Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3/31/2022
Ready to Die for Christ.
One of my devotionals is called the voice of the martyrs. I read an article today called “Ready to die for Christ”. Paing had studied how to be a Buddhist monk in his hometown of Myanmar but came to know Christ. His wife cried but eventually, she came to know Jesus too.
His mother and family disowned him, when he went door-to-door to share the gospel, people punched him in the face and called them horrible names. The couple experienced both great joy and sadness as they endured persecution.
Luke 14:25 speaks of the cost of Being a Disciple
“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “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. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple”.
The resistance they faced from villagers and family members forced him and his wife to leave the village. He spent three years in Bible college and adopted a more intentional strategy for sharing the gospel with Buddhists in nearby villages.
He began offering his help as a handyman. Then after doing a job for an individual or a family for a week he would share his testimony. In one village, people seemed more open to the gospel. He rented a house so he and his family could establish deeper relationships. The first person in the village to come to know Christ was a Buddhist monk.
When word spread that a former monk and other villagers had come to know Christ and had been baptized more than 100 people armed with axes, stones, and slingshots descended on their home one evening. They were not home that night so they smashed their windows, broke down the doors, and destroyed the family’s Bibles and Christian books. Some of the new Christians, including the former Buddhist monk, were injured in the attack. But instead of retreating in fear, the new Christians grew even stronger in their faith.
Since that evening, they all decided
that they will have to get ready to die for Christ.
He and his family continued to experience persecution but he said, "it taught him to forgive more easily. The Bible teaches us to forgive 70×7, he said. I definitely have to forgive, but sometimes it is difficult".
Yesterday we quoted Matthew 10:34 through 39.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
We live in America and to this point, we have not had to choose life or our faith like some Christians around the world. But we do choose what we believe, what we live for, and what we’re willing to give up for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 14:25 above speaks of that cost
The influences of our faith, our character, and the virtues that we hold dear carry further than we will ever know. We plant those seeds every day, with every breath and in every word we speak and every action we make. We plant those seeds every day in our homes, in our marriages, and into our children, and in the marketplace. Every day those seeds take root … those words, those actions, those attitudes are more impactful, and they do change lives, even though oftentimes we don’t see the end result.
Just like the little things that we do matter in this war of the world. The little steps that we take by reading our Bible, joining hands with other Christians, locking arms in solidarity with our church community also have more of an impact than we realize.
Those baby steps that we take out of obedience, God honors, and God will grow your heart and grow your resolve to grow more. To deny yourself more until you reach a point like this, Buddhist monk whose willing to lay down his life for the cause of Christ.
We may not be put to the test of having to renounce our faith or die here in America. But far too many Christians deny their faith by the way that they live today. By the words that they speak today. By choosing to not walk with God they are in effect denying the work of Christ. Sadly that will be the legacy many of them leave to their families as a lukewarm Christian who had 1 foot in the world and 1 foot in the church.
Revelation 3:16 says “'So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”
I know those are harsh words. But I know that too many look at this as a game or something they believe in, but can’t it take that seriously or to that extreme… But God does. Choose you this day who you will serve…God or Man?
Michael W Smith Help is on the Way
https://www.facebook.com/michaelwsmithofficial/videos/234772211049726/
