Gospel-centered Resolve

Maria and Varia, 18 years old, U.S.S.R., 1960s

From behind bars Varia said, “If they would free me, I would do it again and tell them about the great love of Jesus. Don’t think that I suffer. I am very glad that the Lord loves me so much and gave me the joy to endure for His name.”

Varia and her friend Maria were two Russian classmates. Because of Maria’s love for her, Varia became a Christian.

At a school assembly, Varia witnessed to those gathered about Jesus her Savior. Afterwards, Varia was taken away and imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp. She wrote the following words to her friend Maria:

“My heart praises and thanks God that, through you, He showed me the way to salvation. Now, being on this way, my life has a purpose and I know where to go and for whom I suffer. If feel the desire to tell and to witness to everybody about the great joy of salvation that I have in my heart. At work, they curse and punish me, giving me extra work because I cannot be silent. I must tell everyone what the Lord has done for me. As long as my lips can speak, I will witness to every one about His great love.” (Jesus Freaks, pgs. 100-102)

Varia was willing to endure much pain, suffering, and persecution for sake of the gospel message.  We find that same resolve in the life of Paul.  Acts 22:1-20 is the testimony of Paul given to the Jews who were trying to kill him.  He knew that his witness of God’s work in his life would not go over well with many of those who listened.  But he had to tell it none the less.  Paul, and Varia, had a gospel-centered resolve.  They were not confident in their flesh.  Their confidence came from their Savior, the gospel message come to life.

Where do we put our confidence and strength?  As disciples of Christ does our resolve to preach the Good News come from our flesh or from the Gospel itself?  May we be prepared to hear the Spirit’s movement in our own hearts and lives as we study His Word together this week.

Perseverence in Suffering

I once heard it said that suffering will either pull you closer to Christ or push you further away.  Tabletalk addresses this in today's reading.

Persevering faith is the type of faith required for salvation.  It is easy to have a fleeting and false trust in the Lord when things are going well for us.  Authentic faith, however, endures even in the most difficult circumstances of life, moving us to trust God even when we are at our wits' end (Matt. 13:18-23; Heb. 11).

Our time here on earth will be filled with trials, tribulation, and suffering.  This is true whether you belong to Christ or not.  But those who truly belong to Christ are able to endure sufferings because of the "faith required for [their] salvation."  The reason for this persevering faith is that we who belong to Christ have hope in the words of our Savior:

Matthew 25:31-40 (ESV) ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Is the Narrow Way Really That Hard?

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
¹³"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Rightfully, this verse has been used to speak about our salvation in Jesus Christ.  The road to destruction (Hell) is wide and easy, but in the end all on that road will suffer for eternity.  On the contrary the road to life (Heaven) is narrow and hard, but in the end all on that road will life in the presence of their creator forever.  I cannot and will not disagree with these statements because they are true.  But many times I have overlooked a simple word in verse fourteen that not only speaks about salvation, but the life of the one saved.

The life of a Christian is not an easy one.  It is filled with persecution in many different forms and comes with a changed life from one of the flesh to one of the Spirit.  But why do many believers (including myself at times) get upset when life throws us hard times?  Sickness comes, jobs are lost, family members pass away, money is short, and we seemed surprised.  It's as if we expect life to never have problems because we know the Creator God.

But in reality, the narrow way is hard.  There is a reason that very few find it.  It's so darn hard. 

The life of one individual was particularly difficult.  He was rejected by his friends and family.  He was continually badgered and harassed by those who despised him.  He was accused of a crime that he did not commit.  And in the end he was even rejected by God.  If the life of our Savior Jesus Christ was hard why should we expect anything different.  If the word rejects God it will reject His children.  But in the end life is awaiting us on this narrow road.

Amen.

Resistence is Not Futile

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 (ESV)
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;"

I had a conversation a few days ago with a couple of fellow pastors about resisting the devil.  We do not realize, those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the power that we have the ability to tap into.  We forget that the God of the universe, the creator of all things, the one who was here before here even began is the same God that we worship and the same God who has made himself known to us.  He has power over all things including the devil and our sinful nature.  After all, the work on the cross defeated the work of Satan with Adam and Eve.

But this power is not something to mess with or take lightly.  Psalm 111:10 makes this very clear. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!"  In other words, we are to have a healthy fear of the Lord.  We need to understand that we are on the side of the power of the universe and that it is not our power to use, but to respect with holiness, honor, and glory.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you" James 4:7-8 (ESV).  Too many times we either fight the devil on our own, half-heartedly, or not at all.  But God has reminded us that if we truly resist the devil he will flee from us.  If we tap into the power of God it is God that will push the devil back.  It is the power of God that the devil will flee from.  But all too often the devil knows that we will not resist him.  He knows we will not rely on God but on ourselves.  He is cunning and gives us opportunities to deny the power of God in our lives.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." Let's tap into the power of God.  Draw near to him and allow him to change our life, heart, mind, and soul.  And in the end we will stand firm.  Not on a foundation built by us, but a foundation on the blood and power of Jesus Christ.  To His glory forever.

For more on this topic check out Matt Heltzel's blog titled "Make War" (http://matthewheltzel.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-war.html).

Ups, Downs, and Puke

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Ministry can seem like a roller coaster. There are ups and downs and every once in a while a passenger throws up all over you. There are many things in ministry that are dirty, difficult, and down right irritating, but there are also time in ministry where real changes of hearts can be seen.

Case in point, a man who has attended a church for over forty years finally gives his life over to Christ for the first time. Another, a woman comes up to the pastor and says that she desires more authenticity in her faith.

Every pastor has their stories. But isn't it unbelievable that we have the truth that any "affliction" or puke that may arise, whether seriously bad or mildly amusing, is only momentary. Christ is working on us through the circumstances of our lives. God is stretching and molding us through the people we meet and deal with every day of our lives. If we focus only on the visible, outward circumstances then we will miss the invisible, inward things that God is doing to us and to the people around us.

God is always at work. Even if we don't feel Him at a particular moment we must remember that He has not left us. The troubles of this world and ministry position are temporary compared to eternity. If we keep our eyes on eternity (God) then we will live for eternity, not for this temporary home.

It's Harder Than it Looks

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4, NIV).

I feel that James is talking about persecution in our everyday life, but I also believe that it can be applied to our spiritual journey as well. We can consider our struggles to follow the will of God in our life a joy. That seems like an oxymoron, but I truly believe that when our hearts are in tune to God's will and Satan and the world around us bombards us to turn away from God, we can consider it joyful. As the old saying goes: If you aren't being hounded by the world then perhaps you are just like the world.

But still one thing continues to bother me: James seems to give the impression that this will be easy. He does use the word perseverance, which is something that is very rare in today's society. Perseverance means "steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement" (dictionary.com). But perseverance is much easier encouraged than actually done. But again, there is the saying: Anything worth anything is hard work. (Boy, I'm full of phrases this morning.)

So, here's the thing. When the world around us is striving for us to satisfy our sinful nature we will need to dig in our heals and persevere through our faith in Christ. There is no easy way around it. The more you persevere the more our sinful nature will rear its ugly head which means the more we will have to persevere.

Thankfully, the following verses in James 1 give us hope. "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12, NIV).