Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)

Horacio Herrera

While ministering to the believers in Cuba during a time of crisis we came across Joshua 20. It talks about the "cities of refuge" and we compared it with God, who is our eternal refuge. The cities of refuge in Joshua 20 were for those who had killed somebody accidentally or unintentionally. They could flee to those cities and find protection until they had stood trial (Joshua 20:6).

Psalm 91 speaks about God, our eternal refuge. We may flee to Him in times of trouble. We do not have to stand trial, because that trial has already taken place, "He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, that was against us and that stood opposed to us: he took it away, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14).  We can therefore call on the Lord in days of trouble and say, "You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust" (Psalm 91:2).

And listen to the promise, "He will save you from the fowler's snare ... He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day ... I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation" (Psalm 91).

Is there anything troubling you? Flee to Him, your eternal refuge, and rest in the shelter of the Most High, your Abba, your Father.

[Judy Harder]

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 1:9)

Horacio Herrera

To live on an island is very interesting and challenging. Having been born on an island myself (Cuba) I find it is interesting to meditate on John who was on the isle of Patmos.  It was not an interesting place for him. He was sent there to be imprisoned, lonely, isolated. No contact with other countries, without the support of friends and family. That must have been very, very difficult for a 90 year-old man.

Yet, John not only survived, he was also given revelations that no man had ever been given before. Our God is not limited. Distances are no problem to Him. He sometimes allows us to get into a prison to reveal something very special. That sounds strange, yet true.  Is it that God could not reveal these wonderful things when John was still going around preaching, teaching in freedom? That he was so busy for the Lord that there was hardly any moment to relax and listen to God?

I do not know if I understand John's attitude correctly. He must have taken much time to be with God. Yet God allowed him to be sent to a lonely place to reveal the future to him. John transformed the island into a sanctuary, his loneliness into the company of millions of angels, and his exile into the entrance of heaven.

Yes, God can change our problems into His plans.

[Judy Harder]

On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: Write...
(Revelation 1:10)

Horacio Herrera

John was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. He must have been in prayer, worshipping God, interceding for his "spiritual children" in Turkey. He must have been in tune with God. God can only reveal eternal truths to us when we are in touch with Him. No room for complaints, Lord get me out of this prison, Lord rescue me from this island of isolation, Lord I am of no use here, deliver me please.

If this would have been John's attitude, God would surely have revealed other things to him, His presence, His peace. But John was in touch with God. He was "in the Spirit." Despite the circumstances, suffering and loneliness, John was in tune with the Lord.

We too need to move our eyes away from circumstances and look up to God. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2).  Not on problems, not on defeats, but on Him whose eyes "range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).  Maybe you are often lonely, in despair, in darkness. Be encouraged by John's situation and attitude. Be in the Spirit and transform your horrible Patmos into a beautiful place of worship. Then you will hear the voice of the Lord.

What more can we desire?

[Judy Harder]

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses... (Acts 1:

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

Horacio Herrera

There are various reasons why we so often feel alone. We feel alone when we lose a loved one, or when we go through times of suffering, spiritual or physical. We feel alone when we are forgotten or feel rejected, sometimes ignored or even despised. The Lord exhorts us to hold on to Him; and He holds on to us. The disciples were saddened when Jesus went back to heaven. They felt alone, but the angel of the Lord gave them a wonderful promise, together with a great task, "This Jesus will come back."

One day, the Lord will return in glory. We will be changed into His likeness and we shall be like Him. What a day that will be, a day without end.  Christians do not have a hopeless end, but an endless hope. In the meantime He will guide us by His Spirit, who lives in us and who will be with us, until we meet our Savior.

We certainly can face the future with these promises. But that is not the end. He also gives us something to do. God's promises are connected to a task; they always are. "And you shall be my witnesses." No time to sit back and spend all our time lamenting and complaining. There is work to be done. Work till He comes.

When we do so we will experience this great truth, "And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Horacio Herrera from Cuba. Because of his leading role in the Cuban Church, he writes using a pseudonym.

[Judy Harder]

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
(Genesis 9:13)

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him...  (Revelation 1:7)

Noah

Noah lived in one of the most difficult times of history. In a world without God, where people were egocentric and corrupt. "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man ... and his heart was filled with pain ... But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord!" (Genesis 6:5-8).  After God's punishment Noah entered a new era in the history of the world, "I have set my rainbow in the clouds ... the covenant between me and the earth." (Genesis 9:13).

The rainbow was a reminder of the past and an assurance for the future, a visible sign of God's promise. Though at the end of this age the earth will once again be destroyed (by fire) mankind lives in a time of grace and promise. Before God will destroy the earth something else will become visible in the clouds - not a rainbow - but the Son of Man.  Between Noah's rainbow and Christ's return we can walk with God. That means walking in God's direction. It involves a break with those who walk in the opposite direction. We may belong to the few who walk in His direction, but we have a great crowd of witnesses surrounding us. Men and women who dared take a stand for Christ. Let us therefore run with perseverance with our eyes fixed on Jesus - until we see Him at His glorious return.

[Judy Harder]

If we are distressed, it is for your comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:6)

Horacio Herrera

There is an infinite and glorious harmony enclosed in these verses which is a reality for the Body of Christ, worldwide. If one is distressed, it is for the comfort of somebody else.

What does Paul mean by this? The answer is found in the preceding verses (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). God comforts Paul in his troubles so that he can comfort those in trouble with the comfort he himself received from God.  If we have never been poor, how can we fully understand the situation of those who are?  If we have never been in pain, how can we help those who are? Having experienced it ourselves, we can feel with others who go through that hardship today.

What a wonderful unity in the body. Even if it is dispersed throughout the world, it keeps a harmonious unity. If anyone is troubled, the other is comforted. It is almost a mystery. Our present times of suffering become your encouragement. Because we share with you, even through this book, how God has strengthened us in times of trouble. So that you can be assured that God has not forsaken us and that He will not forsake you if you may ever have to endure the hardships we have already endured.

"And surely I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20).

[Judy Harder]

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26)

Horacio Herrera

Luke informs us in Acts 12 that Peter was imprisoned, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The church felt that Peter was an integral part of them and thus they felt prisoners with him. We are a universal Body of Christ. We feel joy or affliction, happiness or sadness, freedom or persecution with all the members of that Body, wherever that part of the Body may be.

The affliction of our brothers in Eastern Europe are ours, the struggles of the Christians in Muslim countries are our struggles also. The victories of the Christians in any part of the world are also our victories. "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering." Another translation says, "since you are also in the Body."

Let us remember them today in our prayers, stretching out our hands of fellowship to them. In doing so, we can bless those who are still in prison for their faith in Jesus Christ. While praying, we feel their burdens, their hardships and their pain.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

[Judy Harder]

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remember Zion. (Psalm 137:1)

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. (Acts 16:25)

Horacio Herrera

Liberty is a gift of great value to humanity, which you realize best when it is lost. For the followers of Christ there is always liberty, joy and victory whatever the circumstances may be.

Jeremiah gives an example of a situation when liberty is lost. There is mourning, crying, desolation and bondage (Jeremiah 33).  The captured in Babylon echo this feeling of mourning when they remember Zion and the destruction of their homeland.  "How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4). "We sat and wept" (Psalm 137:1).

But what a different picture of glory, joy and hope is presented by Isaiah when he announces the end of captivity (Isaiah 12).  Sing with joy, and feast, for captivity has ended. There will be no more slavery. What Isaiah is saying is that we need to leave our bondage behind and live in optimism, even if all the circumstances are against us.  That is what Paul and Silas did. They changed night into day from the prison in Philippi. They turned their prison into a church and their crying into a song of joy.

Let us acknowledge our painful conditions, yes, but let us not stop there. The more we concentrate on our sorrows, the more we will cry. Let us lift up our eyes to the Lord. He will change our wailing into dancing. He will remove our sackcloth and clothe us with joy (Psalm 30:11).

Lord, open our eyes that we may see.

[Judy Harder]

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

Horacio Herrera

During the time that rebels in Colombia attacked Christians and churches, the following happened, a group of Christians were meeting in their church in the hills, when all of a sudden a man came running to the church, shouting, "A group of killers are on their way to this church."  For a moment fear filled the church. Should they all run away and hide? At this moment of despair a brother stood up and said, "Fear not, you are not in Colombia, you are in Christ." It had such an impact on the believers that instant calm returned to the group. Or, as another Christian leader in Latin America stated, "In order to be a Christian here, you have to recognize the truth, that any extra day you live will be considered a bonus."

Yes, we have died already. Death is not awaiting us. We have experienced it already, in Christ, and have been raised to life eternal. The coming death of the body is therefore just a passage, a pass-through. Let us use the bonus time we have to live for Him. "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him..." (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Climatic circumstances (a tropical rain storm) did not allow the group of rebel killers to reach the church in the hills."...He sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). Hallelujah.

[Judy Harder]

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)

Horacio Herrera

The Gospel of John offers great encouragement to us, not only in times of prosperity but also in times of hardship and trial.

To the disoriented, thirsty Samaritan woman He offers water that will quench her thirst (John 4).

To the spiritually hungry He gives the bread of life (John 6).

To the ones that walk in darkness without any sense of destination He provides the light of the world (John .

To the defenseless who suffer from the wolf and the lion He assures that He is the good shepherd (John 10).

To the ones that see no way out He says that He is the door to freedom (John 10).

To the ones that have lost the meaning of life He says, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14).

To the ones that are afraid of death He says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes on me will live, even though he dies" (John 11).

The "I AM" comes to us today, to do just that for us.