Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy of Our Faithful Allegiance (11/14/24)

Would Jesus say you and I are faithful and true to Him in the face of great opposition? He said that about the Pergamum church.

Revelation 2:12-13, & 17           12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Do you and I openly identify ourselves as a child of God? What if we knew we would be killed if we said we were a Christian? Antipas was supposedly burned for refusing to renounce his faith. Jesus called him His faithful witness for living a consistent faithful life in the face of satanic evil.

As a family, we just read about recent missionaries to Africa that were threatened to be sacrificed on altars if the tribal community wasn’t convinced in three days that the God of the missionaries was the only true God. The missionaries risked their lives and stayed the 3 days under severe satanic attack. While they were experiencing horrendous opposition, behind the scenes the tribal community witnessed a series of events where God’s powerful hand was clearly at work. It was so unmistakable to the tribal community that they came and admitted to the missionaries that their God was the real true God!  

No matter the outcome in this life, I pray we desire to have and choose to persevere in faithful allegiance to God. As Revelation 2:17 promises, He has eternally satisfying blessings in store for the victorious! 

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence.  He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.

But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.  Genesis 19:27-29

We have dealt with a great deal of tragedy this week.  Whether it be our children in fear of their safety or our way of living being challenged and questioned, there is plenty of stress points that impact us.  There was a time where during these moments I would feel like the world was closing in on me all at once.  Yet today, I feel at peace.  Someone reminded me that God is always in control, and thus, nothing happens without His knowing.  Many of us have worries about tomorrow, and simply do not have answers to tragedies.  But I have faith that He will take care of things.  As I continue my journey of faith, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness, and it is in that I carry forward not only with confidence but also with faith that in the end He will help us to make things right.

We should all have surety in God.  As I was reading the book of Genesis, I got a great deal out of the story of Abraham and Lot.  Abraham was of course one of God’s truly faithful servants such that he could request certain things of God.  One was that He protect the city of Sodom if there were righteous people there.  After further reading, we realize that the ‘righteous people’ there were the people connected to Lot, his nephew who Abraham loved like a son.  This was the covenant God made with him.  When it appeared Sodom and Gomorrah could no longer be saved, angels were sent to save Lot and his family.  There are a couple of things we can draw from this story.  First, through prayer we can actually gain favor with God where He will intercede on our behalf.  Second, God is always true to His word.  His promises are without fail.  He is always faithful, and our goal is to trust in this even as things surrounding us may not quite seem under control.

God is always righteous and always right on time.  A hymnal that always keeps me grounded speaks of God in such a way.  It begins simply:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

As the hymn says, He is never changing, compassionate, and of course faithful.  Let us move with confidence knowing God is always with us for we have asked Jesus Christ in our lives, and for that, we are truly saved.  What can you draw from Abraham’s faith into your own?  What surety can God provide in your life?  My prayer is that we remember who God is in times of uncertainty and indeed how Great is Thy faithfulness.  Amen.

Thursday Devotional - True Persevering Servant

Paul was specifically called by Jesus to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. If you’ve read the book of Acts you know that his job didn’t come easy, but he persevered. He continually focused on Jesus and what Jesus had asked him to do. This is evident by the way he started each of his letters.

Romans 1:1-7         Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— ² the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³ regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. ⁶ And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Would you call yourself a servant of Christ Jesus? Would He call you that?

I don’t know that Jesus would call me a true servant of His. I know several specific jobs where He’s called me to serve. However, I often get distracted by what I’m doing instead of why I’m doing it. I need to focus on WHO I actually want to serve - Jesus!  Then, I’ll truly be a servant of Jesus! I won’t burn out, get overwhelmed or give up.

Where has God called you to serve?

As God’s gospel saturates our minds and hearts, we can truly allow Him to set us apart for the task, just like Paul, persevering as a true servant to the end!

Alice

Thurs Devo: Faithful and True

Would Jesus say you and I are faithful and true to Him? He said that about the Pergamum church.

Revelation 2:12-13    ¹² “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

Do we openly identify ourselves as a child of God? What if we knew we would be killed if we said we were a Christian? Antipas was supposedly burned for refusing to renounce his faith. Jesus called him His faithful witness for living a consistent faithful life in the face of satanic evil.

Similar situations happen today. The gunman in Oregon reportedly asked his classmates if they were a Christian and asked the Christians to stand up. Then he shot them and continued down the line. Would you and I boldly claim to be Christians after seeing what happened to the first victim?

Antipas and the Christian victims in Oregon are safe in God’s arms now. Nothing will ever harm them again. Jesus has eternal rewards for His faithful and true followers! That's something we can cling to, no matter what happens! 

Alice

Thursday Devotional - A True Sister

The apostle Paul was quite an amazing follower of Christ. I’m sure some doubted the sincerity of his conversion at first, but I don’t think there’s any room for doubt now. His life was full of evidence that He loved God with His whole heart. He was a true father to many.

I Timothy 1:1-2          Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, ² To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Well, today is my niece’s spiritual birthday! Maria asked Jesus to forgive her of her sins and accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior three years ago today. I wrote a devotional about it three years ago and how evident it was in just the first 24 hours after her conversion that the Holy Spirit was actively working in her life. She had become my true sister in Christ!

Well, three years later, there’s even more evidence. She continues to have a concern for the lost and remembers to take things to God. She will take big and small victories or trials to God through praise and petition. One such example, a few weeks ago we were all eating dinner together and discussing all the various trials going on in our own lives and the lives of others around us. Maria chimed in and said we could pray to God about it all. So, we did just that, we all stopped in the middle of dinner and lifted up various concerns to God.

Maria is not only my niece, but most importantly she’s my true sister in Christ! We’re celebrating that today!

Who are your true brothers and sisters in the faith?

How evident is it that you and I are true brothers and sisters to others?

When was the last time you and I shared our faith?

Or when was the last time we wrote an encouraging letter to a fellow believer?

Who will you and I encourage today?

Paul, as a true spiritual father to Timothy, showed his love to him by continuing to encourage and instruct him. We have two of his letters to Timothy for our own encouragement and instruction!

Alice