed that the only 

book he ever read was the Bible. Do you see how God works? God 

often uses the most insignificant people in the world and makes 

them very significant for his Glory. 

      According to the gospel of John, we learn that even when 

Stephen told Nathanael about the great Jesus of Nazareth, 

Nathanael responded and said "can any good thing come out of 

Nazereth?(John 1:46). This is a clear indication that folks from 

Nazareth were not recognized at the time. But God brought forth 

the greatest king from there "Jesus Christ". Jesus was born and 

placed in a common manger(Lk 2:7) but became the greatest king 

that has and will ever exist in the world. Even though he grew in 

the king's palace, Moses was born a slave. But God made him a 

great man and chose him to relieve the slaves from the hands of 

the Egyptians. In the book of Acts, Luke said "this Moses whom 

they refused, saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge; him hath 

God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the Angel 

that appeared to him in the bush"(Acts 7:35-36). As you can see, 

Moses(a slave) was still used by God to lead the other jewish 

slaves out of the land of bondage(Egypt). So I challenge you never 

to give up in life because God uses what you are, for his Glory. Let 

me explain these in my own words. God changes who you think 

you are to make you to become what he created you to be. 

      

        So folks, please always remember this. God still got your 

back. Even though you feel sometimes like he is ignoring you, he 

is still there watching over you every step of the way. In fact, 

remember one thing. If you ever give up in life, you just made 

satan very happy and made God disappointed. So which would you 

rather do? Make God really proud of you or make satan very 

happy? My dear friends, the ball is in your court. Take that bold 

step to hold on tight and keep the faith moving so that at the end of 

the day, satan will give up on you; and you will be entirely God's 

reliable child.