Praying like the persistent widow

SCRIPTURE:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8

OBSERVATION:

In divine teaching about perseverance in prayer, our Lord Jesus painted the picture of a widow that kept bugging the town judge to give her justice against her adversary. Eventually, although the judge was an ungodly man and did not care about others, he finally gave in to the widow to stop her bothering him. Using this illustration, the Lord explains that we who keep praying to God are like the widow, and if we keep crying to God day and night, He will see that we get justice, and quickly.

Four things we can learn from this parable. Firstly, we must be persistent in prayer. If we pray a half-hearted once-in-a-while prayer, we can hardly expect God to answer. But if we pray earnestly and persistently day and night, our prayers will be heard, and God will respond.

Secondly, the motive of the prayer is important. The widow prayed for justice from a judge. We pray to a God who is all righteous and all just. If we pray for something that is unjust or not right, how can we expect to get an answer? We must pray for what is right. We can pray all we want for millions of dollars so we don’t have to work and live an easy, indulgent life, but how can we expect God to answer such a selfish prayer?  

Thirdly, we must pray with passion. The widow was so aggressive and passionate in her pleas to the judge that he was worried that she might come and attack him! The Lord said in Matthew 11:1 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent take it by force”. Violence here does not mean harming others but being forceful and passionate in pursuing something. We need to be strong in our prayers, believing God is our Father!

Fourthly, we are to leave vengeance to God. Romans 12:19 says “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.” The widow did not take matters into her own hands and attack her adversary, but left it to the judge to take action. In the same way, though we are wronged on earth, we are not to take vengeance. Instead, we are told to love our enemies, to forgive others, to leave vengeance to God. We are not the judge, God is. Our part is to trust God to be just, and concerned with our own selves being right before Him.

God is looking for people who will be persistent and passionate and seek justice and righteousness in their prayers. The Lord wondered if at His second coming He would find faith on the earth. In the time of great trouble that He predicted, Christians will come under the most heavy persecution ever seen, and there will be a great falling away. Would we be among those who keep praying to God, who keep trusting in His justice and righteousness in spite of all that will happen?

APPLICATION:

We need to be persistent in prayer, pray with passion, and pray with right motives. Then, we also need to learn to leave vengeance to God, not become consumed in our own anger or unforgiveness. Let us pray that we will be faithful in prayer and trusting God till the end and be able to stand before the Lord!  

PRAYER:

We praise You and love You and thank You, Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, for this lesson on prayer. Teach us Lord and empower us to pray passionately, persistently and rightly. Strengthen us we pray to forgive those who hurt us, to bless those who hate us, to leave vengeance to You, trusting in Your complete righteousness and justice. We bless You and thank You and love You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

A servant, a friend, a son

SCRIPTURE:

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Luke 17:10

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 10:43-45

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:12-15

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Matthew 12:50

OBSERVATION:

Our Lord Jesus is our Master. By calling Him Lord, we acknowledge that we are His servants. One of the key lessons the Lord taught His disciples was to have the attitude of a lowly servant. In washing His disciples’ feet, the Lord showed them there was no dishonor in serving others, even in the lowliest of tasks.

Also, in serving the Lord, in whatever capacity, we are not to become proud and think that we have done a lot for God, and expect special blessing or favor or commendation for our efforts. Instead, we should have the attitude of thankfulness that we are worthy to serve at all, and that it is our duty to do the very best we can for God.

And the wonderful thing is that the Lord does not mean for us to just remain as servants but to be lifted up to be his personal friends and even family members. Yet, even as friends and family, our service does not stop. Rather, it is precisely in that relationship that we serve all the more, doing what the Lord commands, and doing the will of our Father in Heaven. The more we serve and obey Him, the closer we become to Him, and the more God reveals to us concerning His business. We then grow to understand better how God works, what is important to Him, and how we can please Him. As Christ taught His disciples, so the Holy Spirit teaches us today, and it is this impartation of knowledge that builds our friendship and family relationship with God.

APPLICATION:

Praise God that He did not just call us to be His servants, but to be His personal friends and family. The entire Bible is the story about God’s plan to draw a people to Himself who would not only serve Him but be His personal friends and family forever. We are so fortunate to be called into this plan, and we need to be forever grateful.

Remember that even in that close, intimate relationship and fellowship with God as personal friends and family, we do not lose our attitude of servanthood. We are saved to serve, and that is our purpose, and to those who truly love God, it is a joy to serve Him.

Where and how should we serve Him? We need to be careful here not to fall into pressures from well-meaning leaders who may direct us to areas of service that they think is suitable for us. Each one of us has a particular calling from God into areas that He knows is best. When an opportunity for service comes, we should pray to God, and if we feel at peace, then to give it a try. There are times to say “yes”, and times to say “no”, and there is a balance between service to our own family at home and service in the church or other ministries. Also, in all our service, we should not think of ourselves purely as just servants, but also as family of God, knowing that all that we do is for the good of the family. The pure hired servant only thinks of wages, but the servant adopted into the family loves the family and wants the very best for the family regardless of wages.

PRAYER

We praise You and thank You, Abba Father God, precious Lord Jesus, that You called us to be part of Your family. And You did not just mean us to be only servants, but to be Your personal friends and sons and daughters. Continue O Lord, to help us know the joy of serving You. Lead us, Lord, to be able to serve You in the ways You know is best for us. Guide our paths, and give us wisdom in the choices that we make. May we always honor You in what we do, and have the humility and attitude of a servant just as You did when You came to earth, Lord Jesus! We bless You and thank You and love You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Should Christians make vows?

SCRIPTURE:

Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. James 5:12

But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:34-37

OBSERVATION:

Making vows and pledges are quite commonplace in churches and Christian organizations today. However, are they Biblical, or just human ideas? While those who initiate them may mean well, we still need to test this practice against what Scripture teaches.

In the Sermon of the Mount, our Lord specifically spoke out against the common oath-swearing in those days, with people swearing by Heaven, by earth, by Jerusalem, and even by their own heads. Instead, He advocated that His followers should simply say “Yes” or “No” without needing to invoke any oath or curse.  Later, James also reinforced this teaching in his letter, warning that those who continued to swear only invited condemnation.

The tone of Scripture then indicates that Christians, rather than relying on oaths and pledges, should instead live such lives of integrity, that people will believe what they say. A major point in the Lord’s words also, is that there are so many things beyond our control. We cannot even make one hair white or black, so why make solemn vows into the far future. We should instead take each day one at a time, and trust God to help us each day. After all, Jesus said “Do not worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own”.

Another thing about vows is that it puts a yoke or a burden upon the person making a vow. Having a solemn obligation hanging over one’s head puts a nasty weight on a person’s mind. We are not meant to live under burdens, but to live freely by the Holy Spirit. Living life based on a declared vow comes dangerously close to trying to live by a set of rules, which is to come under a type of law again. Christianity is not about a set of rules. It is about following Christ, being led by the Holy Spirit. As we follow Him, we will find ourselves obeying His principles as taught in the Word, but to try and follow the rules apart from Him is self-effort and destined for failure. There is also the danger of the sin of pride like what happened to the Pharisees who deemed themselves superior because they could presumably keep more of the law than others.  

APPLICATION:

Be very careful about making vows and pledges. We cannot control what happens to us in the future. Rather, live life freely by seeking to live by the Holy Spirit. Instead of focusing on rules or obligations, rather seek that close relationship with the Lord, and pray that we might be able to know His will, and follow it. We will fulfill the spirit of the law through being led by the Spirit, but if we try to follow rules or vows or pledges from our own self-effort, apart from God, we will fail. How do we know we are being led by the Spirit? This is where we need strong foundations in the Word of God. One of the main things the Spirit will do is to lead us to love the Word, and the more we saturate in the Word, the more it becomes part of us and the more easily the Spirit will bring to our remembrance the appropriate Scripture for a given situation that will help us make the right decision.

PRAYER

We thank You and praise You, Lord, for Your great teaching for our good, and for Your precious Holy Spirit who guides us and leads us. Give us wisdom we pray, and strength to make right decisions even when there is pressure for us to conform. Lead us, Holy Spirit, teach us from Your Word. Let Your Word so saturate in us, that it becomes part of us. We bless You, and love You, Father, precious Lord Jesus, in Jesus name, Amen.

Even one lost coin

SCRIPTURE:

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Luke 15:8

OBSERVATION:

In the parable of the lost coin, we see the heart of God in desiring every sinner to be saved, not even willing that one should be lost. Although the woman still had nine coins, the bulk of her possessions, the way she went about looking for the lost one shows how precious the remaining coin was to her.  

The image of the woman lighting the lamp and sweeping the house gives us a powerful picture of the thrust and method of evangelism. Wherever true Christians meet anywhere and everywhere, we light up lamps. Jesus after all called us the light of the world. Churches, cell groups, marketplace fellowships, wherever Christians meet to worship and pray and hear the Word, all create pockets of light across the land. Some lights are brighter while some are less so, but every light is precious, and is a potential place that sinners can come to and find the joy of knowing Christ!

The imagery of the woman sweeping the house tells us that we too are to sweep our spheres of influence for lost souls who may respond. We don’t know who will respond or when they will respond, but we are to continue sweeping, while shining what little light we have. Most of the sweeping could be in vain, simply brushing aside cobwebs or going over the same spot again and again. However, if even one soul could be saved, all the effort would be infinitely precious, as even one soul saved from the horrors of hell would be worth a lifetime of searching.

APPLICATION:

How precious every single soul is to God. There is the story of a little boy throwing starfish back into the sea from the beach. An old man asked him, “There are thousands of starfish, what difference does it make?”. The boy smiled and said “A difference to this one”, and threw that one back into the sea. It is the same in God’s eyes. Though there are millions and millions of people all over the world, every single soul that turns to Him and is saved is infinitely precious to Him and to the soul himself. If Father sees every single individual that way, how much more effort should we put in towards shining our light and sweeping for souls to be saved?

Likewise, we should not grow weary or lose heart if our ministry or service does not yield many salvations. Instead, we should thank God graciously for every single soul that we have helped touch for him, and continue to ask for His grace to continue shining our light always praying that God may help us bring even one more to His salvation. Even at his dying breath, a great man continued to pray “One more, just one more for Jesus”. That too should be our attitude, not resting on our laurels or being discouraged by past results, but to keep looking forward, and seeking to help bring one more, just one more to Jesus.

PRAYER:

Abba Father, how precious each soul is to You! How the heavens rejoice over even a single sinner who repents. Help us share that great love You have for people, dear Lord. Help us have that same compassion, that same passion to see others come to know You. Give us that single-mindedness we pray, Lord, to be always on the lookout, wherever we go, to even help save just one more for You. How precious every single soul is Lord! Help us work with You to bring more and more into Your kingdom, even one at a time. Bless You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

To love Him more than anyone and anything

SCRIPTURE:

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “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. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:25-33

OBSERVATION:

In one of the hardest sayings Jesus ever gave, He laid out the most extreme picture of what it means to follow Him. Firstly, to follow Jesus means to give Him absolute priority far over the closest of one’s family relationships - father, mother, wife, children, brothers or sisters. A bit of explanation is required over the use of the word “hate” by the Lord here which seems to contradict the main tone and thrust of all of the Lord’s other teachings. For example, if Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourselves, how much more would He expect us to love our own parents, wife and children…. He also admonished the Pharisees for creating a law to circumvent one’s responsibility to provide for his parents by saying they had used the money to give to God instead. Even while suffering intensely on the cross, the Lord thought of his mother, asking John to take care of her like his own mother. Also, Jesus also warned that anyone angry with his brother would be subject to judgment, what more hate him literally?

The Lord was actually using hyperbolic language here to give us a picture of how much more we must love Him before anyone or anything else. In the Old Testament, we are told how the Lord saw that Leah was hated and so opened her womb…. Did Jacob hate Leah in the sense that he loathed and despised her? No, rather, it showed how much greater Jacob’s love for Rachel was. Jacob provided for Leah throughout her life, and did not take any other women as his wives after Rachel’s death, leaving Leah as his main companion not counting the maidservants. The apostles like Peter continued to stay with their wives after the Ascension, and the apostle Paul exhorted husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church.

So, coming back to the main point, Jesus is saying that our devotion to follow Him must take first place, far above every relationship, possession or anything else. It must be the first and utmost priority in our lives, before anything and everything else. In the early Christian church, many who chose to remain faithful to Christ were rejected by their own families, lost property and possessions, and even lost their lives. In Roman times, a mother who just gave birth was prevented from feeding her baby unless she said “Caesar is Lord”, and she had to hear her baby’s crying grow softer and softer, starving to death before she too was killed.

Today, many Christians also continue to face severe sacrifices in many countries like Iraq, North Korea, and Sudan. Basically, the message to us is that to follow Christ might mean losing everything in this world, our beloved families, our possessions, even our own lives. Many of us living in comfort and free from major persecution can’t quite relate, but in time to come, when Tribulation hits us, our faith will be put to the test in the most severe way.

APPLICATION:

What if the Lord came and told us today “Leave everything and just come follow Me?” Would we be willing to just leave and go? The human nature desires to be safe, to be in control, to have security and peace of mind knowing there is enough day by day for ourselves and our families. It takes great faith to just let go and trust God. No one knows the size or nature of the cross that will is his or hers to carry. However, what we know is that we are called to carry our own cross for Jesus, to consider nothing we have our own, but all for the Lord, to serve Him according to His will.

The Lord asks us to carry our cross daily. To envision big sacrifices might be too much for us at this point in time. Instead, we do best to seek to live closely with the Lord, to please Him in the way with live, trying to make changes according to His leading. Ultimately, it is only those who truly know the Lord, who will be prepared to trust Him through trial and tribulation. Those who do not know Him well, will not stand.

Pray to the Lord that He will lead us to love Him more and more, more than anyone and anything else. Pray that we will understand and feel His love more and more, that we might learn to love as He first loved us.

PRAYER:

Precious Lord Jesus, You came and lived and gave up everything for us, even suffering the pain and humiliation of the cross because You love us. Help us O Lord, for we are weak and needy, and often unwilling to carry the cross set before us. Teach us, we pray, Lord, and empower us, that we might learn to submit our will to You day by day. Draw us, we pray, Lord, to know You deeper and more intimately, for it is in that genuine relationship with You that we can be strong and meet the trials and challenges before us. Turn our hearts ever to You we pray. Show us Your precious love O Lord, help us know and experience Your great love so deeply, Lord. We praise You, and bless You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

The gift of the Sabbath

SCRIPTURE:

Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Luke 6:5

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” Luke 6:9

Let no man therefore judge you in meat or drink, or in respect to a holy day or the new moon or the Sabbath days. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Colossians 2:16-17

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11

OBSERVATION:

The law of the Sabbath day was first introduced by God as the fourth of the Ten Commandments and the basic premise of this law was that no one was to work on the seventh day, which was to be a day of rest, since God Himself rested on the 7^th day after 6 days of Creation. It was basically a day when man stopped focusing on their work, but instead turned their attention and worship to God. The Sabbath also one of the things that set Israel apart from all other nations, which worked all seven days throughout the year. The Sabbath was a great blessing for Israel, allowing the people to rest and recuperate before starting the work week again.

However, by the time Jesus came and walked on the earth, the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had turned the Sabbath day into a great burden by introducing all sorts of ridiculous laws as to what did or did not constitute work. For example, under their interpretations, you could not pluck out a grey hair from your head, which was “reaping” or move furniture or wear jewelry on your body which was considered carrying a “burden”. Hence, what God had meant for rest, had instead become a great burden for the people, who had to keep watching themselves and behave unnaturally to keep the Sabbath. Judaism hence became a form of religion without any substance. The Pharisees could not care less about the sick, condemning them for being healed on the Sabbath. There was no love, no concern at all for their fellow Jews.

The Lord zealously went all out against this man-made tradition, healing on the Sabbath before them, again and again. He insisted before them that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, to save life rather than to destroy.

Interestingly, through the New Testament, there is no commandment for Christians to observe the Sabbath day the way the Jews did. Rather, the apostle Paul exhorts us not to let ourselves be judged by anyone in regard to any holy day or Sabbath day.  The early Christian church however, chose Sunday, the first day of the week, to celebrate and worship the Lord together, as it was on Sunday, that the Lord rose again. Following this tradition, later the Emperor Constantine declared Sunday as a compulsory rest day for the entire Roman Empire and the practice has filtered down to world practice today.

Bear in mind too, that in the early Christian church, the Gentile and Jewish believers continued to work on Sundays, which was a normal working day. Hence, they had to hold their worship services either early in the morning or late at night until Constantine’s Sunday law came to pass in 321 AD.

Remember how Paul mentioned that the Sabbath was only a shadow of things to come, and that the reality has been found in Christ Jesus. The basic principle of the Sabbath is to find rest in God, and because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, we are now able to enter that precious rest of God. We enter into this rest by believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in this rest, we have peace with God and freedom to live for Him.

APPLICATION:

What then is the application of the Sabbath for us today? For one, we are not to judge anyone in regard to which day they choose to worship the Lord. Our Lord Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and it is for us individually to follow our Lord’s leading as to which day we would like to commit to Him as a day of worship. At the same time, we should not think that our commitment to God is restricted to only one day or even only for the period of the church service. . If Jesus is our Lord, He is Lord not only of Sunday or the Sunday service but of every day and every hour of our lives.

Neither should we think that the Sabbath-rest is about staying home in bed or idle leisure. Our Lord Jesus was active on the Sabbath, preaching, teaching and healing the sick. He was doing what was good, serving God among the people. Interestingly, Jesus also said “To this day, my Father is always at work, and I too am working”. Being in rest in Jesus does not mean being idle or doing nothing, but being free to follow Him and do good as He leads us, by His power. There are times of physical rest, but also times of active service all according to His leading.

To follow Jesus as Lord is not burdensome when we learn to yield. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. As we journey with Him, we find that the more we lose our lives to Him, the more we find true life and meaning. The more we rest from our own works and move in Him, the more joyful and restful life becomes. That then, is our ultimate Sabbath objective, to learn to rest from our own works and human efforts and allowing Jesus to work in us more and more, to do God’s will, to do good and bless, even in this precious rest.

PRAYER:

We praise You and thank You, precious Abba Father God, blessed Lord Jesus. We thank You for the beauty of the Sabbath, which You gave to us. We thank You for this precious rest, that You prepared for us and call us to. We thank You, Lord, that in this rest, we can have peace, and cease from our vain efforts and strivings. Help us we pray, dear Lord, to stay and remain in this rest, even allowing You to move and live within us, to do Your will, doing good and blessing others, for Your glory. We praise You and love You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

When we are weakest, He is strongest

SCRIPTURE:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. Philippians 2:17

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

OBSERVATION:

I was just watching an old Chinese movie where the hero started off as a nobody, a loser, a weakling, an utter failure from childhood. However, after an incident where he was beaten up to a pulp and left for dead, the innate power within him came forth, and he rose up to become the great hero he was meant to be, with the incredible ability and skills to defeat the greatest villain, who had conquered everyone else up till then.

Somehow, the immense persecution this hero received was the catalyst for the release of his innate power. At the moment of his complete helplessness, he found out how immeasurably strong he could be. Looking at this from a Biblical angle, this is also true regarding persecution and the believer, regarding Christ being strongest when we are weakest.

In Old Testament times, heroes like Joseph became greatly used by God after long periods of suffering. King David, before taking his throne, suffered immensely under the persecution of King Saul who hunted for him zealously and drove David to become a fugitive in the wilderness for many years. Prophets like Jeremiah also suffered greatly in serving God, but out of that, produced the great books of Jeremiah and Lamentations in the Bible we have today.

Then, as told to us, in the marvelous four Gospels, our Lord Jesus Himself set the greatest level of sacrifice by his painful death on the cross. And from this sacrifice, He made the way to heaven possible for all who would believe on Him. At the moment of his ultimate physical weakness and death, He finished God’s mission for Him and gained the right to have His name exalted above all other names, at which every knee must bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord!  

Wherever the church has been persecuted throughout history, she has blossomed tremendously, receiving supernatural power and anointing to do the work of God and extend His kingdom. In the first 300 years of church history, under immense persecutions and executions by the Roman empire, the church grew at such a rapid rate that Christianity became the number one faith in the world in just 3 centuries. Although the church was weak and poor physically, she was full of power spiritually, and spread like wildfire across the whole known world, simply on the word of the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In recent times, we have seen the phenomenal growth of the church under tremendous persecution in China. In one of the greatest martyrdom stories in the 20^th century, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries were killed by the previously unreached Aucas that they had tried to reach out too. However, from their sacrifices, God brought tremendous revival among the Aucas through the ministry of the widows, with a strong Christian presence continuing to remain in the community up to this day.

In all this, we see a clear connection through the Scriptures between suffering and persecution with anointing and spiritual power. Where we are weak in ourselves, God becomes strong in us. The more we lose in our natural selves, the more we gain spiritually in God. When we fast, we lose energy and strength physically, but we become more attuned to God spiritually, and better able to receive His anointing for His glory.

Once, the apostle Paul cried out to Jesus to take away what he called a thorn in his flesh which afflicted him, but the Lord told Him “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. When we are weak, Jesus is strong in us.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus told us blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are the persecuted for righteousness. When we are weak in ourselves and surrender to God, His power comes alive in us.

APPLICATION:

Why is it that in the West, where people have abundant wealth and possessions, the church is weak? Remember the church of Laodicea, who said that she was rich and did not need a thing. The Lord found her lukewarm, distasteful, so that He felt like spewing her out of His mouth. In contrast, Jesus commended the church of Smyrna, who was afflicted and poor, yet was rich in the Lord’s eyes.  

Some of us are like church of Laodicea. We have all we need materially. We enjoy good food, good entertainment, and a rewarding career, but spiritually we are empty, and God is not real in our lives. Perhaps it is time, we need to pray that God will lead us to become weak in our flesh that we might become strong in His spirit. How do we do that?

Remember how King David said that He would not offer a sacrifice to the Lord that cost him nothing. For those who seek the reality of God in their lives, there must be sacrifice. For different people it may involve different things. For one, it may involve sacrificing a regular breakfast habit to spend time with the Lord before work. For another, it may be choosing a less demanding job to spend more time doing the Lord’s work. Another may be called to fast for an extended period to seek God’s will. Some may be called out to cut out certain hobbies. Others may have to forego a promotion. Each one must pray to God personally to see what He may lead him or her to sacrifice before God.

In time to come, great persecution may come upon us, and to stay true to our faith may mean going to prison or every losing our lives. However, right now, where we are, we need to start being faithful in small things, to start being willing to sacrifice small parts of our lives to please God. Only then, will we be more ready, when heavy persecution comes to take the stand for Him. 

PRAYER:

Heavenly Abba Father, precious Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your lesson in Scripture that teaches us that when we are weak, You are strong, and when we are persecuted for you, Your grace and blessing abound in us more and more to do Your will. Help us start now, we pray, to bend our will to submit to You even in small things in our daily lives. Lead us to know where we must change, and give us the grace and will to give up what we need to in order to go deeper in You. We praise You, and love You, Lord. Sustain us we pray. Teach us to be living sacrifices for you. In Jesus name, Amen.