Winning with the Word Blog

How to Endure to the End

by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio | Winning with the Word | 0 comments

March 2, 2026

Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, March 2, 2026, and this is episode #5 in Series 2026. This episode is titled, “How to Endure to the End.”

Before we get into this week’s message, I’m excited to tell you that my featured book for this week is my popular historical novel set in Italy, The Madonna of Pisano. The Madonna of Pisano is Book 1 in my popular trilogy, The Italian Chronicles.

If you’re a fan of Hallmark romance and epic stories set in beautiful, exotic Italy, then you will love The Madonna of Pisano. It is the story of a courageous, single mom fighting for her son in the midst of betrayal, treachery, and deceit. You won’t want to miss this powerful, heart-wrenching story of forgiveness and hope.

Get your copy of The Madonna of Pisano at the link below.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0930037227

And now let’s dive into this week’s message.

The Importance of Enduring to the End

Have you been feeling weary lately? As though you can’t go on another day? Have you been troubled by what’s going on in the world and, worse yet, even in your own family?

If so, my friend, you are not alone.

You may be wondering what is going on. Life isn’t the way it used to be. Something is different. Something has changed, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. All you know is that, lately, you’ve been feeling more anxious than usual, as though the world is falling apart, and you can’t do anything about it.

If this describes you, you are at the right place at the right time.

Let me shed some light on exactly what is happening and why you feel the way you do.

First of all, you have good reason to feel these emotions. In fact, my friend, caring people everywhere are feeling them. Responsible, thoughtful people are feeling them. And for good reason.

Let’s look at some of those reasons:

1. The world’s thinking has turned upside down. Good is now called evil, and evil is called good. The Bible warned us of this in Isaiah 5: 20: In that verse, the Lord warns those who no longer think straight. Here is what He says: “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.” While these upside-down thinkers may think they’re in good shape with their false thinking, they have a rude awakening coming.

If you grew up before the 21st century, you still have some idea of the difference between right and wrong. Why? Because you were taught according to a Judeo-Christian consensus. Moreover, the society in which you grew up more or less still espoused a Judeo-Christian value system.

But that is not the case today. Judeo-Christian values are blatantly and brazenly opposed with vehemence and, in many cases, with brutal violence. Christians are being persecuted like never before. Even here in America, we are witnessing increasing opposition to Christians and Jews who believe that the Holy Bible is God’s manual for life.

2. A second reason you are feeling anxious is that the world is being invaded by demonic forces that have been unleashed because of humanity’s increasing love for and obsession with sin. Never in my 80 years on this earth have I witnessed sin without shame as I am witnessing it today. Never have I seen sin celebrated as it is today.

I grew up in the fifties and early sixties. Yes, there was sin, but there was also a stigma of shame attached to sin. People did not openly flaunt their sin but hid it because the culture disapproved of sin, and deep down, people knew they were sinning.

Today, people proudly flaunt their sin and encourage others to sin with them. Listen to what the Bible predicted about this very behavior thousands of years ago. I’m going to read a passage from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 1, in the New Living Translation:

“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

So, my friend, in the midst of all of this spiritual, mental, physical, and cultural turmoil, how can we endure to the end—that moment in time when Jesus comes to remove us from this sinful world to take us to Heaven?

STEPS TO ENDURE TO THE END

Let me suggest a few proven tools to help you:

1. Stay n the Word. Read your Bible every day and throughout the day. Keep it open on your desk or on a table so that you can refer to it frequently.

2. Pray. Keep in constant communication with God for wisdom, direction, and the grace to endure. Scripture commands us to “pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5: 17.” In other words, keep a running conversation going with the Lord all day long.

3. Fast. When we fast, we subdue the voice of the flesh so that we can better hear the voice of the Spirit. It is the voice of the Holy Spirit that leads us into all truth.

4. Fellowship with other believers. Scripture commands us not to forsake the habit of gathering in person with fellow Christians. We draw strength from one another and need to be with one another regularly. Together, we are the Body of Christ, not isolated individuals who can make it on our own. We cannot. To think we can is foolish and dangerous.

5. Embrace suffering. One of the greatest privileges of being a Christ-Follower is to walk in His footsteps. Sometimes we do this through suffering. Romans 8: 17 says this: “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” Suffering refines and purifies us. It removes the dross to allow the beauty of our true nature to shine forth.

6. Expect persecution. Persecution may come through betrayal, through lies spoken against us, through legal injustice. We may not know how it will come, but we can be sure that it will, indeed, come.

Hatred against Christians is growing. The Bible tells us so in Mark 13: 13: “And you will be hated by all for My Name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

7. Finally, trust in the Lord in the midst of every trial. Trusting in God while we are undergoing suffering builds endurance. And this message is all about endurance.

To help you endure, I’ve written a little book titled The Iron Saint: Preparing the Church for Persecution. Based on the principles employed in preparing for the Iron Man Triathlon, The Iron Saint applies those principles to enduring in Christ. You will find a link to The Iron Saint in the show notes.

As we approach the end of human history, the days will grow darker. Already, believers are reporting an increase in demonic attacks, not only in frequency but also in intensity. Satan knows his time is short, and he wants to wreak all the havoc he can before our Lord Jesus Christ returns to remove us from this wicked world in the astounding event called the Rapture.

My friend, I urge you to keep your eyes on Jesus. Pay attention to what is happening in Israel, for Israel is God’s timepiece. Bible prophecy is unfolding in Israel as we watch the creation of the Board of Peace and the rise of the AntiChrist’s beast system.

Most important of all, if you do not yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ, establish one right now. Do not wait another moment. Only a relationship with Jesus Christ will qualify you to be taken up at the Rapture. Without a relationship with Christ, you will be left behind to suffer the horrors of the Tribulation under the brutal dictatorship of the AntiChrist. Worse than that, without a relationship with Jesus Christ, you will spend eternity in Hell. Jesus alone can save you from that unspeakably horrific fate.

If you do not yet know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, pray this simple prayer with me now:

Lord Jesus, I want to establish a relationship with you. I want to get to know You. So I invite You into my life and receive You now as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for dying for me and rising from the dead so that I can live forever in Heaven with You. In Your Name I pray. Amen.

In closing, don’t forget to get your copy of The Madonna of Pisano at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJMT7F3Y

If you would like to donate to this ministry, please send your donation to PayPal.me/drmaryanndiorio. Your donation goes far in helping to keep this ministry afloat. Thank you!

Winning with the Word is available on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast venues as well as on YouTube. Check out my YouTube channel at youtube.com/drmaryanndiorio.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are. Yet, He doesn’t want you to stay there. As you walk with Him, He will help you to keep on winning with the Word.
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Copyright 2026 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO WINNING WITH THE WORD.

________________________________

This week’s featured book isThe Madonna of Pisano, Book 1 in The Italian Chronicles Trilogy.

Follow the heart-wrenching saga of Maria Landro as she navigates the uncharted emotional waters of betrayal, hatred, and revenge against the exotic backdrop of late 19th century Sicily.

Get your copy at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0930037227

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Before we get fully into our message, however, I want to tell you about my featured book for this week. It is titled Prayer Power: A Simple Manual on Prayer and is available for only $4.99 at the link below or in the show notes:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJMT7F3Y

The Relationship Road

Prayer Power will teach you powerful principles of prayer that will get results every single time. If you’ve been neglecting your prayer life because you haven’t gotten the results you’ve expected from prayer, then this book is for you. If you don’t pray but would like to learn how, this book is for you.

Get your copy now and learn how to pray with power.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJMT7F3Y

Now, on to this week’s message.

What is prayer?

Prayer in its simplest definition is a conversation with God. Just as any human relationship requires communication to sustain it, so does a relationship with God. Prayer is the means of communicating with God.

Why should I pray?

There are many reasons to pray, but here are five of the most important ones:

1. We need help. If you haven’t figured it out yet, we cannot navigate this life alone. If we try to, we will eventually discover that there are some problems too big for us to solve.

2) We need the help of Someone more powerful than we who can do the impossible.
Some problems in life have no human solutions. It takes God to solve them.

3) We need direction. Prayer helps us to hear from God regarding the big decisions we have to make in life.

4) We need hope. Sometimes life can become overwhelming, filling us with discouragement and despair. It is at such times that prayer is balm to our souls. When we pray, we are looking to God to meet our needs. We are not depending on ourselves. God has an endless supply of whatever we need. Prayer helps us to tap into that supply.

5) We need wisdom. Life is full of choices, and choices have consequences. When we pray, we receive God’s wisdom to make wise choices that result in happy consequences.

The Privilege of Prayer

Prayer is a privilege. It is the opportunity to talk with the God who made you and who knows everything about you. Just think about that. In prayer, we get to talk with the God who created the universe. This is a mind-blowing truth.

So, my friend, are you ready to learn more about prayer? Are you ready to embark on the most exciting journey of communicating with God in the most amazing relationship you will ever have?

You might be thinking, “Dr. MaryAnn, where do I start?”

You start by establishing a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If you have not yet established this relationship, you can do so right now by inviting Jesus Christ into your life. Pray this simple prayer with me now:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You. I want to establish a relationship with You so that I can talk with You every day and have You talk to me. I invite You into my life and receive You now as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for sending Jesus so that I could be reconnected with You. In His Name I pray. Amen.

In closing, I want to remind you that my featured book for this week is titled Prayer Power: A Simple Manual on Prayer. Get your copy now and begin a powerful prayer life that gets results. Just click on the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJMT7F3Y

Winning with the Word is available on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast venues as well as on YouTube. Check out my YouTube channel at youtube.com/drmaryanndiorio.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are. Yet, He doesn’t want you to stay there. As you walk with Him, He will help you to keep on winning with the Word.
________________________________

Copyright 2026 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO WINNING WITH THE WORD.

________________________________

Featured Book for This Week: Prayer Power: A Simple Manual on Prayer

Get your copy here: PRAYER POWER