Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

A song of praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

In the midst of all his suffering and persecution, David knows he is safe under God's protection. The darker the night, the brighter the light. God gives us strength to bear our cross.

David

May all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth.
May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.
Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.
(Psalm 138:4-8)

[Judy Harder]

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all ... And he died for all, that those who live, should no longer live for themselves but for him...' (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Remarkable Remarks

Reaching Out

Augustine; Church Father 354-430 AD:

"Without God - we cannot
Without us - God will not."

Accad - Lebanon:

"All efforts to evangelize the Arabs have failed, simply because we failed to love them."

Somebody:

"God never gives a task without the ability to accomplish it; When He calls, He enables; When He appoints, He anoints."

Brother Andrew: commenting on Acts 17:6 (RSV)

"As long as there is one Christian in prison for his faith in Jesus Christ, I am not free."

William Temple:

"The Church is the only organization in the world that exists only for the benefit of non-members."

[Judy Harder]

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"  "Who are you Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.  (Acts 9:4-5)

Paul

The first time that we meet Paul is at the execution of Stephen, who was the first Christian martyr. Paul looked after the coats of the men who stoned Stephen. He hated Stephen as well as the rest of the Christians. He intended to do God a service by persecuting them. He had, therefore, discovered in which houses the Christians met and his henchmen would unexpectedly force their way in and drag the Christians off to prison.

Paul was filled with hate against anything that had to do with Christ - until he met Christ for himself and had a radical conversion. Would the Christians from the house-churches - when they prayed for their leaders in prison - have also prayed for the persecutor, Paul? Perhaps Paul met Jesus as an answer to their prayers. We do not know - not yet.

God intervened and changed the persecutor into a preacher.

Someone once said, "If such a gifted man is converted, it is amazing what such a man can do for God."

But an even greater thing is this - it is not what such a man can do for God that is important but what God can do for him. Forgiveness of sins and a new life with and for the Lord. That is what God did for Paul.

There is hope for the persecutors of God's Church. Will you pray for them? Is anything impossible for God?

[Judy Harder]

It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather it is written: Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. (Romans 15:20-21)

Paul

Paul had world vision. All nations must hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He preferred to go to places as yet unreached. He visited strategic centers out of which the whole world could be reached in the quickest and best way.

He worked from that well known principle - Urbi et Orbi - the town and the world. It is surprising what such a man was able to achieve in such a short time and with so little material. For that he paid a price. He sacrificed everything, even friendship.

Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain can be reached by us in just a few days but for Paul in his circumstances, it was an almost impossible task. But he did it. He was able to say at a given moment, "But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions..." (Romans 15:23).

Today the Lord gives us all the materials, all the technical know-how and all the possibilities to reach the whole world with the Gospel. The harvest remains plentiful, especially in lands which for many decades were closed to missionary work. The workers are few - people of vision and faith; people who are prepared to pay the price; those who dare to give up security for an unsure future; those who have a vision for the world; who dare to say "the world is my church" instead of "the church is my world."

Pray, therefore, that the Lord of the harvest will send forth workers and be prepared to be the answer to your own prayers.

[Judy Harder]

Daily Courage
     


from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25)

Paul

Paul and his co-workers had just entered into Europe and they had landed in prison. They had released a poor woman from evil spirits - to the great annoyance of her masters who had made a lot of money through her as a fortune-teller. In place of thankfulness (she could lead a normal life again) there was opposition. Paul and Silas were thrown into prison after being stripped, beaten and severely flogged. There they sat with their bleeding backs and their feet firmly secured in the stocks.

However, with every reason to complain, Paul and Silas turned the prison into a church. They preached the Gospel to the other prisoners who had to listen for it was impossible to walk out of "that church." Paul had a captive audience. They preached, prayed and sang songs to the glory of God. They turned a bad situation into good account.

It is remarkable that this happens, even today. Christian prisoners witness to their faith. This takes courage and faith which comes from the Lord, just like the experience of Paul and Silas.

Prisoners came to faith. When the earthquake came, the walls shook and the doors flew open, but not one prisoner took advantage of the freedom.

They stayed listening to Paul whose message of true freedom hit them like a bolt from the blue.

It is possible to remain faithful to God in all circumstances because He gives strength to go through.

Pray, with thanksgiving, for Christian prisoners you know. God can also use them - in answer to your prayers.

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
(2 Corinthians 12:9b)

Paul

With these verses, Paul concludes a very impressive list of all the hardships he endured. In it he states the following:

"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one;
Three times I was beaten with rods;
Once I was stoned;
Three times I was shipwrecked;
I spent a night and a day in the open sea;
I have been constantly on the move.
I have been in danger from rivers,
in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen,
in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city,
in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false brothers.
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;
I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked...
Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?"
(2 Corinthians 11:24-29)

He ends his enumeration by stating, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10).

What was his secret? The Word of the Lord - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9a).

Is there any reason why we should complain?

No, because God's power is still made perfect in weakness. Also today.

[Judy Harder]

Aug 14 2011

Daily Courage
     


from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times. (Romans 1:9)

Paul

Prayer was not an incidental activity in Paul's life. It was fundamental to his ministry. He prayed for his fellow believers, constantly and at all times. Nowhere do we read that Paul had problems keeping his quiet time. He never needed to confess that he should pray more. Prayer was the source of his strength, his intimate fellowship with God. Even in prison, with his feet chained and his back beaten, he prayed and praised God.

His whole ministry was based on his prayer life.

Somebody once said, "What you are on your knees is what you really are and no more!" That's what made Paul so strong. Almost all of his letters start with, "I pray for you..." And he does not hesitate to ask for prayer for himself, "Pray also for me." Paul's hands were strong because they were folded. Prayer is not only the breath of the soul, but also the means to move the hand of God. Through prayer God revealed mysteries to him and he attained insight in the spiritual warfare in the heavenlies and his walk continued from strength to strength. Paul knew his priorities well and acted accordingly. And not in vain.

God hears and keeps your prayers.

Eternity will reveal how they were answered.

"Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 21:13)

Paul

One of the most touching speeches of Paul is his farewell speech in Acts chapter 20. In many ways the Holy Spirit revealed to Paul how much he must suffer for the Lord. The brethren tried to persuade him not to go to Jerusalem. They feared lest Paul would find himself in prison. In their eyes he was more serviceable to them out of prison.

Paul was not looking for problems. He was seeking God. The Lord had prepared Paul for what was ahead and his reaction was clear.

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace." Then Paul followed with "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers."

"Be shepherds of the Church of God, which He bought with his own blood."

"Now I commit you to God and the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

When he had said this he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced and kissed him.

God must have placed great trust in Paul to convey to him what awaited him. Equally Paul trusted God enough to follow Him to the end.

May God also find in us that preparedness, whatever the future may hold. For our times are in God's hands.

[Judy Harder]

from Day by Day with the Persecuted Church,


In this beautiful psalm David confesses that God is the Omnipotent and the Omniscient One. David realizes that God knew him before he was born. This God will guide him until the day he will stand before His throne. That could be a long, difficult path. That is why David asks the Lord to guide him; to protect him from offensive ways; to lead him in the way everlasting.

David

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:1-10,23,24)

[Judy Harder]

and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:15)

Joseph Ton

Fear is an invention of the devil and a consequence of sin. The devil has countless kinds of fears - fear of failure, fear of disease and death, fear of unemployment, fear of the future, fear of suffering, fear of...

Through all these fears man is doomed to slavery. Through fear, Satan makes us passive, not only in countries where Christians are persecuted, but also in the so-called "free countries."  Remarkably, there is often much fear in these free countries. It is the devil's instrument to enslave people. But the Lord sets us free from fear. There is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). The Lord sets us free, so that we no longer fear our enemies, but even love them.

This freedom is not related to living in a free country, for there are millions of slaves in the "free" world. It is a deep spiritual freedom which turns fear into courage, unrest into peace, uncertainty into certainty, doubt into hope and death into life.

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds ... in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7).

Joseph Ton from Romania. Joseph Ton describes a number of spiritual principles of God's faithfulness despite suffering. Edited with permission from the Dutch booklet entitled Lessen in Lijden.