I Must Keep Moving: Resisting The Urge To Quit

By Demetrius A McCray

God has the best in mind for you! The plans of God for his children are good, and not evil. They are plans to prosper you and give you a future. There are generational blessings and promises that God desires you to possess. There is a life he desires you to live.  

But what do you do when life looks nothing like what yo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Demetrius McCray
• Release date: Mar 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9798218380113

Demetrius A McCray

Demetrius is a Preacher/Teacher, an Educator, and a Musician. Having a love for God, and for people, his passion is multi-cultural and multi-generational ministry. He seeks to help people discover their identity and purpose through revelatory preaching and teaching. With an insightful yet powerful style, he is passionate about God's word. His excitable gift & expository presentation makes the scriptures come ALIVE! Demetrius was born and raised in Wilson, NC. After becoming a graduate of Barton College May 2016, He answered the call of God to move to Daytona Beach, Florida. He currently teaches at Calvary Christian Academy, as well as serves in various ministries at Calvary Christian Center in Ormond Beach, under the leadership of Pastors Jim and Dawn Raley.

Book preview

Introduction

I am writing this book because I believe that life is a journey and we take journeys within the journey. A Journey is the process of going from one place to another. With every journey, there is a starting point and a destination.

In the Bible, life and the journey to obtaining a goal or reaching a destination are sometimes talked about in the context of a race. Hebrews 12:1 says, "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set out for us. At the start of a race, an announcer addresses the runners with the words on your mark. That is the starting point. In Philippians 3:14, Paul says, I press toward the mark." That is the destination or goal. After reading these verses, the Lord made it so clear to me. On any journey there are two marks, there’s a mark we begin on and there’s a mark we end on, yet life happens in between.

A journey isn’t just making geographical moves, it can also be an emotional, spiritual, mental, or physical journey. Not everyone’s journey looks the same because our experiences aren’t always the same. However, I do believe that there are certain experiences that most of us have in common. I’m a firm believer that there is always wisdom that can be extracted from our experiences. When we go through times of difficulty and we learn how to overcome certain obstacles, then we are able to help others get through similar situations. Our experiences build our credibility so that we are able to help other people persevere when they feel the urge to quit in the middle of their journey.

Every circumstance that I’ve faced and everything that I’ve gone through up to this point in my life was necessary for what I am about to share with you in this book. I have learned that life happens. Some things will be within our control and there will be things that are beyond our control. Though life may happen, we should never allow any trial, circumstance, tragedy, or difficulty to steal our intentionality. What do I mean? Just because life happens, it doesn’t mean that we should passively allow life to dictate the quality of our journey. When we choose the plan of God for our lives and allow him to order our steps, life doesn’t become perfect, but we have what we need to persevere through any circumstance.

In this book, I use several biblical events and characters to share with you the wisdom I’ve extracted from those experiences as well as my own. I pray this book helps enhance your journey and that you will reach your destination, become all that God desires you to be, do all you were created for, and possess every promise with your name on it! When life happens in the middle, you must tell yourself I Must Keep Moving!

Chapter 1

GO!

Now the LORD said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you."

-Genesis

12:1

"On your mark," a command used to tell runners to get into position for the start of a race. Your mark is never outside of your lane. God will never give you a beginning that gets in the way of someone else’s. Whenever God positions you, he positions you to begin, to start, set out on a journey. The journey called destiny isn’t some average or common thing. God doesn’t position you to stay, he positions you to start. The starting place isn’t the staying place. As you’re reading this book, I believe that there is something deep down inside of you that’s telling you it’s time to GO! Go get your degree, start a business, write a book, reconcile with a family member, or even better your physical health. It’s time to begin your journey! Go!

Abraham, who is known as the father of faith, doesn’t come from a family that worshipped God, he comes from a family that served other gods. And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor; and they served other gods" (Joshua 24:2). No one in his family was a priest, preacher, missionary, prophet, deacon, or anything that has to do with God. However, Abraham’s background didn’t stop what God saw in him. He saw a man of great faith, a man who would make history, a man who would change the world. Despite your background, your history, your economic status, or even the color of your skin, God sees great potential in you!

The Apostle Paul says, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10). I have heard it said that God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. I want you to know that it’s God’s grace that qualifies you to do what he calls you to do and to go where he calls you to go. You may be reading this book and feeling as if you are unqualified, but if God has called and chosen you, you must know that your past, your background, and your family history were not a factor in God’s decision. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, God has plans for your life! However, those plans don’t just happen, the fulfillment of those plans requires our participation.

You GO first

Abraham was chosen by God to do something that was out of the ordinary. No one else in his family had been called where he had been called to go and to do what he had been called to do. He was the first to follow and obey the one true God. He was the first of his family to make a faith move. By taking a step in the direction God had instructed him, he broke generational curses and opened the door for generational blessings for his lineage.

Have you ever felt like God was calling you to be the first in your family to do something very significant? Maybe not a geographical move, but the first to go get a college degree, start a business, or maybe the first to preach the gospel. Being the first of your family is hardly ever easy. Your decision may conflict with and break certain traditions that your family has held dear to their hearts for years.

Could you imagine the pressure Abraham must’ve been under when he had to break the news to his family that God was telling him to go? I have found this to be one of the greatest struggles most people face when God has told them to make a move.

There’s no pressure like pressure from family. Often the pressure is so great because not everyone will understand the moves you must make for the sake of the future. They didn’t hear what you heard, and they weren’t there when you had an encounter with God that disturbed your comfort and provoked you to make moves. I have learned that pressure is a revealer. Pressure will reveal if you are truly committed to your yes to God and your decision to go!

Sometimes family members or friends who pressure us, hate to see us go because we are dear to them and most times they are comfortable with things just the way they are. Knowing this, helps us to not assume that the pressure from family members or peers means that they don’t desire the best for us. People can desire the best for you, yet feel a certain way when your decisions affect the dynamics of the relationship you have with them.

I want you to know that you cannot afford to allow other people’s feelings, words, doubts, misunderstandings, or criticism to make you question if you should really go. It’s okay to care about our loved ones, but we are not obligated to consider their feelings when God is telling us to go. In fact, going may be more beneficial for them than you staying. Learn to embrace the honor and the pressure of going first. You were created to be a forerunner, a trendsetter, a trailblazer, a pioneer! Be the first! Even if you’re not the first in your family to do something, be the first to do it on a level that’s never been done before. Start your journey and stay committed to it! Go!

Going often means leaving something or people behind that you love. I have learned that destiny does not come on our terms. It will not just fall into your lap, it may require you to walk away, separate, and even disconnect from some things or people.

Going also means that there is a departure and an arrival. There’s a departure from your