Never Give Up

You can ignore life's troubles and making time in their realities that you can ignore Dr. Tony Evans says those realities are also reminders every time like close.

Take a peek at Jesus because Jesus is God's calendar. That's difficult and painful. You are going celebrating 40 years of faithfulness. This is the alternative Dr. Tony author, speaker, senior pastor of Oakland Bible Fellowship Dallas, Texas, president of the alternative. There are times when the going gets so tough were tempted to throw in the towel and say I quit today.

Dr. Evans points out, there are things we can do to help keep us moving to a strong finish. Let's join them as he explains 2020 will be remembered as the year of discouragement came struggle, frustration, fear, uncertainty on various levels for all of us because all of us in 2020 and beyond to have been affected by realities outside of our control on personal as well as collective levels, I began to gear up utilizing my wife a month later or so. My daughter Priscilla had half of her left lung removed for cancer, then the pandemic hits and everything shifted churchwide.

How do we meander through the challenges of a church that no longer can meet one of my frustrations humorous as it is with having them learn what it means to become a zoologist and try to meander keeping things intact with staff ministry while coming up with ways to let the flock know we still know their names and haven't forgotten them. It was a year to remember. It was easy to lose heart to lose heart means to quit the throw in the towel to run away to abandon the circumstance in one way or another. That's what the Bible talks about when it talks about losing heart.

The book of Hebrews was written to Christians who were losing heart. This is a book written to discourage Christians who didn't know whether it was worth it to keep going. The struggle was too great. The difficulty was too daunting. The pain was too palpable. The question was is it worth keeping going and many wanted to quit.

Want to go back to the old way they wanted to abandon Christ to abandon Christianity. So the author of Hebrews writes the book to challenge them not to lose heart. So we find ourselves in Hebrews chapter 12 where he says therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entitles us, and let us run with in the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consideration who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. The word of the Lord for today and the reset that he is doing is don't give up now that's easy to say and I'm sure most would agree with having heard it, but a lot of things are easier to say, do, especially when you're overwhelmed by life's negative realities. Please going to say three things. The first thing he wants to say is to encourage you never to give up.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us. You have to read all of Hebrews 11 to get his point about the cloud of witnesses, a witness gives agreement or testimony to something a witness in the courtroom gives testimony to the reality of what is being said.

He calls them a cloud of testimony givers or witnesses that obviously time will not allow us to go through 40 versus but I'll sum it up with the first couple of verses of chapter 11 now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen for by the men of old gained approval by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are the cloud of witnesses that he goes on to describe he will say the words, by faith video. Give the name of the witness video.

Tell you what the witness did.

He was saved by faith.

This witness Abraham able know even Sarah Rahab on and on and they'll tell you what they did by faith.

So the testimonies that he gives an 11 leaving him to talk to us beginning in chapter 12 is a testimony that the key to making it and not giving up is learning to live by faith that that's the gate, the way you're going to make it in spite of the headache and heartache life is to learn what they model that was learning to live by faith. He says faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It involves an expectation is being confident about the expectation and the way you know your confident about the expectation is that you move in faith even though you haven't seen it yet so you know say it but it's real and you have to move by faith in light of what you do not see or as I defined it many times. Faith is acting like God is telling the truth or another way acting like it is so even when it's not. So, in order that it might be so simple because God said so. As we have stated so often. Faith is measured by your feet not by your feeling your feelings on the caboose.

Your movement is the engine you can feel faith.

They should have no faith and not moving.

You can feel no faith, but people of faith because you are moving he says let me illustrate what I'm talking about this as we know that the walls were created by the word of God, but I don't know that anybody seen God. So what you see the world came from somebody you don't sleep in other words, we know God is real, not because we seek God, but we see what he can do. I've never see Picasso, but his work speaks for his name.

I've never seen Mozart but his work speaks for his name. There are many things we believe that we never see the source of if you and I are going to not quit give up throwing the tile. We must learn to live by faith, and faith is not merely the event when you got say it is supposedly the lifestyle that you live now that you are Romans 117 for example, says that we ought to go from faith to faith or the just shall live by faith. Faith is supposed to be a lifestyle, not an event alone. Chapter 11 is full of men and women who went through what we're going through at different times, different cycles and they give testimony.

I've been there. I've heard where you've heard struggle where you struggled but rejected what you've been rejected, but I'm here to testify. You can make it by faith that some of these people don't know how they got in.

Nobody got a long and here that's the good news. You can start where you can start where you are and save the rest of my life. I'm going to live by faith. I'm going to act like God is telling the truth. Even though I don't see the result. I will see what I'm expecting praying for. The one thing I don't see it yet but I'm going to move like it's real says he talked about creation. He says we live in a world created by somebody you don't see your say God does exist, as I will see him so women want to deny God to go to evolution fairytales for adults that everything has come out of nothing from nobody, so his challenge is a faith challenge all of the people you names from the Old Testament so this is one of the reasons you read the Old Testament is full of stories bucket is full of narratives designed to challenge you to live by faith test now.

One other thing about this first point it concludes by saying the end of chapter 11 verse 39, having gained approval through their faith letter the nonsense they gained approval in Canton Ohio is the football views of the crème de la crème of the NFL. The middle who gained status almost 2000 men a year playing in the NFL, but only if you get to the Hall of Fame. That is get approved because they have to be voted on to get a bust in the hall of fame. Just because you play that we will make it to all and just because you say don't mean you will be approved to be a pro you must finish by faith.

Dr. Evans will have more on how to avoid weariness and defeat. When he comes back in a moment to continue this lesson from his new series divine reset. This powerful 10 part collection explores the reason we experience divine disruption and how you can use that knowledge to initiate a life-changing reset breaking loose from habits and hangups you thought you'd be stuck with forever. You can get all 10 full-length messages in this series on CD and digital download is our gift when you support the ministry of the urban alternative after only a few more days were including with the divine reset audio collection. The added bonus of Tony's insightful booklet winning your spiritual battles. This quick read will offer you.

Hope it helps you identify areas of spiritual weakness and prepares you to stand firm against the devil's attacks on your life.

Visit us today@tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222 to make the arrangements of repeat that information later on in the meantime stay with us.

Dr. Evans will come back with more of today's message right after this coming to theaters this November Church of England to where it is that the birth of Jesus Christ travel with Dr. Tony having since he retraces the life and human journey of the greatest being to ever walk this earth over here in Capernaum place where Jesus did most of his miracles is in this place. He demonstrated he truly is the son of God traveled the streets and synagogues think Jesus wants, and physical locations were some of the most powerful events recorded in the Bible took place. I like that much of what we read about ministry in Galilee heaven right here journey with Jesus in theaters November 15, 16th and 17th.

Dr. Tony Tony Evans.org locations showtimes the second thing is you verse one of chapter 12 leg aside every encumbrance and soon went so evenly in tangles and encumbrance is not a sin and encumbrance is simply baggage that's keeping you from moving forward by faith. It's slowing you down. It's hindering you it's it's moving everything your spiritual progress.

And so it it is and encumbrance. See some of us I held back because we got long friends, listen to the wrong folk who are slowing us down that not propelling our faith that challenging our faith with another encumbrance your past. Don't let the rearview mirror of yesterday. Keep you from the windshield of tomorrow. We all have regrets.

We wish we could've. We should, we didn't have back and so control your mind that you don't move forward because yesterday I told you that it says the sin that we should all be seeking to address it now allows, but he is speaking more specifically, a specific set the that he has been talking about is the sin of unbelief. He calls it and entangling that in tangles us. The last thing he wants to talk about. First of all you got the witnesses testify that you got a responsibility to get rid of anything holding you back from walking by faith. Then he comes to the main point. He says fixing zone. Jesus look at your witnesses look at yourself and get fixated on Jesus, the author and perfected our faith.

You are not living this faith life alone because Judaism is the author that means the originator the perfect that means they completed, he says, fixing your eyes, your spiritual perspective on Jesus Christ who got you into this, that salvation was going to get you to completion when life is over and you can walk you along the way, you can ignore life's struggles that make you try their realities that you can ignore the says but don't fixing every time like closes in on you that as a reminder, take a peek at Jesus because Jesus's job is to carry you through that sweaty, wavy, difficult, lonely, traumatic, painful.

You are going through is there to help you fixing your eyes on Jesus, the wife this. How do I do this, he says, for the joy set before. Okay, bring up Easter Friday was a tiring day in Jesus's life. Days already sweat and tears like drops of blood because of what you get ready to go through on the cross, which included being separated from his father and it meant bearing the sins of the whole world they could say like you and I coming through this past year, let this cup pass from me. I got don't want anymore is too hot to overwhelming. Give me a break. That's what Jesus was saying, I need a break from this in mind, humanity. I don't want to have to deal with wearing the sins of the whole world. A big separated from my father. I don't want to go, not my will but thy will be done, so he made a safe decision in a frustrating circumstance. He says I will bill you will know I don't like that you don't want to do God's will you Tyler trying to do God's will, but you make a decision to walk by faith, in spite of how you feel. He says Jesus made the decision but the question is, what was his motivation in his humanity to make that decision. It says for the joy set before him all the time he was struggling with Friday he was thinking about Sunday night only got you know what we sanitized the cross as a nasty situation that was that one phone engage that was bloodied in glory. He saw the movie the passion of the Christ gave you a much more realistic vision of what was involved with the cross. But he kept his mind on Sunday and beyond. On Sunday will get up from the grave after Sunday he was gonna ascend 40 days later to his father. It was already seated on the right hand side of their prophecy is that everything will bow and every tongue will confess to the glory of God.

The exultation of Jesus Christ. So he kept looking at what God and while he was looking at that he was able to deal with. I would love to be one of those preachers who could prophesy you don't get sick. I love the big oneis a good prophesy debacle have a financial breakdown that you never go below me that you never go struggle but that would be because we know better, no matter how spiritual you are you human spiritual which reads like it you and sometimes it breaks your heart's but it says without denying the reality of Friday. Don't miss the reality of Sunday that God is taking you somewhere if you will keep going by faith he says keep your eyes on Jesus look to Jesus, talk to Jesus and Jesus will get a diploma because you enrolled. You get a diploma because you completed for a lot of us want Jesus to show up because we enrolled. We got say we accepted Jesus Christ into our lives away a row. Talk about Jesus. Jesus is no need to graduate that is you complete the process.

I am walking you through sometime I will not get that sometimes don't tell with the broken half sometimes you'll be in broken circumstances. But I know somebody even though he lives up that he's willing to come down here and take the broken and the big news and give you a divine rate set so that he can still take you babbling. Take charge across the finish line. Dr. Tony Evans.

The good news of God's love for his children, and if you never accepted the Lord's offer of adoption, and to his family. If you never ask him to forgive your sins and come into your life then log on to Tony heaven's.org and click on the link that says Jesus there. Tony will tell you all about what it means to be a Christian walk you through everything you need to know to start your brand-new life checking out today and discover the amazing difference it can make in your life again.

That's Tony Evans.org what today's lesson was taken from Tony's powerful new series called divine reset.

It contains 10 messages in all focusing on how God can use seemingly chaotic conditions in order to help us turn our hearts and minds toward what really matters. As I mentioned earlier, this collection is yours with our thanks when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on the station along with it. You get that winning your spiritual battles booklet I told you about earlier. So visit us today@20of.org or you can make your contribution and request your copy of this helpful resource package. Again, that's Tony Avenue and.org or call our 24 hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you again 1-800-800-3222.

Many people think of eternity as something disconnected from our time here on earth but on Monday Dr. Evans points out that eternal life begins with our enjoyment of God's presence in our life right here right now. But before we go for the weekend want to share this quick shout out. Dr. Evans received in celebration of 40 years of God's faithfulness to the ministry of the urban alternative hey Dr. Evans, OS Hawkins and Tony Jack Graham here just thanking God for you and your 40 years of ministry we been in the city together with Dr. Evans and his wonderful church all these years. 30 year was for me and you 25 years and we just seen God do incredible things in your life, not only in this community where you are loved and appreciated by through the urban alternative in the ministry of your church around the world.

I love you I respect you. I thank God for you, Dr. Kelly Evans and Tony, let me just add that today is Jack and I sit here just wish you happy 40th anniversary of ministry is a subset of King David.

You lead your people with integrity of your heart and the skillful hands just want you know you love the alternative with Dr. Tony at this brought to you by the urban alternative celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you