Strength for Today

Yesterday my wife and I visited the offices of Voice of the Martyrs in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. You can learn about their ministry by going to www.persecution.com. While my wife was being take on a tour of the facility, I chatted with Tom White, Executive Director of VOM. We talked about the "normalacy" of persecution. Christians in countries that are hostile to Christianity understand that being persecuted for their faith is normal. They understand the teaching of Jesus: "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt. 10:22). They actually expect to be hated and are not surprised like we in America are when someone hates us for simply being a Christian. Hatred and persection of Christians is not localized. Jesus said, "You will be hated by all nations for My name's sake" (Matt. 24:9). There is something about the name of Jesus that brings hatred to a boiling point to those who are opposed to Him and everything His name stands for. Again Jesus said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you" (John 18:18). You will never hear teaching like this from Joel Osteen but you will hear it from Jesus Christ. Again: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 18:19). Finally, Jesus warns, "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 18:20). This, then, is the "normalacy" of being hated and persecuted. Our Lord said it would be this way. Perhaps this is the way that we may know "the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10). The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

"The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed" (Gen. 2:8). Someone has said, "Work is man's greatest function. He is nothing, he can do nothing, he can achieve nothing, fulfill nothing, without working. If you are poor ~ work. If you are rich ~ continue working. If you are burdened with unseemingly unfair responsibilities ~ work. If you are happy, keep right on working. Idleness gives room for doubt and fears. If disappointments come ~ work. If your health is threatened ~ work. When faith falters ~ work. When dreams are shattered and hope seems dead ~ work. Work as if your life were in peril. It really is. No matter what ails you ~ work. Work faithfully ~ work with faith. Work is the greatest remedy available for mental and physical afflictions" (Author unknown). Dorothy Sayers adds, "Work is not primarily a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. It is, or should be, the full expression of the worker's faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God." God placed man east of Eden to work the good earth. Be sure that you spend your time on this good earth engaged in the God-ordained ministry of work. You will be blessed and so will others. God will be glorified and others will be edified. Now, go to work! God will supply you "Strength for Today!"

Remember playing the childhood game "Mother, may I?" Well, some of us play the game of "Father, must I?" This morning I was humming the tune to an old hymn by Isaac Watts during my pre-sunrise walk around the neighborhood. The words from the second stanza came to mind: "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?" Now let's think about that, shall we?

Must I? Sometimes this is a good question but I think most of the time, at least in the spiritual realm, it betrays a hesitant heart at best and a rebellious spirit at worst. Must I go to church? Must I read my Bible? Must I share my good with others? Not good!
Must I be carried? Do we carry our own weight or must we weigh down others with our load, our burdens, our failure to do our own job?
Must I be carried to the skies? Do you really want to go to heaven? I have heard some say they really do not want to go but prefer to stay here (and not for the best of reasons). Some now want a heaven on earth. The beggar Lazarus was "carried by the angels" into Abraham's bosom, a picture of Paradise, and that is where every faithful believer will be carried some day.
On flowery beds of ease? The Christian life is not a rose garden. Yes, there are many beauties of the Christian life but it is not an easy life. But nor is it an impossible life. We are Christian soldiers fighting an enemy who is determined to keep us out of heaven.
While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Here we see the martyrs ~ those like Stephen, the first Christian martyr, stoned to a bloody pulp for his witness for Christ. Numberless Christians have paid the ultimate price for living the Christian life. Where do we get off thinking we will make it to heaven carried by others on a flowery bed of ease?

So Watts concludes: "Sure I must fight, if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord; I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word." Here is our challenge for today: fight the good fight; ask God for courage to endure; find strength for today in the Word of God!

Remember playing the childhood game "Mother, may I?" Well, some of us play the game of "Father, must I?" This morning I was humming the tune to an old hymn by Isaac Watts during my pre-sunrise walk around the neighborhood. The words from the second stanza came to mind: "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?" Now let's think about that, shall we?

Must I? Sometimes this is a good question but I think most of the time, at least in the spiritual realm, it betrays a hesitant heart at best and a rebellious spirit at worst. Must I go to church? Must I read my Bible? Must I share my good with others? Not good!
Must I be carried? Do we carry our own weight or must we weigh down others with our load, our burdens, our failure to do our own job?
Must I be carried to the skies? Do you really want to go to heaven? I have heard some say they really do not want to go but prefer to stay here (and not for the best of reasons). Some now want a heaven on earth. The beggar Lazarus was "carried by the angels" into Abraham's bosom, a picture of Paradise, and that is where every faithful believer will be carried some day.
On flowery beds of ease? The Christian life is not a rose garden. Yes, there are many beauties of the Christian life but it is not an easy life. But nor is it an impossible life. We are Christian soldiers fighting an enemy who is determined to keep us out of heaven.
While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Here we see the martyrs ~ those like Stephen, the first Christian martyr, stoned to a bloody pulp for his witness for Christ. Numberless Christians have paid the ultimate price for living the Christian life. Where do we get off thinking we will make it to heaven carried by others on a flowery bed of ease?

So Watts concludes: "Sure I must fight, if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord; I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word." Here is our challenge for today: fight the good fight; ask God for courage to endure; find strength for today in the Word of God!

When I was a boy, my father or mother would sometimes say to me, "Now son, what have you learned from this experience?" That usually came after I had done something wrong or had made a mistake. They wanted me to learn from my experience. Everyone should learn from their mistakes or misfortunes. Life is a great teacher. The apostle Paul uses this expression twice in Philippians 4. It was not that he had sinned or done anything wrong, but he had learned some things. Here they are. "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content" (Phil. 4:11). One more time: "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need" (Phil. 4:12). Paul had learned the secret to life: contentment! We are a very uncontented people. We complain way too much. Not so with Paul. He had learned from his times of poverty and prosperity. We need to do the same. Paul concludes this little section on learning by saying: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). That is the ultimate learning experience! But we often forget the context in which it was written ~ being content with things as they are, good or bad, hard times or better times, lean times or prosperous times. Someone has said, "Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have." George MacDonald noted, "To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power." Learn the secret of that power today!

"To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1b). There are so many blessings to being "in Christ." Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus lists some of them. If you are "in Christ" you cannot be anywhere else. If I am in the house on a rainy day, that is a good place to be. I am kept dry from the rain. I have shelter. So it is "in Christ." Here are just a few things we have by being in Christ.
1. Pardon. "In Him we have redemption through His blood" (v. 7). Pardon from sin can be found nowhere else.
2. Power. "In Him you also trusted...having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (v. 13). The Holy Spirit empowers the new believer.
3. Protection. The Lord is now our Shepherd and He will protect us from the wolves of the world. He carries both the rod (for the wolves) and the staff (for the sheep).
4. Provision. The Good Shepherd has much provision for us. He prepares a table for us, laden with good things for us.
5. Purpose. God placed us in Christ "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (v. 4). Do not say that your life is without purpose!
6. Prospect. "That you may know what is the hope of His calling...the riches of His inheritance in the saints" (v. 18). Did you know that Someone died and left you a fortune? You have hope ~ you have an inheritance that is literally "out of this world."

Last Sunday in our Bible class we were talking about the need for unity in the church. Paul wrote about "being like-minded, having the same love, being of one mind" (Phil. 2:2). How do we get there? Read on. "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself" (v. 3). There it is. The secret to unity. Humility! I think the last seven words of verse 3 contain the secret: let each esteem others better than himself. What if the "senior minister" considered those to whom he preachers "better than himself"? What if all the Bible teachers did the same? And suppose we carried this "radical" teaching over to the home? What if the husband esteemed his wife "better than himself"? And the wife did likewise? And the parents to the children and vice versa? Now take it to the work place. Take it to the neighborhood. Take it to the community. This is going beyond love your neighbor as yourself. This is consider your neighbor better than yourself. See the difference? Think it would make any difference in our churches, marriages, homes, and communities? We won't know until we try. Paul concludes: "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others" (v. 4). Others! The antidote to self.

"If you love yourself is such a way that you compass your own destruction, I have no wish to see you loving anyone as much as you love yourself" (Augustine). It may take you a reading or two to process that thought, but it is a good one. People who destroy themselves by self-love (why does Hollywood come to mind?) will take down with them those they love as themselves. "But didn't Jesus teach us to love ourselves?" some will ask. No. He taught us to love our neighbor as we care for ourselves. We take care of ourselves; we should care for our neighbors. An old English proverb says self-love is a mote in every man's eye. Another proverb says that self-love is the root of discontent; the more self is indulged, the more it demands. Self-love can destroy you. That's why Augustine said if you love yourself to death he did not want to see you loving anyone as you love yourself. Both will be destroyed in the process. Take care that you do not love yourself too much. A healthy appreciation of self is one thing; preoccupation with self is unhealthy, even deadly. To you and others.

"If you love yourself is such a way that you compass your own destruction, I have no wish to see you loving anyone as much as you love yourself" (Augustine). It may take you a reading or two to process that thought, but it is a good one. People who destroy themselves by self-love (why does Hollywood come to mind?) will take down with them those they love as themselves. "But didn't Jesus teach us to love ourselves?" some will ask. No. He taught us to love our neighbor as we care for ourselves. We take care of ourselves; we should care for our neighbors. An old English proverb says self-love is a mote in every man's eye. Another proverb says that self-love is the root of discontent; the more self is indulged, the more it demands. Self-love can destroy you. That's why Augustine said if you love yourself to death he did not want to see you loving anyone as you love yourself. Both will be destroyed in the process. Take care that you do not love yourself too much. A healthy appreciation of self is one thing; preoccupation with self is unhealthy, even deadly. To you and others.

On my Facebook page the last day or so quite a few of us have been reminiscing about our Christian camp experience when we were young. I gave my life to Christ on June 20, 1958 at Pine Lake Bible Camp near Eldora, Iowa. I am not sure who it was who first came up with the idea of having a Bible camp or "Christian Service" camp for young people, but I sure am glad they did. What a joy it was to go to several of these camps when I was growing up (late 50s and early 60s). We had morning devotions, flag raising, breakfast, classes, morning chapel, lunch, recreation in the afternoon, pop time, cleanup time, supper, evening vespers, baptisms at the lake, etc. I still have my notes from Russell Boatman's class on "The Church in the Bible." I still have friends I made in camp lo those 50-some years ago. I can still remember and sing many of the choruses we sang. There are moments well spent in our youth that make an impression and prepare us for life, especially when it came time to make that Good Confession: "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God" just as I did that summer night in June of 1958. My children went to camp and now my grandchildren are doing the same. I am sure camp has changed a lot since then, but I hope that young people are still being challenged to give their lives to Christ in full-time Christian service. Decisions made at camp can last a lifetime; indeed, for all eternity. "Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free." And thank you, whoever you were, who came up with the concept of summer Christian camps for young people.