Recently we have studied the first Christian Martyr, Stephen, in Acts chapter 6 & 7. Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He was a man who new the Word of God. He was a man who was not afraid to stand up for Jesus Christ!
After he preached his sermon, the listeners covered their ears, gnashed thier teeth, yelled out loud and then chased him down to kill him! They were cut to the heart with the Truth!
As Stephen is being stoned to death he says this...
"Look, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Acts 7:56
WOW! Jesus was standing in honorable reception to this man who was being martyred on His behalf!
When we stand for Jesus, He stands up for Us!
So do not fear what man can do to you! If God be for you who can be against you!
Stand up for Jesus! In every area of your life Stand for Jesus!
"When you come into the land to which I bring you, then it will be..."
Numbers 15:18
God had promised the Israelites a land to dwell in that flowed with milk & honey. God had a plan, a purpose and a place for His children. In the book of Numbers we learn that the elder Israelites were afraid to enter the promised land as they were gripped by fear because of 'giants' in the land. The consequence is that all the elder Israelites would die in the wilderness, they disobeyed and gave into fear and missed out on God's promise.
To insure that the younger generation of Israelites new God's promise, He says to them, "When you come into the land to which I bring you, then it will be..." Numbers 15:18
God says, "when," this is His promise, not 'if' or 'maybe' or 'I hope so.' When God says "when," He means it, it will happen, they will enter the Land!
What promises has the Lord given to you?
Are you trusting Him or are you backing down out of fear of your 'giants?'
Trust the Lord, seek Him, depend on Him, know that he is faithful who promises that He will do it!
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."
Luke 9:23
I love the end phrase, "follow me."
Jesus is giving each one of us an intimate invitation to follow Him. The previous statements preceding this phrase teach us how we can follow Him.
First, you must "will," to come after Him. We must declare in our hearts that we truly want to surrender and declare our lives as subjects to Him. "Will" you come after Him. Also this act of the will says that you are signing up to be second not first. He is to be the leader we are to come after Him.
Secondly, in order to follow Jesus we must "deny" ourselves! This is not the most popular thought! Many will say you should not deny yourself things. This is contrary to what Jesus is teaching here. It is OK to want things, work for things, even desire things, but there must always be a checking in with the leader, remember you are second. We must check in with Jesus and see if it is according to His will, which we have willed to come AFTER!
Thirdly, we are to take up our "cross daily." The cross is a symbol of sacrifice and torture! Geeee, that is what I want! (hahaha) Paul wrote in Romans 12:1 " I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy , acceptable, which is your reasonable service." Paul understood that when you are born again your life is not your own you were bought with a price and we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, taking up our crosses daily!
As we "will," to come after him, deny our selves and take up our crosses, we indeed are on the path that Jesus travelled and are following Him. As we follow Him we are to be careful to understand Him and mimic His ways, His actions, His heart.
The best way we can do this is by studying His Word, spending time in prayer, hanging with other believers and sharing all this good news with other people!
As we do these things truly we will see our lives reflecting our Saviour!
"Jesus said to her, 'I Am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26
In the story where this passage is taken from Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. As Jesus accomplishes this He proves to all of us that He is indeed the Resurrection and the life! He proved it through the raising of Lazarus! Jesus is Awesome and He can do anything!
Later in scripture we see He is wrongly arrested, tried, beaten and crucified. He willingly goes through this suffering to the point of death on the humiliating cross.
But take heart, He is the resurrection and the life! Just as He rose Lazarus from the dead He will now do an even more amazing miracle... He will raise Himself from the dead! (John 2:19)
As we are so priveledged to look back at these passages we see our amazing Savior bringing not only life to Lazarus and Himself, but also to all who believe!
This is not just life for now or just the fact of days and hours, but the Lord wants us to see the spiritual implication here which is, resurrected life in Him!
You see, life with Christ is eternal and blessed beyond all comprehension! When you surrender to Christ, you die to your self and you take on His life which is eternally blessed! As humans we will have struggle, turmoil, pitfalls, but this is a minor affliction in light of spending life eternally with Jesus, the lover of our souls!
Do you believe?
"for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them..." Ephesians 2:10
HIS PLANS! When you decided to follow Jesus, you decided that it would no longer be you who live but Christ who lives in you, the life that you now live, you live by faith in the Son of God (Galations 2:20). And what a blessing it is!
It is imperative as a true born again believer to understand that the Lord truly has plans for your life. He has good works ordained for you to walk into! As you go through your day don't neglect conversing with the Lord in prayer and asking Him to show you why you are, where you are... there just might be a project a good work in store for you!
Remember Jesus met many needs as He just met people, where He was, and He was intuitive and thoughtful and reached them right where they were at!
Paul writes to the Ephesian beleivers to encourage them in their salvation and to know that God has created them, and has things for them to accomplish.
God has things for you to accomplish also! Every day counts to God and He has a master plan of salvation of the world that He will try to implement through your life as you remain focused on Him!
So keep walking, listening and moving in the Lord! (I Cor. 15:58)
