Daily Devotional for Monday November 22, 1999

Victory Is In Sight

(Galatians 6:9)

I am excited to announce that as I write this devotional at 5:10am on Tuesday, November 22, 1999, victory is in site. After much prayer, many long hours looking to the Lord for strength, all of the technology is in place to have Liveprayer.com back up. The only thing we are waiting for is for Network Solutions, which registers domain names, to change our DNS which is an administrative function, and we are back on! This is totally out of our control, but we have been told it should happen sometime today. In looking back on this episode and trying to give you something to hold on to in your life today, the word the Holy Spirit has given me for your life is perseverance. We have talked a lot over the last few days about the battle, how to win the battle, overcoming our obstacles in life. But the one key word I want to impart to you today, for your life today, is perseverance.

You see, anyone can quit. Quitting is easy. Those who commit suicide are not heroes but cowards. Everyone fails at times in life, but the one who gets up, dusts himself off, and moves forward is a winner. There are great lessons in failure. Often times God tests us by allowing us to fail, knowing that we become stronger as we get back on our feet. One thing becomes very apparent in failure. We can do nothing without Him. That verse I wake up to every day, "without me you can do nothing" reminds me that when I am in my own strength, I am weak and whatever I accomplish has little meaning. When I am operating in His strength, "I can do all things" and the things I do have eternal significance. We fight on, we persevere through the troubles because we have the Lord on our side. When we are engaged in a spiritual battle, we fight on because it really isn't our fight, it is the Lord's. A dear friend and great man of God, Owen Carr, founded TV38 in Chicago over 20 years ago. His fight song and battle cry was "the battle is the Lord's." We persevere in our daily struggles because it is His battle and we are merely His soldiers. When we quit fighting, it is the same as a soldier going AWOL. In these last days, God is looking for a people who know how to persevere, get through the difficult times without quitting.

My encouragement to you today is to persevere no matter what the fight you may be in. If it is over a health issue, God is still in the healing business...PERSEVERE! If it is over your finances, my Bible tells me that God owns all the gold and all the silver...PERSEVERE! If it over a marriage or relationship, God is still in the restoration business....PERSEVERE! No matter what you are dealing with today, what you are fighting today, remember God is still on the throne, He is still in control, fight on and PERSEVERE! He won't leave you, let you down, and God CANNOT FAIL!!!!!!

I am excited about Liveprayer.com going back up in the next few hours. Myself, the ministers who sit on camera praying for people worldwide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week have a new resolve and new appreciation for the gift God has given us in this incredible 21st century medium that can touch the world with His message of hope in Christ. I am excited we will be on during Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays when so many are alone and going through difficult times in their life. I am excited about the plans we have for New Year's Eve which I will share with you next week. This will be the place to come for the world's greatest New Year's Prayer Service as we bring in the New Year with prayer. People from all over the world will be joining us as we see the year 2000 come in time zone to time zone. Of course, we will be on live to update you on any Y2K problems anywhere in the world. CNN won't be able to match the power of Liveprayer.com since we will be praying in the new century in a worldwide night of prayer. You see, we are serious about the work God has given us in these last days and are more excited than ever about our opportunity to reach the hurting and lost for Christ.

I hate to be repetitive, but I have to again thank you, so many of you for your show of support during the last few days. I have been humbled by the outpouring of love and prayers worldwide for this new work we have started here on the Internet. I am confident that we will be stronger, more effective than ever as we broadcast live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the hope and love we have in Christ Jesus to a world so desperately looking for answers. It is your prayers, your support of this work, your efforts that have helped us to persevere during these difficult days. Please pray today for the people at Network Solutions to get our paperwork processed and the necessary changes made so that we can be back on line. We are ready with the technology. It is only their administrative function we are now waiting on.

I will be praying for you today to really take heart my exhortation about persevering through your troubles. As always, my prayers are with you. Alone it looks hopeless, but together we can stand and see the possibilities. Never forget that God has placed me here to help you however I can. That is why I give my email address in every devotional so that if you have special needs, you can write me and let me pray with you. As many know, I respond to every email. It may be a day or two, but I do respond personally to each one because you are important to me and your needs are important to me.

I love you and appreciate you. Through the adversity, I feel that we have gotten to be very close. I am thankful to see the unity of the Body around this ministry that is only here to help people in their hour of need. Be blessed this day and know that God loves you, cares about you, and will never leave you.