05/01/2019
When you are being persecuted or ridiculed for your faith in Jesus Christ do you hold fast to your beliefs, and not let go of all that you have come to trust in? Depending on your circumstances, or the place in which you live, your degree of persecution can be very different, but your dedication to Christ should be the same, because the promise of His love and reward never changes.
“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”
Hebrews 10:35-36 ESV
Imagine if you will that you were driving a car down a highway with your wife in the passenger’s seat. Suddenly a truck swerves and and runs you off the road, and when you hit the ditch alongside the road your car flips over and when it finally comes to a halt you are able to pull yourself out. Looking back you see that the car is smoldering and that your wife is trapped inside. Without a moment’s thought you race back to the passenger’s side of the car and as the flames begin to grow higher you work feverishly to free her. You know that the car could explode at any minute, and yet you will not leave her there... finally, in just the nick of time, you pull her free and drag her to safety. With intense emotion racing over her she hugs you, and you kiss her face repeatedly. This is like our faith in the midst of great trial and persecution. Ask yourself these two questions... did you love her more in the moment before the accident or at the instant you risked your life to save her, and the second question is this: was the kiss you gave her at the moment of her rescue sweeter than the one you gave her earlier in the day before you left home?
“"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:12-13 ESV
The answer to the question regarding your love for her is that you loved her the same in safety as you did when you realized that she was in danger. The difference wasn’t the love, but how you displayed it. Risking our lives, or even giving our lives up for those we love is no different than what Jesus did for us on Calvary, and it should be no different than the faith you have in the moment of threat and persecution than it is in the safety of your prayer closet where you offer sweet prayers of love to God. The difference should not be in our faith, but in how we demonstrate it. Our faith at the moment of its inception is the same faith that we have in the face of danger. Let it shine when the night surrounding you is the darkest.
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,”
Romans 5:2-3 ESV
The second question deals with degree; it asks if a kiss of passionate love is sweeter than a one offered in the safety of a deep and quiet love. Ask yourself this... did Peter love Jesus more before or after he denied Him? The answer is that his love never changed, but the emotion of it did. Without the deep and quiet love of prior days that allowed Peter to sleep in the midst of it in the Garden of Gethsemane, there could have been no bitter tears at the high priest’s house.
“And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Luke 22:61-62 ESV
Our faith should be the same. When we are spit on, persecuted, ridiculed, or even martyred, our faith should remain strong. If we had faith in the safety of our sanctuary, then we should have that same faith in the face of danger and adversity. If we truly love God, and Jesus Christ, it should be unwavering.
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!”
Psalms 57:7 ESV
If, in the example of the automobile accident, you had left your wife to die in the car, then did you really love her at all? Perhaps you loved how she made you feel, or the way she prepared your meals, or how others perceived you when she was on your arm, but these things are about a love of self... not your love of her. So I ask that you examine your faith in the same way; do you really have faith? If the answer is yes, then the promise and reward of God is yours...
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the deep and abiding love you have for me, and I pray that you will help me to find that same love for you when I examine myself. Help me Gracious Father in my unbelief, and give me a deeper strength of faith and love in you with each passing day. Open my eyes to Jesus Christ, and the love that He demonstrated on the cross. Teach me Holy Father to love you like Jesus loves me; teach my faith to be forever strong, and able to withstand all challenges. That come its way. Reassure me Merciful Father that the same faith I have in times of safety will be sufficient in moments of danger. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God in whom my faith holds firm, and my trust remains unshakeable. Praised be your name because in you I find truth and love forevermore. May glory be yours in the love and faithfulness I have for you always, in peace and tribulation alike make it yours.
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”
Psalms 16:5-8 ESV
Rich Forbes