Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

June 09, 2011     


from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Remember those in prison, as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.  (Hebrews 13:3)

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. (Acts 12:5)

Remarkable Remarks -Presence of God

Nepalese Christian:

"Not, 'I was in prison and Jesus was with me,'

But, 'Jesus was in prison, and I was with Him.'"

Pastor Chen - Vietnam after five years in a re-education camp:

"Looking back, I can say that I experienced God's love in such a special way in the concentration camp, as I have not experienced at any other time in my life."

Pastor Mehdi Dibaj - Iran after his release from prison:

"God gave me the privilege to spend nine years in prison for His Name sake. They turned out to be the best years of my life, because what I had believed while free is what I experienced while in prison: Lo, I am with you always.

Also:

"It is better to stay in prison with Him, than in a palace without Him."

Also:

"Close to Jesus changes the worst prison into a paradise."

Remember those in prison, as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.  (Hebrews 13:3)

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. (Acts 12:5)

 

[Judy Harder]

June 10, 2011     

Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,

Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.  (Daniel 1:

Daniel

"What you learn as a child, stays with you always," says a Dutch proverb. Such as praying at bed-time and maybe the children's songs from Sunday School.

That is what the first chapter of Daniel is all about.

The youth of Israel who were deported from Jerusalem to Babylon should have become impregnated with a pagan spirit. They were to undergo a complete brainwashing. Not under pressure but voluntarily. If they were put into a concentration camp they would have resolved to remain faithful to God. Their Babylonian captors were aware of this and so they adopted another strategy. They offered the youngsters all kinds of privileges.

The goal was clear - to influence the spirit. The method was devilish.

1.       They exchanged their parental home for a palace. 

2.       They were given new names, for their own names reminded them too much of God. They received new names linked to the idols of Babylon. 

3.       They had different literature to read. Not about God but about the Babylonian religion. 

4.       They had a choice of different food, which had been offered to idols and so would render it unclean for the Israelites.

How would the young teenage Israelites react? Verse 8 provides the answer; they refused.

They had believing parents who had taught them about God. Because of their upbringing they dared to take a stand even though they were only teenagers. And God blessed them for their commitment. May God find many such young people in our days. Parents hold the key.

"What you learn as a child stays with you," even when things seem to go wrong.

Remember: God still has His hand on your children.

 

[Judy Harder]

 June 11, 2011     


Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. (Daniel 1:21)

Daniel

"The One enthroned in heaven laughs," says the poet of Psalm 2. God could also have laughed when Daniel 1:21 was written: "Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus"... 76 years later. Everything was aimed at changing the young Israelites into "real" Babylonians so that Israel as a nation would disappear. So that (and that was Satan's final goal) a Messiah could never come out of Israel. Therefore the brainwashing was an attempt to make them forget God.

In consequence Daniel must also disappear. That was Satan's plan. But according to God's plan Daniel must remain, as a man of God, as a proof of God's faithfulness, and as a hope for the future. And Daniel did stay. He came to Babylon as a young man of 14 and stayed till Cyrus became king, 76 years later.

Kings came and went - but Daniel remained. World empires rose and fell - but Daniel remained. That is history and Christian history at the same time. Satan cannot destroy Israel as a nation and neither can he destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. He can close churches; he can imprison pastors; burn Bibles and replace them with atheistic literature ... but the "Daniels" will stay.

For Jesus has promised that He will build His Church and the "gates of hell will not prevail against it."

Till Cyrus came ... the deliverance.

Till Christ came ... the Redeemer.

Therefore we can laugh, even through our tears.

 

[Judy Harder]

 
  June 12, 2011     

Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
(Daniel 3:17-18)

Daniel

In this chapter Satan follows another tactic to draw the Jews away from God. A clever tactic which he had already applied frequently with success - that of compromise.

What kind of compromise?

To believe in God but also to worship other gods. In the morning pray to God and in the afternoon kneel before idols. By allowing such a compromise you can maintain your social and financial standing. That is what the majority of Jews thought anyway.

Only three refused.

They knew that any form of compromise was nothing less than a denial of their faith in the one, true God. The other Jews concluded that one must give and take in life, that it would be foolish and too spiritual to risk a good career and position. In addition, through compromise, much could be attained. Their point of view was that you must know how to separate work from religion.

For the three friends of Daniel every form of compromise meant giving in to Satan himself. Therefore they refused, although they knew that by doing so they risked death in the fiery furnace. They would rather die for God, than live with the devil.

The tactic of compromise is always wielded by Satan, in the Suffering Church as well as in our prosperous society.

Will you kneel or stand?

'Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand' (Ephesians 6:13).

Copyright [C] 1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

 

[Judy Harder]

June 13, 2011     

Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
(Daniel 3:27)

Daniel

All's well that ends well. Yes, it is so in Daniel chapter 3. But this does not mean that God will always protect all Christians from sorrow and suffering. The Bible exhorts us to prepare for more suffering. The fiery furnace will always keep burning. Think about the stone ovens of Egypt, where the Israelites endured much suffering. Think about the Christians going to the stake, or the silence of the prisons and concentration camps in Russia and China. The Christians in Islamic countries are continually confronted with the 'fiery furnaces' of hanging and decapitation. The Bible warns us that the Church of the future will face the fiery furnace again.

All's well that ends well? The opposite seems to happen. And yet ... the fire from the furnace did not burn the men. The only things which were consumed were the ropes with which they were bound, enabling them to walk around freely in the fire. We have not been spared from the fire, but the flames will only consume that which is to be removed from our lives.

Flames of blessing - they only burn what must be destroyed so that we may be free, truly free.

[Judy Harder]

 

   


Tuesday, June 14, 2011 

Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Finally these men said, 'We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.'
(Daniel 6:5)

Daniel

When Darius planned to introduce Daniel as vice-president it led to great dissatisfaction by the other leaders of the people. Daniel - as their boss? That must never happen. They began to plan their revenge to dethrone Daniel. The tactic was simple. To find a complaint against him concerning his work. But it was not that easy. Daniel was very fair and very honorable and they had not expected this. They anticipated that Daniel would have been like many other believers whose words and deeds were not the same. Spending Sundays in church but for the rest of the week just going on like the world - business is business. Life with two measuring rods? That is what they expected from Daniel.

But they had it all wrong, for there lived an 'excellent spirit' in Daniel. They quickly discovered that they 'never could find any basis for charges against this man,' because 'he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.' What a witness.

Then it seemed as if there was one more trap. What for many Christians can be the first trap, was for Daniel the last - his faith ... 'unless it has something to do with the law of his God.'

In God's children today there also lives an 'excellent spirit', the Holy Spirit.

Is He at work in our lives only on a Sunday, or also during the week?

Have your colleagues at work discovered that yet?

[Judy Harder]

June 15, 2011     

Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room... he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
(Daniel 6:10)

Daniel

This text forms the climax of Satan's attack on God's people.

It began with a trick (chapter 1), followed by compromise (chapter 3) and now comes the climax; all contact with God is forbidden. Prayer must become silenced. Folded hands are an atrocity in the eyes of Satan.

Prayer has been well named the breath of the soul. If the breath is cut off you automatically die - this also applies to the spiritual life. Daniel had already fought with the lions when there was no lion to be seen. The roaring lion crept up on Daniel in his private room - not in the lions den. When Daniel was thrown to the visible lions he had already wrestled with the invisible lion and... won. Therefore the visible lions in the den were unable to do anything to Daniel, for there was no more 'flesh' on him. Do we see the tactic of Satan - he who goes round as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? The contact with God must always be there. Praying Christians are a danger to the powers of darkness. God is seeking such pray-ers.

'Lord, teach us to pray.'

[Judy Harder]

Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


When the prophet Nathan comes to David to confront him with his sin, David collapses. He realizes his sin, confesses his guilt and repents deeply.

How will God react to this sin? And to such a prayer?

David hopes for, and trusts, in God's grace. 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise' (Psalm 51:17).

David

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
(Psalm 51:1-3,9-13)

[Judy Harder]

Daily Courage
     


from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
(1 John 5:19)

Hristo Kulichev

We live in a world which is controlled by the enemy of God. And because we have become children of God, we also have become enemies of the wicked one. His goal is to destroy our souls. It makes no difference how he tries to do that - persecution or oppression; flattery or compromise; vanity or prosperity. The method is unimportant - the end result counts. Satan knows that Christians will not give up their belief in God. That is - true Christians will not. Nominal Christians easily will. We should ask ourselves again and again, "Am I living under the control of Satan - or does God control my life? I know I am His child - do I live likewise?"

Being a child of God, I should never make friendship with the world. 'Friendship with the world is hatred towards God' (James 4:4). Friendship starts with compromise - and leads to slavery. The Christian life is not a life of compromise and slavery, but of steadfastness and freedom. 'For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith' (1 John 5:4).

"For He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world' (1 John 4:4). 'Have faith in God' (Mark 11:22).

Hristo Kulichev is from Bulgaria. He was imprisoned and exiled for almost four years for his faith in Jesus Christ. He now has a leading function in the Bulgarian Church and is also editor of the Evangelical newspaper Zornitza (Morning Star).

[Judy Harder]

June 18, 2011     


Daily Courage
     
from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
(2 Corinthians 12:10)

Hristo Kulichev

These words sound strange, if not foolish in the ears of carnal man. People seek happiness and pleasure. Who wants to find that in suffering? Is it possible that someone could be happy in infirmities, in reproaches, in persecution or insults? Those who seek fulfillment of life in pleasure will always be dissatisfied. But when the meaning of life is serving Christ, then everything we do or endure will give us pleasure. Whether we are reproached or persecuted, we will rejoice because through it we can show our love for Him. And this would be the greatest pleasure for us. It will be a pleasure for us when people reproach us, or call us old-fashioned, or when they mock at us because we do not conform to this world. Any attack by the devil will be considered as a mark of true discipleship.

We delight in weakness. We accept the fact that we seem to be most vulnerable, but we claim God's promise - 'When I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Corinthians 12:10). Because 'My power is made perfect in weakness' (2 Corinthians 12:9). The weaker we are - the stronger He becomes. The more helpless we feel - the greater Helper He becomes. What a mighty God we serve!

Hristo Kulichev is from Bulgaria. He was imprisoned and exiled for almost four years for his faith in Jesus Christ. He now has a leading function in the Bulgarian Church and is also editor of the Evangelical newspaper Zornitza (Morning Star).