Modern Day Martyrs

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18, NIV)

 

Although I had read the book of Daniel  many times before, this time it was different. As I read chapter 3, these verses began to awaken something in me. Reading it caused me to ask myself the hard questions.  It opened my eyes to a new perspective. These scriptures scream out one word to me, loyalty. What God is showing us in this passage is the kind of loyalty He desires from His people.

 

While  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, they were still in captivity along with the other Hebrews. They were held captive but still serving God. They were facing a life or death situation, but refused to worship any another god. These young men didn’t have a King James Bible to read or church services to attend. Nevertheless, they served God whole-heartedly. They were willing to face death in order to maintain their integrity. They were willing even if God didn’t deliver them from the fiery furnace. What God was saying  to me was, “Yes I have made many promises to you that I plan to keep. But, if I never deliver you will you still serve me? If I decide to change my mind, will you worship me? If I never do anything else for you, will you still love me?” We get so excited and “Jesus Happy” when things go our way and when life is comfortable. But what about when life is unfair and when God doesn’t appear to be blessing you? Will you still hold on to your integrity, worship, and serve God only? Or will you go back into the world and put worldly matters ahead of  God?

   

Make no mistake about it, God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19) Hypothetically, what if He doesn’t answer your prayers, will you still put God 1^st? What if your ministry seizes to prosper, will you still serve Him from the sincerity of your heart? These young men told King Nebuchadnezzar that even if God didn’t deliver them, they would still worship no other god. How loyal is that?!

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to become martyrs for the God they served. They were willing to suffer so that God may get the glory from their lives. They were willing to go through the pain so that God’s purpose would be accomplished. Is that your heart? Are you willing to hold on to your integrity no matter how embarrassing, hurtful, tiresome, or painful your circumstances may seem? Are you a “Modern Day Martyr” for Christ?

DON'T GIVE UP

For we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us in [the province of] Asia, how we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life [itself]. Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the [very] sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead. - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, AMP 

            Your afflictions have two important factors: 1) It is not about you. God will use you to minister to someone else about the same burdens that you are enduring right now. 2) Your burdens, no matter how difficult, are for the glory of God, that His excellencies may be revealed in your life. As I read the above scripture, I’m thankful to God for the Apostle Paul’s ministry. I’m thankful for his obedience and honesty about his sufferings. Sometimes I wonder what if Paul would have given up or returned back to his old life because the road got rough. Paul always talked about his sufferings as a Christian and how he endured. In the scripture, the first words say, “We do not want you to be uninformed.” He is showing us that in this Christian walk you will face affliction and oppressing distress. You will feel like giving up because you feel defeated and crushed in your spirit. He says that they “felt within that they had received the very sentence of death.” He obviously felt that at some point it was so bad that they thought they were going to die. But the next verse says, “but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead.” Has it ever gotten so bad in your life that you had nowhere else to turn except to God? Has it ever been so terrible that your family, friends, or church couldn’t even help you? Well, Paul is saying, it was this way for Him that he may learn to trust and depend on God alone.

            Many times, we go through things in life failing to realize that it is not about us. However, it is all about Christ. If you’ll take the time to read about Paul’s sufferings, it will amaze you. He endured some horrible things but only by the grace of God. Through his sufferings, he learned to trust and depend on God, not people. Sometimes God will allow us to go through a season of loss or suffering to teach us to be totally dependent on Him. In the midst of that, we cannot give up. We cannot lose hope and faint. If we do, how can we minister to others that are suffering? You need to endure patiently until God delivers you. As a result, you can minister to someone else about how the Lord has delivered you and will also deliver them. Paul says, “If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:6-7, NIV) What Paul is saying is that he suffered that we may have comfort and salvation. He knew it was not all about Him. Furthermore, the Bible says that God is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). The same way that God comforts us in our sufferings, we in turn can comfort someone else in their time of suffering.

            It’s easy to become depressed and internalize every issue in our lives.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4:7-10). That treasure we have in this earthen vessel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the message of salvation, hope, and eternal life. We carry that precious treasure whether we are afflicted or not. We are expected to continue on whether hurting or not.

            Stand on this: Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while 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.

Be Blessed

 

Faithful God...Faithless People

“Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the Lord, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’” (Malachi 3:13-15, NKJV)

            For the past week or so, the Lord has had me to examine the book of Malachi. It was intriguing to read as I related to the people of God in that time. There was so much to take from these scriptures so I’ll try to truncate what I received.

            God’s people had returned from the Babylonian exile, the temple was rebuilt, and they received word from Zechariah about how the Lord would bless them. Although they were free, the word of the Lord had not manifested yet. I don’t know about anybody else but it is frustrating to receive an awesome word from the Lord but the manifestation takes what seems an eternity to happen. In their waiting, in their serving God, the people turned from God in their hearts. They became tired of doing the right thing. They no longer gave God their best. They gave the Lord blemished sacrifices. In other words, instead of giving God their full tithes & offerings they now began to tip God. The Lord Almighty says, “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” (Malachi 1:6) When we decide to do the opposite of what God has called us to do, we are now in rebellion. The respect for God is lost. Have you ever seen a person just disrespectful towards God? I don’t want to be disrespectful towards God & neither should you.

                        On the contrary, we can do everything right but our hearts can be wrong. They were still offering sacrifices to the Lord but they were in disobedience and rebellion. They became unfaithful people. Sometimes we think we’re getting away with wrongdoing but God is all-knowing. He knows & sees everything we do. He even hears everything that we say. God says, You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17). Sometimes we can lose sight of what’s important by looking at the wrong things. Looking at people who don’t serve God, looking at people who serve God halfheartedly and begin to wonder, “God is this ok with you?” Especially when we see them “prospering”. As the Psalm of Asaph reminds us, we need not concern ourselves with the seeming prosperity of the wicked, but God who is just will deliver His people. Asaph admits in Psalms 73, “Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” It seems as though the wicked get away with everything but we live day by day waiting on the promises of God. However, my Bible tells me that He will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on Him, Because he trusts in Him (Isaiah 26:3). Focus. I think the people stopped trusting God, which  is why they went astray in the book of Malachi. Even we stop trusting God He is still loving, faithful, and true to His Word. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed”. Thank God for His consistent nature.

            God can be trusted. He is faithful. He is God. If He has promised you some things, they will surely happen. We must learn to trust God & wait. God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19) Don’t get tired of serving God. I know it gets difficult at times and you wonder God what in the world is going on here. In His own good time, He’ll reveal His purposes & promises for you. Don’t backslide because you’re tired of waiting on God. Don’t start hanging with your old crew again because they are familiar. Move forward & obey God.

            We must have faith in God to finish the race that is set before us. God is a faithful God. If we have His Spirit in us, we need to be faithful people in return. When you meet your Heavenly Father on that Day, may the Lord say to you, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’

Be Blessed.

What Is Your Fragrance?

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, NKJV)

            We, His people are to leave behind the fragrance of Christ. Everywhere we go we should be the bearer of the Good News. As a woman who enters a room smelling of a sweet, pure, expensive perfume attracts those around her, so should we. We should leave behind the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever our feet travel. What scent do you leave behind on your job every day? What is the aroma that fills the room when you enter into it? Do you leave behind the fragrance of our Lord when you leave a place? We are to spread the fragrance of Christ, which is the Gospel everywhere. To those seeking God, it is the sweetest of aromas. It gives life, salvation, and freedom. To those that reject Christ, the Gospel is a stench to their noses. It puts a damper on their way of life. Regardless, we must leave or wear the fragrance of Jesus Christ. And how do we do this? People in the world don’t want Bible scriptures tossed at them. Our conduct, our lifestyle may be the scent that they need to ask, “What must I do to be saved?” It is said that we might be the only Bible that some people see. When we are around unbelievers, do we dare to fit in or do we stand out as a sweet smelling fragrance or seductive cologne. In the life of the unbeliever how many believers do you think approaches him in one day or even a week? How do you influence unbelievers on a daily basis? The person at the bus stop that you see every day, the unfortunate person you pass by on the way to the store, the promiscuous teenager you know, have you shared with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do they now know there is hope and a better way? What was the smell that you left behind today?

            Woe to him who leaves a stench that is not of God. How will we attract the ungodly if we ourselves are ungodly? How can we show the love of Christ if Christ is not in us? How can we show the world there is freedom in Christ if we ourselves are not free? Let our lives be not mere words but actions that promote salvation in Christ. The Spirit of Christ should follow us wherever we go. Any spirit that is not of God such as lust, rebellion, disobedience, lying, drunkenness, malice, or envy should not be left behind by the believer. What are we saying to the world if this is the case? The Amplified Bible in 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine, test, and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?”

               Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! (Haggai 1:5, NKJV) Let us honestly examine our ways. Do we leave behind a stench or the sweet fragrance of Christ? What is your fragrance?

Need Guidance?

Numbers 22:26 - Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.

    Numbers 22: 21-32 explains how Balaam was headed in the wrong direction and how God went to the extremes to direct Balaam’s path. As I read this scripture, I was encouraged. I was encouraged to know that God will lead and guide me if I allow Him. Even if we choose the wrong way, God is still God. If you look at Numbers 22:22, it says God was very angry when Balaam went in the direction he went. Despite His anger, God still opted to direct Balaam’s steps. Even when we head in the wrong direction assuming that we know what is best for ourselves; God is still there to keep us in line with His will.

          As I grow in the Lord, I realize that obedience is everything. I also realize that inquiring of the Lord is essential. We say we trust God, but do we consult God? We have to learn to get into the habit of praying about everything. The Bible says to pray about everything (Philippians 4:6). We can’t assume that God isn’t concerned about matters in our lives whether big or small. In 1Peter, 4:7 the Word tells me to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. It didn’t say what kind of cares, it just say to cast them on Him. As I said, we must learn to inquire of the Lord. If we fail to do so, we can be lead astray by our own flesh or the enemy’s devices. Joshua 9 talks about how the men of Israel were deceived by the Gibeonites. Joshua 9:14 says, “The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” Had they inquired of the Lord they would have known that the Gibeonites were trying to deceive them. How many times do we do what appears to be right or what feels good without praying to God about it first?

          In 1^st and 2^nd Kings, it chronicles the lives of the kings of Israel. The emphasis in every king’s life was his obedience and willingness to inquire of the Lord. Many times the kings of Israel had success, but it was only when God led them. When some kings turned away from God or stopped consulting with God, they were defeated because God was displeased. I found this intriguing because I can apply the same principles to my life. We have to learn to trust God’s counsel and not be lead astray by our own fleshly desires. Psalm 121:6-7 says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." So, why not ask Him for His direction?

          Our prayers need to sound like that of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 10:23. Jeremiah prayed, “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” The Amplified version says this, “O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps. ²⁴ O Lord, correct, instruct, and chastise me, but with judgment and in just measure—not in Your anger, lest You diminish me and bring me to nothing.”

          We seem to forget that our lives are not our own. Those of us in Christ need to remember that we were bought with a price. We don’t belong to ourselves anymore. We are to seek, inquire, and require the Lord in every aspect of our lives. This is called total surrender. If you think of a slave and his master, once the master purchases the slave the slave no longer has his own rights. He is subject to his master, in everything. We need to be subject to Christ, in everything. God wants the best for us so why not humble yourself and seek His face for guidance. Sometimes we don’t pray about things because we don’t want to hear what the Spirit of the Lord might say. Sometimes we know that the way we are going is wrong but we refuse to humble ourselves to accept whatever God’s answer is. Let me just say, you’re playing with fire if you do this. The answers God gives are always good because His plans for us are good. So if God says left and you want so badly for it to be right, just be obedient and go left. Trust God.

     Proverbs 3:5-6 advises us to, “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” If we would just acknowledge God in our decision-making, we would be less likely to make foolish mistakes or head down a path that is detrimental to our lives or  Christian walk.

          Therefore, if you need guidance or direction for anything, I encourage you to pray. Seek God about the matter, and please wait for the answer! Remember: The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step] (Psalms 37:23, AMP).

God Bless

God is Impartial

Matthew 5:45 …He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

            God is fair and impartial (Romans 2:11). He doesn’t show favoritism. What He’ll do for one, He’ll do for another. As I looked at the compassion of God, it lead me to the impartiality of God. In our finite human minds we can’t begin to understand why He is so just. When people commit crimes and do things to us we don’t like, it’s off with their heads. However, God is different. He gives us chance after chance to repent. Even those that don’t repent, God is still gracious to them. He proves that in the above scripture (Matthew 5:45). The only reasons none of us were consumed by God’s anger before we were saved is His mercy and compassion. So why can’t we show that same mercy and compassion towards one another?

            I’m reminded of the Prophet Jonah who ran away from God’s call to preach to the people of Nineveh. This man did not want the people of Nineveh to receive God’s grace and mercy so much that he ran from the call of God. How disturbing is that? When a member of the congregation repents, pastors are happy. But not Jonah. He may have felt that these people disobeyed and disrespected God so much that they didn't deserve a second chance. That’s not how God felt. God wanted Jonah to preach to the people that they may repent, which they did. After Jonah finally gave in, preached to the people, they repented. Still Jonah was not satisfied. The Bible says in Jonah 4:1 that, Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. In verse 2 he prays to God, “I pray You, O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them.” What kind of prayer is that? That’s like me praying, “God don’t tell me to witness to him lest he repents and you have mercy and bless him.” Huh? Well at least Jonah was honest, not right but honest.

            The Bible says in Psalm 145:9, the Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All includes everyone on Earth. Everyone has a chance to repent, everyone has a chance to know God, and everyone has a chance to experience God’s grace & mercy. I’m trying to be more like God. I don’t know about anyone else but I find it hard to let people off the hook. Honestly, I’m learning to be kind and generous to people I don’t really care for. We have to love as God loves. We have to show mercy and compassion on others as we want God to show mercy and compassion on us. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you (Matthew 6:14). Like God, we must learn to be impartial. To show love even when it is undeserved. Jesus said to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF (Mark 12:31). Like God, we have to be fair and give people a chance. Even if they use up all their chance cards, throw them another handful. We can learn a lot from the character of God, including how to treat one another.

Matthew 5:46-48~For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that? You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.