Category: In Trials

Stand Firm

Luke 21

Luke 21 19 NIV

I have had several opportunities to visit Arlington National Cemetery to witness the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What never ceases to amaze me is the precision of their movements. Every step, every turn is synchronized to the second. Crowds gather well in advance in order to get a view. But once the ceremony concludes and the crowds disperse, the soldier is there to stand guard in silence and no interaction with another person for 30 minutes, which is when another guard comes to relieve him or her.

What is even more impressive than the precision of their movements is their dedication to the post. The Tomb has not been left unguarded since 1937. Through scorching heat and oppressive humidity, blizzards and hurricanes, these guards stand firm in their watch – 24/7/365. There isn’t anything that will take them away from this honor-filled assignment.
As I read through Luke 21, I was struck by the use of the word “stand” in verses 19, 28, and 36. Jesus is explaining to his disciples what to expect as they wait for his triumphant return. Persecution, betrayal, natural disasters, and wars will be the signs that will foretell of Christ’s return. And 3 different times, Jesus instructs his followers to stand firm through it all.
In verse 19, we’re promised that if we stand firm, we will gain life.
In verse 28, we’re promised that by standing up, we will receive redemption.
In verse 36, we’re promised that if we are attentive during the watch, we’ll be able to escape all the turmoil and stand before the Son of Man.
As followers of Jesus, we are not promised an easy life. We will experience figurative (and sometime literal – depending on where you live) heavy storms that wipe away all that you know. The question and challenge is – will you stand firm through it all knowing that the foundation on which you plant your feet is our Rock, Jesus Christ.
Bethany Ligon

Revelation and Double Fulfillment

Revelation 17

Revelation 17 14 .png
Today is a bit longer. Please bear with me to the end.
Before we start this devotion, please go read Isaiah 7:14. 
Is that verse about Jesus? 
According to Matthew 1:23, the answer is a clear and resounding yes. Now, go back and read Isaiah 7:14, 16-17, 8:3-4, 10. It would seem that Immanuel is also a reference to Isaiah’s son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, who is the child of a/the young woman, and his title (Immanuel) shows the people that God is with them (Immanuell literally means “with us is God”). 
I know that may be some new information for you, but this is what I want you to see : When Isaiah gave the Immanuel prophecy, he wasn’t JUST talking about something that would happen hundreds (700+) of years in the future. He was talking about something that was going to happen SOON, that would impact King Ahaz’s life in just a few years time. Did he speak about the future as well? Matthew says yes, but that’s not all he speaks about.
This bit of insight is helpful to have in mind as we read Revelation 17 (or if you have already read it, as you go now and re-read it). Many who read the text of Revelation focus on the future aspects of the book. When will it happen? (Some people say : “Always just around the corner!”) Who are Gog and Magog? (“Always enemies of our country, like Germany, China or Russia!”) Am I prepared? (“Buy your food kit now!”) But, just as the prophecies of Isaiah meant something for the people of his day, we MUST recognize that the prophecy and revelation of John meant something to readers of John’s day.
And John’s readers knew what he meant. There are things that are hard to understand about the scene he saw, but he made it clear enough that they would have understood at least SOME of it. The picture is of a prostitute/harlot/whore sitting upon a beast. She commits sexual immorality with kings, she rides upon a beast, gets drunk on the blood of the saints. She has many names.
Woman who rides upon the beast, through hints we see in this text, is Rome (and by extension, the Roman Empire). Rome is a city sat upon seven hills (v.9). Rome is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth (v.18). Rome, like Babylon the Great before her, destroyed the Jewish Temple, and therefore Rome was acting in the “spirit of Babylon”. (v.5) The sexual immorality committed by the kings of the Earth is their worship of the Emperor as “the son of the gods” and “god-in-flesh”, which was discussed in an earlier devotion on Revelation, when the author spoke about the imperial cult. (v.2) Most importantly for the first readers, this woman was drinking the blood of the saints; that is a poetic description of what they were experiencing under the persecution of Rome.(v.6) 
When John uses all these images, we are given a powerful picture of the spirit of any empire that moves against Christ. And that is true in every age and in every place where there are empires drinking deeply the blood of saints and worshipping that which is not God. What we must always realize is that both in the day of John and our own, the truth is that Christ will conquer them all. Verse 14 says “These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” 
Could there be another city that will sit upon 7 hills, with kings, and be Babylon the great? Maybe. All of Revelation 17 could happen again in the future, with other systems, empires, and rulers. But verse 14 will be always and forever clear : whoever makes war against the Lamb will be defeated. The Lamb will conquer them by his power.
 

Brothers and sisters, we stand with him. We are called. We are chosen. No matter the persecution of the Dragon, the Beast or the Harlot, let us remain faithful. (v 14)

 

Jake Ballard
(Jake Ballard is Pastor at Timberland Bible Church in South Bend, IN. He lives in the Michiana Area with his wife and daughter. If you’d like to say hi you can find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jacob.ballard.336  You can also hear more teachings at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_awyI1LyPZ4QEZVN7HqKQ Otherwise, he is available on all hailing frequencies, by using the Palantir, and via carrier pigeon, though it’s getting colder in South Bend. God bless you all!)

Overcome

Revelation 2

To him who OVERCOMES
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”  Revelation 2:7
One of the phrases I would like you all to notice and underline when it repeats is this, “To him who overcomes”. This phrase refers to specific obstacles in Revelation 2 however this phrase could mean any obstacle in the way of your relationship with God. If you overcome your greatest fears and struggles and rely on Jesus, your relationship with God will thrive.
Jesse Allen

Fear Takes Over

Mark 14

Mark 14 50 NASB

Jesus told the disciples that they would all abandon him. It was bad enough that he knew the agony he would endure on the cross, but the emotional sorrow of the betrayal of his closest friends would be gut-wrenching. All of the disciples were saying they would never leave him, no matter what. Peter insisted, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” (14:31) Jesus told Peter that not only would Peter abandon him, but that very night he would also deny him three times.

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks the disciples to keep watch and pray. They keep falling asleep. I imagine the impending situation has them exhausted from worry and dread. Jesus acknowledged that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (14:38)

When Judas comes to betray Jesus the tension is at an all-time high. The disciples want to fight, but Jesus stops them. Apparently, they  immediately realized they were overwhelmed and that’s when fear kicked in. They all ran. One was slow enough that he was seized, but that fear was coursing through his veins so strongly that he left his clothing and ran away naked. That was better than sharing the fate of Jesus. We might see this as utterly shameful. How could they? And how could Peter deny Christ three times especially after Jesus said he would? Did he not remember Jesus’ words after the second denial?

Fear is such a powerful thing. It can be crippling. Fear can shut our mouths, stop us from going and loving others, and keep us from fulfilling God’s will for our lives. More often I see that fear holds God’s people back, but it can also provoke us to act as we shouldn’t just as the disciples did. The naked man and Peter are a clear warning to us. Let’s not let fear have the power to encourage us to expose ourselves shamefully or deny Christ even. In I John 4:18 we are told “perfect love casts out fear.” Let’s pray for perfect love. When we feel fear creeping in, let’s pray for our love to be stronger than the fear.

-Melissa New

Endure

Colossians 1

Colossians 1 24

I like to listen to audio books. Most of the books I read could be considered “self-help” or “Leadership” books. The one that I have just started in the last couple days is called “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins. David is a former Navy seal and an ultra-athlete. The premise of his book is to have a mentally tough and disciplined mind that allows us to push through the worst experience’s life can throw at us. This idea of “Can’t Hurt Me” reminds me of what Paul said in Colossians 1:24-29

 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh,  I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose, also I labor striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Here we see Paul bringing up a time where he had been persecuted for bringing the Gospel to the Colossians. Where he endured hardship while preaching fully the Gospel to them. He mentions in verse 27 “God willed to make known the riches of the glory” and also mentions “hope of glory”. I believe that this for Paul was meaning no matter what kind of tribulations, trials, or persecution he goes through Jesus also went through this, and God revealed the mystery of resurrection power to the world as well as the Gospel through Christ.

We will have days, often, that are going to be horrible from our perspective. Now I don’t know what David Goggin’s believes personally. However, if we adopt what I think David Goggin’s and Paul would say is a “Can’t Hurt Me” mindset, we can look forward to the resurrection and the kingdom of God.

Jesse Allen

If Paul can, You can

Philippians 1 

7

Shipwrecked on an island, stoned, bitten by a snake, beaten, and thrown into prison. It seems that Paul could never catch a break. The letter of Philippians was actually written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome. After a short greeting to the church of Philippi, Paul explains his current predicament:

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.(Philippians 1:12-14)

Paul’s attitude is truly humbling. Instead of grumbling, blaming, or whining, he recognizes that all of his difficulties have “served to advance the gospel.” What a mindset to strive for! By being transparent about his sufferings, Christians at the time were encouraged to be more confident and daring, spreading the gospel without fear. I was shocked to read that the people were more encouraged by Paul’s endurance than petrified by his tribulations.

My sister once brought a box of bacon-cheddar flavored crickets to a family gathering. At first, everybody thought the crickets were an amusing joke, but nobody seriously considered eating one. After staring at the crickets for a long while, my brother-in-law finally ate one as we all goggled and gawked. Then the next person ate one, and the next person, and eventually everyone in the room had eaten a cricket. After witnessing someone else eat the cricket, it was much easier for me to eat a cricket, too. (FYI crickets don’t taste like chicken).

In the same way, early Christians adopted an “If Paul can, I can” kind of faith. Let Paul’s resilience and conviction in the face of obstacles encourage you, too, to proceed boldly in your faith. If Paul can withstand being shipwrecked on an island, stoned, bitten by a snake, beaten, and thrown into prison, you can be daring and bold in your faith, too.

When was the last time you took a risk for your faith? Get your hands dirty, get uncomfortable, and get moving.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20-21).

 

-Mackenzie McClain

Living Fearlessly for the Kingdom – Even in Trials

2 Corinthians 6

2 corinthians 6 3

Hardships. We all go through them! Often times we are left wondering, why why why. I once had a coach tell me that the way that I walked through adversity would truly define my character and who I am as a person. This saying has stuck with me for years as I live each day asking myself whether or not I am reflecting God’s love to those around me. When I am faced with the unknown, when I am knocked down on my back, or even when life is running smoothly, I find the verses in 2 Corinthians 6 to be so important and encourage them to flow over my heart. We have the chance to truly make a difference in the lives of those around us as we love unconditionally and live fearlessly for the Kingdom of God. We know that we serve a good good Father and at the end of the day, when we are beat down/exhausted, we can find rest in His love and His grace. Friends, I encourage you to take a minute to stop and reflect. Ask yourselves, “How am I doing in my walk of faith?” Of course this is no competition or race, but it’s important to evaluate where your heart is and how you can honor God daily. Be encouraged that the Lord is for you! How thankful I am to say that He is our God and that we may be called His people. Let’s put our best forth to live a life pleasing to Him!

 

“Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:

  • in great endurance
  • in troubles, hardships and distresses
  • in beatings
  • imprisonments and riots
  • in hard work
  • sleepless nights and hunger
  • in purity
  • understanding
  • patience and kindness
  • in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love
  • in truthful speech
  • in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left
  • through glory and dishonor
  • bad report and good report
  • genuine, yet regarded as impostors
  • known, yet regarded as unknown
  • dying, and yet we live on
  • beaten, and yet not killed
  • sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
  • poor, yet making many rich
  • having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

 

2 Corinthians 6:4-10

 

-Kayla Tullis