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LIFE Bite is a short-format Christian video podcast where Chet Lowe and guests dive into real-life issues with biblical truth—one bite at a time.
Each episode delivers practical wisdom, spiritual insight, and honest conversations to help you grow in faith and live with purpose.
Christians aren't quitters. Bottom line. You see, one of the qualities of God is long suffering. That's how He describes Himself. When He showed up to Moses in Exodus chapter thirty three and thirty four, He Moses didn't want to go without the Lord, and that's a key principle in our lives, but that's another podcast.
Speaker 1:We should never want to go anywhere without the Lord, and that's what God's trying to get across to Moses. He tells Moses. He goes, look, I'm not going with you. Moses says, well, I'm not going if you're not going with me. So God meets Moses to assure him that he is.
Speaker 1:And when he introduces himself, he says to him, and the Lord passed before him. And he said, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering. Long suffering is a character of God. And we are made in the image of God. And we are to be conformed into the image of Jesus when we get redeemed, when we get saved.
Speaker 1:So long suffering should be a part of our lives. Now here's the thing about long suffering. It's the last portion of the word. Suffering. In order to learn how to be a long sufferer, you're going to go through some suffering.
Speaker 1:And listen, if you didn't hear the message this past week that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of heaven in Acts chapter 14, then you need to check it out because pain is a part of the process. But understanding that if we're gonna walk through suffering, we've got to recognize God is building in us the character of long suffering, the character of endurance, and the character of patience. Bible says in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31, Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. God has something wonderful in the wait. He's building your character.
Speaker 1:He's building a part of who He is inside of you. And all of the chipping away of all of those parts of who you are happens here on earth. That's why we walk through some of those sufferings. But what I find is that Christians are quick to quit. Quick to quit.
Speaker 1:They're quick to quit a relationship. They're quick to quit the church or go to another church they're quick to quit on so a job they're quick to quit on many of things now I'm not accusing at all I've just found in my lifetime as a Christian fifty four years old that we struggle with this word endurance we struggle with this word long suffering and listen you're not the only one you're looking at someone who also struggles with long suffering because who likes to suffer who likes to walk through the road But there is some specific scripture that I want to point out because we shouldn't be quick to quit. Listen to what the, the writer in Hebrews. I'm gonna reiterate what we talked about this past Sunday. Listen.
Speaker 1:We are not those who draw back of perdition. We don't quit. We keep going. We're like the Energizer Bunny. You put the Energizer in us, the Holy Spirit, and we overcome.
Speaker 1:In fact, if you read the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter two, Revelation chapter three, the Bible Jesus writes a personal letter to seven churches. That's a personal letter from Jesus in His heart to His Bride. That's you and me. The Church. Seven churches.
Speaker 1:The complete Church. And He ends almost every letter with He who overcomes. He who overcomes in other words there are going to be things that happen in our life but there's a reward given to he who overcomes so what the Bible does through the course of the Word of God is actually encourages us Listen to what the Word says in Galatians six:nine: Did you hear it? If we don't give up. You see, what Paul is getting across to the Galatian church is sometimes doing good can grow wearisome.
Speaker 1:Think of kid life. And you're a volunteer, and that toddler is crying for an hour and a half. And you want that parent to enjoy the the worship service. You've committed to this. But about an hour into that child crying, you wanna just dial the number of that parent so that parent can come and relieve you from the stress of that child crying.
Speaker 1:So it's not just a kid life volunteer. Sometimes it's at work, enduring a boss, and you just want to quit because they're so mean. They're so horrible. Now God's planted you there to minister to that mean, horrible boss. But we I can find a new job.
Speaker 1:I can go a new place. When God's trying to build into us endurance, and we decide to quit and go a different direction. And we can have all kinds of excuses, right? Do you remember the guy that was sitting at the Pool Of Bethesda? I love this guy.
Speaker 1:He goes on and on about how he sat there for thirty eight years. He's got no one to get, him to the pool in order to be thrown in. This was just a folklore. It wasn't even reality. They believed in something that was not true.
Speaker 1:Jesus listens to his excuses, and he says to him, Do you want to be made well? Like, are you serious? Are you gonna continue to live by excuses? That's what I find people who quit live on. They thrive on excuses instead of taking responsibility, owning where God has placed them, and choosing, here's the next word, to persevere.
Speaker 1:Because perseverance will build your endurance. It'll build your long suffering. Listen to another scripture. Now, let me tell you something. This is to every quitter that's out there.
Speaker 1:Can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now, you've got to understand, Philippians chapter four verse 13, what he's getting across to us. We can do all things. And there's a beautiful part of scripture in first Corinthians ten thirteen. You look it up.
Speaker 1:First Corinthians ten thirteen, where the Holy Spirit promises we won't be given anything from God that we can't handle. So when you think you're walking through something and you just want to quit and give up, and you're like, God, where are you? You've got to change your perspective. God knows you can handle it. Where you're wanting to quit, God in the heaven is going, Go, Chet.
Speaker 1:He's our man. If he can't do it, no one can. Go, Chet. I mean, you gotta understand what is happening in the heavens. God has given it to us because he's already seen us through.
Speaker 1:And so the idea here is that you can get through because Christ is with you and Christ is in you. So because of that, listen to the encouragement of the Scriptures. He says in Hebrews chapter 12 verse one, Let us not be afraid to give up, but run our race with endurance and uses Jesus as the example Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith Jesus is our example that what we begin, we need to finish James would write, the half brother of Jesus, watching Jesus walk through what he walked through, as his brother would say, Blessed is he who perseveres. Blessed is he who perseveres. Listen to what the chronicler wrote in two Chronicles 15: But you, be strong.
Speaker 1:Don't give up, for your work will be rewarded. Over and over and over again, God uses Scripture to inspire us, to encourage us: Don't give up. Don't give in. Don't be a quitter. So let you and I do this together.
Speaker 1:Let's be overcomers. God bless you, guys.