Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:36)

Abraham

A right motive - a wrong method.  That is what happened when Abraham took Hagar to secure a successor. Instead of waiting for God's timing, he tried to help God fulfill His promise.

It is always dangerous to take things into your own hands. Abraham adopted carnal means to achieve a spiritual end. The consequences were enormous and are still being felt today. God's chosen successor was Isaac, from which line came Jesus Christ. Abraham's chosen plan was Ishmael, from which line came Mohammed. Through faith Abraham was to become a blessing to all the nations. Through unbelief one of the greatest foes of Christ would be born, the founder of Islam which claims that God has no Son.

Abraham had to send Ishmael away. He did so, with only a water bottle, yet God took care of Ishmael. When the boy would have died of thirst God provided more than a water bottle, he provided a well.

He still does.

May all of Ishmael's offspring drink from that fountain of living water provided by God, through Jesus Christ, His Son. May we be willing to be God's channels.

[Judy Harder]

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. (Hebrews 11:17)

Abraham

Temptation is Satan's way of getting us into his camp - away from God. A test is God's way of bringing us closer to Himself, away from Satan. Abraham knew the difference.

God must have had great confidence in Abraham, and Abraham in God. God's vote of confidence in Abraham not only concerned his obedience, but also his faith and love.

Obedience   When the Lord commanded Abraham to offer his son, he responded immediately. He did not plead for time to consider the consequences. He did not argue with God. "Early the next morning he got up..." (Genesis 22:3).

Obedience without reservation.

Faith   Isaac was the child of promise. How could God keep His promise and let Isaac die? Because Abraham knew: God is able. "He reasoned that God could raise the dead" (Hebrews 11:19). What faith. Abraham had never heard of anyone having been raised from the dead yet he believed: God is able.

Faith without doubt.

Love   Who comes first? Isaac was the answer to God's promise, the child of his old age, the laughter of his life. His dearest possession on earth. Yet, God came first.

Love without limits.

Abraham passed the test. Have you?

If Abraham was to have received an award it would have contained this inscription, "Abraham, pioneer of faith - friend of God."

[Judy Harder]

Jehovah Jireh - The Lord will provide. (Genesis 22:14)

Abraham

True deliverance will come only when we have reached the mountain of sacrifice. As long as we hold on to what is precious to us, God cannot take over. As soon as we let go - we let God.

It reminds me of that young boy who wanted to get a precious gift out of a bottle. It was a painful exercise but at last he got hold of the precious gift. He tried to get it out of the bottle, but his hand clutching on to the gift was too big to get it back through the bottle neck. There was only one way to get his hand out of the bottle. He had to let go of the gift. It will always be like that in our spiritual lives.

Leave the miracle to God. Abraham experienced that. "The Lord will provide." His obedience to God resulted in blessing for all the nations.

"...and through your offspring all nations on the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22:18).

[Judy Harder]

A prayer for deliverance from the enemy.

David is accused and incriminated. He cries to God, the heavenly judge, who knows that David is honest and just. He puts his faith in his God - The God who is a righteous judge.

David

O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
O Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands-
if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe-
then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.
Arise, O Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice.
Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high;
let the Lord judge the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.
O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.
(Psalm 7:1-9)

[Judy Harder]

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1)

Li An

During the time I was persecuted because of the Gospel, I was once condemned to die. But the Lord protected me. Instead of taking my life they threw me into prison.

Some time afterwards, something strange happened. The judge who had sentenced me got into trouble himself. Because of his political activities he was himself sentenced to a long prison term. He was not only put into the same prison, but he was put into the same cell with me.

After he found out my name he started to cry, "O God, I surrender. Oh Jesus I really surrender."

He went on for four or five minutes and then turned to me. "So it is you. Do you remember me? Your life was in my hands. I had already sentenced you to die and I did try to execute the sentence many times, but every time I tried to get you executed something happened which kept delaying the execution. But who would have thought I would be here, in prison, with you? I see that your God has preserved your life. You are in His hands. But I am in the hands of the Marxists. They will not let me live. Forgive me please. I need your Jesus."

I looked at him. He had been my judge. Now I was his judge. And the Lord told me what kind of sentence I should pass on him.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father" (Matthew 10:29).

God forgives, and so should we.

[Judy Harder]

Christ, who is your life. (Colossians 3:4)

Li An

A brother was put into prison for his faith in Jesus Christ and was only tried after having spent a long time in jail.

The following "conversation" was recorded during the trial, "Do you still believe in Christianity?" the prosecutor asked scornfully.

The brother replied, "I don't believe in Christianity." The prosecutor laughed, "Finally, we have reformed you." But the brother responded, "I never believed in Christianity, I believe in Christ."

"Don't play with words," the prosecutor yelled. "Christianity and Christ are the same."

"No there is a big difference." "What do you mean?" the judge asked. "The difference is that Christianity is a religion. It has churches, sets of rules and regulations, ministers and other church workers. You can close down the church, dismantle the regulations, arrest the ministers, but Jesus Christ lives in my heart, He is my life. You can never take that away. He is with me, always, even today in this court room. How can I reject Him who saved me? I just cannot not believe in Him."

If we put our trust in a religion, we may be restricted. But if we live in Christ we can never change, whatever the circumstances. Better in jail as a Christian, than outside jail as a "religious person."

And more than that, who can separate us from the love of Christ? He lives in us and that makes us victorious, wherever we may be.

[Judy Harder]

Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  (James 2:17)

Li An

I have a brother-in-law who works for the government of China. He strongly believed in Marxism and rationalism. He tried to persuade me to give up my faith in God. And I tried to convince him of the truth of the Gospel. In the end nobody won the argument.

But then he made a very interesting statement, "I do not believe in God, nor that Jesus ever existed. However, one thing I do confess is that I admire your father's deeds. If there is a God, your father surely will be Jesus' image."

A few years later, he and his whole family became Christians. It taught me a very, very important lesson. My faith must be accompanied by works and deeds. "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

[Judy Harder]

a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. (Mark 14:3)

Li An

To be broken and then poured out is the secret of spreading the fragrance of the Lord through our lives.

Many a time we can't be poured out because we are not willing to be broken.

We must be broken before we can be poured out. Each one of us has "perfume" inside of us. But the jar of selfishness must be broken. When the selfishness and self-centeredness is not broken, the sweet fragrance of perfume can never be poured out. The more we are broken the more fragrance will come out.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).

This brokenness can be the result of repentance from sin, the acceptance of circumstances or the willingness to offer to the Lord that which is very dear to us. The result will be that a sweet aroma will flow into our own souls and through it to people around us.

[Judy Harder]

Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind; to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:28)

Li An

A brother was on trial for his faith in the Lord. When the prosecutor interrogated him he asked the brother, "You believe in God, tell us where your God is."

The brother replied, "He lives in my heart."

"Prove it, we do not believe in spiritual things."

So the brother gave his testimony.

"You are speaking rubbish," the prosecutor said angrily. "You are making things up; they are a pack of lies."

"You can go and find out for yourself," the brother replied.

Two years later the brother was brought to the court again. To his surprise the prosecutor said, "We have carefully looked into the things you told us; 80% is true, but we still don't believe there is a God."

"Then how do you explain the 80%?" our brother asked.

"We don't need to explain. We have enough evidence to conclude that you are a weird person." So they sent this brother back to jail...

What can we learn from this?

·      That we must never compromise. We must be willing to pay the price - any price - for our faith.

·      That, because of their unwillingness to acknowledge God, people can fall into deeper darkness than ever before.

Have you seen God at work? Have you responded?

[Judy Harder]

I want to know Christ. (Philippians 3:10)

Li An

Paul's greatest goal in life was, "That I may know Him, His character, His works, His grace."

But can that ever be achieved? God truly is a mystery. He has no beginning and no end. Who can comprehend this? How can we, simple, imperfect, foolish and insignificant human beings fully understand this sovereign and holy Lord?

Humanly speaking we can't. But praise God, He reveals Himself to us. He takes the initiative. It is His desire that we might know Him. That gives me confidence. We don't have to climb up to meet Him. No, He comes down to our level and communes with us.

That's where it starts. The closer our walk with Him, the better we get to know Him. Oh, for a closer walk with You - my Savior and my Lord.