God promotes persistence. He elevates persistent people. Proverbs 22:29 says, “See thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings.” And in Luke 9:62, Jesus warned us, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
God always says, “Keep going forward. Don’t look back.” The more you look back, the less you can see where God wants you to go. The more you look back, the less you can see of what God has for you up ahead.
In Philippians 3:13, Paul said, “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”
It’s All Ahead Of You
Everything God has for you is ahead of you, not behind you. So stop procrastinating and get moving. Don’t wait for perfect conditions before you move out to seize your opportunity. Remember, if you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.
Get rid of all of the negative excuses holding you back from seizing the opportunities God has for you. Don’t say, “I’m the wrong color,” or “I was born on the wrong side of town.” When you got born again, you became a new creature and a citizen of the kingdom of God.
There’s no “wrong side” to the kingdom of God. There’s no color barrier there. The Word of God knows no barriers. The Word of God knows no race but one—new creatures in Christ.
No More Excuses
Don’t say, “Well, I don’t have the money.” God can get you the money. Don’t say, “I just don’t have any creative ideas.” God has plenty of creative ideas. Don’t say, “But I don’t have the education.” The Holy Ghost does. If He can’t teach you, then those folks up at the university certainly can’t!
God gives everyone opportunities for more effectual service, but in order to benefit from those opportunities, we have to be willing to take possession of them forcibly when they show up. And we have to be willing to work hard.
Keeman Wilson, the founder of Holiday Inns, was once asked what the key to his success was. His answer was this: “I’ve worked half days all my life. So I guess my advice to anybody who wants to be successful is just to work half days the rest of your life.” Then he added, “It really doesn’t matter which half you work—the first 12 hours or the last 12 hours.”
Keeman Wilson seized an opportunity, and through hard work and perseverance he brought his vision into reality.
All of us can do what the heroes of faith have done. But we have to be willing to work hard and persevere and fight the good fight of faith if we want to bring our God-given opportunities into reality.
Opportunities are doors that God opens. However, an open door is of no benefit to you unless you’re willing to go through it.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Dr. Jerry Savelle was an average, blue-collar man who was struggling and needed God's help. While he considered himself a "nobody," when he became a believer God told him not to worry about it because He was a master at making champions out of nobodies. God has since taken Dr. Savelle from being a constant quitter to a man who knows how to stand on the Word of God until victory is experienced. Because of the life-changing combination of God's faithfulness and Dr. Savelle's "no quit" attitude, his life is totally different than it was thirty-eight years ago.
Since 1969, Dr. Savelle traveled the world teaching people how to win in life. Dr. Savelle ministered in more than three thousand churches and in twenty-six nations, and has overseas offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
God used Dr. Savelle to impact people who are burned out on religion and who have backslidden in their walk with God, as well as Christians who have a need to hear the Word of God presented in terms applicable to their lives, dreams, and destinies. He hosted the Jerry Savelle Ministries television broadcast which airs in two hundred countries worldwide.
Dr. Savelle authored more than forty books, including his bestsellers, If Satan Can't Steal Your Joy, He Can't Keep Your Goods and You're Somebody Special to God. He served as one of the founding Pastors of Heritage of Faith Christian Center in Crowley, Texas.
Jerry J. Savelle, 77, went home to be with the Lord on April 15, 2024. He spent his last day on earth fulfilling his purpose teaching people the Word of God