Thursday Devotional - Rejoice in Persecution?

God miraculously freed the apostles from prison so they could continue telling people about their new life in Christ. However, they were persecuted even worse the next time.

Acts 5:27-33   ²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³ When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 

As the Sanhedrin met to decide their punishment, they decided to have the apostles flogged instead of killed (vs. 34-40). The Sanhedrin gave the apostles orders again to not to speak about Jesus.

God had specifically told the apostles to go back to the temple to share the good news. They could have wondered why God would allow their arrest again (with flogging this time) after they obediently did exactly what He told them to do. However, instead of questioning God or getting mad at Him, they rejoiced.

Acts 5: 41-42 ⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. ⁴² Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Do you and I rejoice when we face difficulties with something God has specifically asked us to do? I know I don’t. I do pray for help, express my confusion to God and ask for eyes to see how He might use the difficulty (such as with being told we had to move the “See You at the Pole” offsite earlier this year).

Like the apostles, let’s obediently and joyfully persevere in what God has asked us to do, no matter what persecution, opposition or challenge comes our way. He can help us rejoice through it and see the blessings!  

Alice

God in the Unseen

“We do not look at the things which

are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporary, but

the things which are not seen are eternal.”

     2 Corinth. 4:18 (NKJV)

I had the pleasure of hearing the other day from a missionary who was temporarily back in Minnesota.  She has served for a number of years in the Middle East and it was so encouraging to hear her testimony from that part of the world.  She shared the above passage of Scripture to remind us how God is at work. 

So much of our world is in turmoil today, with violence and protests happening in so many places, with countless numbers of people fleeing war-torn countries, seeking refuge from their troubles. If we view the world from our natural eyes, we may wonder where God is in all the suffering and injustice. It can be overwhelming and discouraging to see all this chaos and despair on the news, yet in the midst of it all, God is reaching people and meeting them in their need.  We serve a great God, whose purposes are not being thwarted by evil and wickedness.  The mainstream secular media doesn’t report that so we may need to seek out Christian sources to hear these stories. 

God is sovereign and He is working out His plan to save and redeem among the headlines and in the heartache of people.  God is using missionaries and new Christians in these often hostile countries to tell others about Jesus, the Gospel is spreading, prayers are being answered, awakenings are happening, people are finding peace in souls and healing for their trauma. 

We look at the things that are not seen, at the eternal because that is where faith resides, that is where God is at work.  Amen.

Life of Christ Challenge

Today I want to do something different.  I’d like to challenge you to start reading a chapter in the book of Luke each day.  We are already a day behind so this will take you through Christmas.  If you start December 1st with reading a book in Luke each day, by Christmas Eve, you will have read the full account of Christ’s life here on earth.  How much more meaningful would Christmas then be? 

Today, being December 2nd, I’d like to share Luke 2:

Luke 2 

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Satisfaction in Obedience

“In the meantime, His disciples urged Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’

But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’

Therefore, the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone

brought Him anything to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food

is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.’”

     John 4:31-34 (NKJV)

As we’ve just finished celebrating Thanksgiving, with its emphasis on food as well as thanks, I was struck by the above passage. I’ve read it before but it really jumped out at me this week.  Jesus considered obedience to the Father’s will and doing His work as His food.  One of my study Bibles indicates about this passage that when Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman (John 4:7-26), He was performing the Father’s will and thereby received greater sustenance and satisfaction than mere physical food could offer Him.  I don’t know about you, but that is very convicting to me.

God places heavy emphasis on obedience, stating that “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV)  Of course, no matter how hard we try, we will never exhibit perfect obedience as Jesus did. But that should be our heart’s desire, to obey our Lord.  We can find true and lasting satisfaction in seeking to do His will more than any delicious Thanksgiving leftovers can provide.

Give thanks for that?

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

As we enter the week of Thanksgiving, we tend to start thinking about what we are thankful for.  You may see people thinking about this throughout November.  Maybe posting a daily post of one thing they are thankful for.  I know this has been me through the years.  I started thinking about this as reading in I Thessalonians.  We are not called to give thanks once a year or even one month a year.  We are called to give thanks in all circumstances. 

So, did you give thanks for that ticket you got?  Did you give thanks when you were disciplined for something?  How about when someone you loved was taken away from you? 

Times like these are harder to give thanks, yet we are called to give thanks in ALL circumstances. 

We are going to have some horrible times in our lives where we are still called to rejoice, pray and give thanks.  This is a challenge for sure.  Today, I want to challenge you to be more aware of ways that you can give thanks in all circumstances.

Contentment in Christ

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and

it is certain we can carry nothing out. And

having food and clothing, with these we shall

be content.”

      1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NKJV)

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we’re reminded to give thanks to God for His countless blessings in our lives.  And gratitude is certainly the attitude of heart we should consistently have, not only on Thanksgiving.  But it seems to me that contentment goes hand in hand with gratitude.  For while we thank God, how often are we truly satisfied with what we currently have?  There always seems to be more on our list of what we want or think we need. 

To paraphrase Charles Spurgeon, if we aren’t content with that we have, we will not be satisfied if it were doubled.  True contentment is in our mind, not in the extent of our possessions. That’s why contentment may be hard for us to gain and maintain, especially in our culture when we are daily bombarded with ads and media and other promotions of materialism.  We want the latest and newest things, or maybe it’s a change of circumstances we desire, thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else.

We don’t need to worry about our physical needs because God supplies us “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19, NKJV)  For most of us, however, our wants go beyond necessities and are really luxuries, things that are pleasurable and make our lives more fun and comfortable.  There is nothing wrong in having possessions or riches as long as we don’t have a love of money. (1 Timothy 6:10)  But we should be honest and acknowledge that our self-indulgent desire for more is really a sign of discontentment and dissatisfaction with what God has already so graciously provided for us.

When we find ourselves in that condition, we can confess our wrong attitude and ask God to cultivate true contentment in our hearts.  That comes when we remember that we have all that we need in Christ. 

Hate your parents

Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

The Sunday School lesson for my Jr High group this week used this verse.  The theme this week was our relationships with our parents.  Hate your parents?  Yes, we are told we must hate our parents to be a disciple of Christ.  Now does this really mean hate them the way that we think about hating someone?  No. 

Of course, what we were talking about here is that you cannot put your parents before Christ.  Christ must be above all our other relationship if we want to truly follow him. 

Think about the relationships that you have.  Do you ever put one of those relationships before Christ?  I know that I have a time or two.  As we go into the Holiday Season, it’s easy to get busy and push away from God, saying that we are just too busy right now.  I challenge you to think about this in the coming weeks.

Rest in Peace?

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever,

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so . . .

Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Bound in affliction and irons—

Because they rebelled against the words of God,

And despised the counsel of the Most High,

Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;

They fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses.

He brought them out darkness and the shadow of death,

And broke their chains in pieces.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

    Psalm 107: 1-2, 10-15 (NKJV)

An employee in the MSP cafeteria died unexpectedly the other day and there has been an outpouring of

commendation about her, remembering her warm smile and cheerful manner, and relating stories of her kindness. Many of the comments included the phrase “Rest in peace.”  Certainly, if she was a believer, I would rejoice that she is resting in peace with Jesus now.  Of course, only God knows for sure.  But apart from a personal faith in Him, her eternal state is not hopeful---regardless of how nice of a person she was and how well-liked.

Interestingly, in Sunday school this past week, the pastor spoke about grief.  He said that it’s common for people to talk about a person who dies as going to a “better place” or “resting in peace” because it’s too uncomfortable to talk or even think about the alternative.  But hell is a reality.  Fortunately, throughout the Bible, we see illustrations of God using grief for redemptive purposes, and pastor spoke of evangelistic conversations he has had when spending time with those who were grieving.

Death and funerals often bring opportunities to talk to the surviving family and friends about faith, maybe not right away but after the reality of the loss has set in.  We who are the redeemed of the Lord should speak of His abundant grace and rich mercy in saving us.  And when anyone cries out to the Lord, He will save them too and bring them out of darkness and the shadow of death.  That’s an amazing truth to share with someone who is grieving and bring them real comfort and hope.

War

Revelation 12:7-9

7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

To start today, I want to thank all of you that are Veterans!  War is not a new concept.  Even back to the old testament we can read about wars.  The wars that happen here on earth now, are not something we tend to like to think about.  As Americans, we have had it much better than some, thanks to those who serve our country. 

We often do not think about a war having taken place in Heaven though.  In Revelation 12, we see that there was a war.  Michael and his angels fought the dragon and his angels.  The dragon lot and was cast out of Heaven, sent to earth.  This dragon, also known as Satan now fights a war with those on earth, daily.  He battles to bring us to his side and take us away from the Lord. 

Today, along with remembering and thanking the Veterans that have fought for us here on earth, I want to remind you that you are also constantly at war with the devil.  He lost the war in Heaven.  Will he lose the war here on earth as well?  As part of God’s army, we need to continue to battle to save the lives of all of those around us.

God Knows

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And my thoughts than your thoughts.”

    Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

“When I consider Your heavens, the work

of Your fingers, the moon and the stars,

which You have ordained, what is man

that You are mindful of him, and the

son of man that You visit him?”

    Psalm 8:3-4 (NKJV)

Looking up at the stars, I feel very small and I’m amazed that God cares for us and loves us so.  When I’m waiting on Him and feel alone, I need to remember this. He hasn’t forgotten me; He’s working out His plan in His time. When I’m filled with uncertainty, it helps to reaffirm His lordship in my life. 

Many times I don’t understand what He does or doesn’t do, but that’s as it should be because His ways and His thoughts are not ours.  So when I’m walking down that road and I don’t know what’s ahead, I need to trust that He loves me and will show me the way.  When the way seems dark and I don’t know what to do, I need to put my hand in His and depend on Him to lead me one step at a time.

God understands perfectly all that I don’t know. He know the answers to all my whys. Nothing comes as a surprise to God because He is sovereign. There is peace and comfort when I rest in His will and depend fully on Him, even when I don’t understand.