1-30-2020

Standing Strong In 2020

COMMANDOS FOR JESUS

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

Hebrews 13:8

Our methods of taking the Bible into places where it is not available nor permitted is actually very close to the New Testament concept of transmitting the Word of God. In our Western nations, we enjoy the rare privilege of seeing people come to us for the message. We even wait for them to come and we put up special buildings for them to come to. Then we open the doors and welcome them with a smile.

Such methods make me feel that we’ve responded very wrongly to Jesus’ announced intention to make us “fishers of men.” We have made a beautiful net of our church buildings and have set it up on the shore waiting for the fish to jump in of their own accord!

Our pattern of waiting for people to come to us is exactly the reverse of the Great Commission. Because we have done it this way for so long we have even begun to question the original way that God intended for it to be. What a topsy-turvy world we live in!

We must have the courage, the Holy Spirit boldness, to live a life that is more revolutionary than that of any non-Christian faith. The Lord will give us the courage to work like commandos if we want Him to, but we must go and carry out His commission.

The command has been given by the risen Lord and the call is clear: prepare for spiritual battle! Let’s go in Jesus’ name and do it! We can do it because ever since He first issued the orders, Jesus has given to every generation the ability, the strength, the manpower, and the opportunity to do it.

Although every generation has failed in some way, the first generation almost accomplished it. Almost! In our generation we don’t need to fail. We can fulfill the commission because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He who holds all authority in heaven and on earth has authorized us to advance on His enemy everywhere, including across every “closed” border. He still endues us with the power of the Holy Spirit that we might be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth.

“Awake and strengthen what remains” (Revelation 3:2). That is the watchword of our ministry to fellow-believers in China, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. What constrains us is the love of Christ; for love, the Word of God tells us, is the fulfillment of all divine commands. I want others to have the one who makes me happy—Jesus. I want others to have what makes me grow spiritually—the Bible.

The God of miracles will bring it to pass!

RESPONSE

Today I commit to going—not waiting—to carry out Jesus’ commission and be a fisher of men in the power of His Holy Spirit.

PRAYER

Lord, give me the boldness to advance against our enemy everywhere—even in so-called “closed” countries.

1-29-2020

Standing Strong In 2020: 

SATAN’S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 

1 Peter 1:23-25

The second prong of Satan’s attack is on the written word of God. He has historically tried to prevent Christians from having access to the Bible.

Satan understands the power of the Word of God. At the temptation of Jesus, he even made a sly attempt to use Scripture (actually misapplying it) to deflect Jesus from His true mission (Luke 4:1-3). Twisting Scripture is still a favorite tactic of Satan, and we believers need to know the Word so we can respond, just as Jesus did, with a well-applied “It is written…”

Peter recognized the significant role the Word has in our salvation. In his epistle to Christians passing through “fiery trials” he gives the words of encouragement in today’s scripture above.

Now you can understand my life’s passion to distribute the Bible, even in places where its importation or distribution is prohibited. Because I’ve gone around the world preaching that message, many people assume that I must have been the first “God’s smuggler.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

I personally believe that the first Bible smuggler probably was Timothy, the man Paul looked upon as his son in the gospel. This young man of delicate health, but of great spirituality and loyalty, was converted in Paul’s first campaign at Lystra. At the end of his life, when Paul was in prison in Rome, he looked to Timothy for comfort. In a letter to him, Paul asked his friend to bring his books to the prison the next time he visited.

In 2 Timothy 4:13 it becomes clear Paul was requesting that scrolls of Old Testament Scriptures be brought to him for further study. But how could Timothy get them into Rome and into the jail when, by that time, Christians has already become an outlawed sect? The only possible way would have been to smuggle them in with other items.

Billy Graham, in his book Hoofbeats, suggests that John the apostle had to write his Revelation secretly, while closely guarded by the Romans. The parchment manuscript pages would have been smuggled off the island of Patmos and Christian volunteers copy them for the churches…

This world is an enemy-occupied territory filled with souls to whom Christ holds rightful claim. Under Christ’s command, we invade countries by any means that will help us to get in with the Word of God…

Today I want others to have what makes me grow spiritually—the Bible.

RESPONSE

Today I will make every effort to ensure that the Bible is available to everyone to read and practice.

PRAYER

Pray for many believers around the world still waiting for their first personal Bible.

1-28-2020

Standing Strong In 2020: 

SATAN’S CHANGING TACTICS

We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory

1 Corinthians 2:7-8

Have you ever noticed the strategy Satan used throughout Old Testament history? His attacks were aimed at preventing the birth of the Messiah at Bethlehem, but, once Jesus was born, Satan’s tactics changed somewhat. In some instances, he tried to kill Jesus before the Lord could reach the cross. At other times, Satan engineered numerous attempts to discredit Him—to cause Him to stumble or to sin.

But Satan met defeat at the cross. He failed to understand God’s strategy, and his final blunder actually forced events so that Jesus, though innocent, was condemned to die. The Apostle Paul noted that Satan did not understand this in 1 Corinthians 2:8. Since that time, Satan’s tactics have changed. He’s still concerned about preventing the Word—the Word that was with God and is God (John 1:1)—from reaching people who are under Satan’s dominion. His attack is now two-pronged.

First Satan concentrates on the life and name of Jesus which each and every believer bears as the Lord’s representative. I believe it is important for Christians undergoing persecution to realize the attack they are under is actually directed not at them, but at the life of Jesus in them, a life which they have power to transmit to others.

Satan will make every effort to discredit you, to frighten you and to silence your witness in order that the new life in you stops with you. Sometimes Satan overreaches himself, just as he did at the cross, and sends a believer to a martyr’s grave but that life lives on in other believers who continue to bear witness more gloriously and triumphantly than ever.

That the church not only survives, but grows under such persecution has been demonstrated beautifully by the church in China. After missionaries were forced to leave in 1950, and all ties were cut with the body of Christ, believers were put through the horrible experience of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Christians were killed or imprisoned, Bibles burned, and the remaining believers scattered all over China. The attack was clearly on the life and name of Jesus as manifested in believer’s lives.

As these sufferers scattered, they took the life of Jesus with them, and just as was the case with the early believers in Jerusalem, “Those who were scattered went about preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4). Now we see the harvest in China as millions of Christians are identified, meeting together for fellowship and worship in remote provinces…

I want others to have the one who makes me happy—Jesus.

RESPONSE

Today I will be aware of Satan’s attempts to silence my witness for Jesus and resist him!

PRAYER

Thank You, Lord, for the way You bring good from the evil tactics of the enemy of our soul. Help me stand strong against his attack on the life and name of Jesus in me.

1-24-2020

BROTHERLY LOVE

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters

Hebrews 13:1

As we see in Hebrews chapter twelve, once we “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,” we will be aware of how we should then live. The writer now turns to the issue of brotherly love and he uses the verb form of repeated action. Keep on loving, over and over. Jesus Himself said that this would be the sign to the world of true discipleship—love for one another.

In China a house church network leader was being pursued by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) due to his active ministry. He had to be on the run and couldn’t go home because the PSB were waiting for him at his house.

His wife went through much emotional suffering since she didn’t know where her husband was. Other believers were afraid to come to the meeting held at the house and even other co-workers didn’t come near due to fear. The wife had no money and eventually ran out of food. That was the hardest time in her life.

In spite of the PSB officers standing outside, an elderly Christian lady approached the house and boldly entered. The wife was surprised and asked the elderly woman why she was willing to take the risk. The lady said she wasn’t afraid because she knew the woman’s husband was serving the Lord and she was also serving the same Lord. The old lady prepared some noodles for young wife and her child. The young wife was really impressed with this love. Also the old lady told her that many outside were praying for them so this also brought tremendous strength and encouragement as they continued to suffer isolation.

Another house church leader in China spent time in prison. He wrote to his fellowship, “It is because of your prayers that I could go through the most difficult times while in prison. My mother, who also prayed for me every day, knew that there were many brothers and sisters who did the same for her son and that she was not alone. She too, would like to express her thanks to those who prayed for me.

“Following my release, I spent two weeks with my whole family. My daughter shared that she thought I was a bad person because she had seen the policeman arrest me right before her eyes. She was very angry with me until the day she received a card from a fellow Christian. In the card were the words, ‘Your father is a hero for he has suffered for Christ.’ Immediately all her anger dissipated and she became very proud of having a father who is a hero and willing to suffer for Christ.”

RESPONSE

 Today I will make an extra effort to show love to all Christian brothers and sisters.

PRAYER

 Help me, Lord, to make love for the brethren a daily repeated action, for Your glory!

1-27-2020

Standing Strong In 2020

THOSE WHO ARE MISTREATED

Continue to remember those…who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

 Hebrew 13:3

As we see in Hebrews chapter twelve, once we “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,” we will be aware of how we should then live. The writer now turns to the issue of remembering those who are mistreated. And again he adds an empathy and personalized application. Remember them as if you yourself were the one suffering!

Dr. Jan Pit often shared the poignant story of a young Christian in Egypt he met named Timothy. Through the Christian radio broadcasts of Trans World Radio Timothy was introduced to Jesus whom he received into his heart and began to follow.

But when he shared his new faith with his Muslim family, they reacted so strongly that he was told to leave home and never come back. After several years of living with other Christians, he decided to try and make contact with his family again. On his mother’s birthday, he bought some flowers and walked to his family’s home. When he knocked on the door, his mother opened it.

“Happy birthday, Mother!” Timothy said. “I brought you these flowers because I love you!” Timothy’s mother turned to him with a stern look and said, “I don’t know who you are!” And she slammed the door.

Timothy said to Jan with tears streaming down his face, “I don’t have a family any more. Will you be my family?”

Today you can be a surrogate family for Christians treated this way. You can also remember to pray for Christians like fifteen-year-old Shirin who has gone through a difficult time of persecution.

When Shirin became a believer he also met with much opposition from his relatives. They shouted at him, threatened him and finally gave him a choice: Jesus or the family.

He chose Jesus and then left his home. He was living on the streets; alone, hungry and very poor. A local Christian saw him, had pity on him and took him into his house.

“Shirin loves God with all his heart! His mother and father are in prison now for being drug addicts, but he is witnessing to many about God’s great love which has been revealed to him.

RESPONSE

Today I will remember those believers who are mistreated and do everything possible to assist them in the way I would want assistance if I was in their shoes.

PRAYER

Lord grant me empathy and a giving heart for those being severely persecuted today.

1-23-2020

THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 

Hebrews 12:15

As we see in Hebrews chapter twelve, once we “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,” we will be aware of how we should then live. The writer now turns to the issue of a growing root of bitterness which defiles and causes trouble and disunity.

A group of believers in rural Hubei Province in China came to Christ as a result of listening to Christian radio programs. When a local woman was healed of appendicitis after prayer, two whole families converted to the way of Jesus enlarging their group to twenty. Five years later a Brother Chen arrived in the village on a sunny spring day. One believer shares this report:

Some said Brother Chen was “sent straight from God to our company.” He said so too. Looking back over a year later, I think he was Satan’s man. But who knows, I may be harsh in my judgment. I remember that night so clearly. We were all gathered in my father’s house. The gas lamp flickered strange shapes against the whitewashed walls, on which we had stenciled “JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.”

I remember Brother Chen saying, “Jesus needs our gold to build our mansion in heaven…the more gold we give him now, the bigger your mansion will be.”

Well, we were poor. And because we were poor, the idea of having a golden mansion in the afterlife was very tempting to us. We handed over all we owned: family heirlooms, money, some expensive textiles from a distant ancestor. One in our group even gave his motorcycle, which he had saved for years to buy. Anyway, after all the “gold” had been collected, Brother Chen said he had to go and “open the gate for us.” He left, on the donated motorcycle. He took most of our savings. He hasn’t been back.

Now the fellowship is ruined. Some of our group believes he is coming back, and was indeed sent by God to help us know Jesus better. Others of us believe he was a deceiver. It has split my family. My father thinks Chen was a good man. The rest of the family thinks differently, but we dare not disagree with my father openly.

We still can’t read the Bible very well. We really don’t know that much about Jesus, to be honest. We know he has saved us, and healed a family member. But we know little else. Brother Chen’s deceit has made me bitter.

RESPONSE

Today I will not allow Satan to grow a root of bitterness 9 my life or in my fellowship.

PRAYER

 Lord, help new believers around the world to recognize Satan’s tactics and the bitter root that will keep them in bondage.

1-22-2020

LIVE IN PEACE AND HOLINESS

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:14

As we see in Hebrews chapter twelve, once we “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,” we will be aware of how we should then live. Now the writer teaches us about the value of peace and holiness. It is difficult to live in peace with others until you have made your peace with God.

Pastor Haik Hovsepian in Iran (who was martyred in January 1994) once preached on the topic “Salvation or Religion.” It was a very powerful message that goes through five differences between religion and salvation in Christ. Thousands of his tapes on this topic have been distributed in Iran.

One of the people who recently got hold of this tape is a Quran reciter. He has a very powerful voice and many times he has been invited to recite the Quran in different mosques in Iran. He also passionately recited about the life of the Imams (Muhammad’s descendants), who have died in mourning ceremonies in order to make people cry. He used to be a very religious person himself.

When he got hold of the tape with the sermon of Haik, he realized that through religion he cannot be saved. He was in captivity of some immoral sins such as alcohol abuse and adultery. He was a very high-tempered and depressed person too. When he heard about the difference between religion and the salvation of Jesus, the Spirit of God spoke to his heart. He was so moved by the message that he listened to the tape a few more times. Every time he listened to this tape, he felt even more convinced that he needed the salvation of Jesus, until he finally gave his life to the Lord.

Then he was not only liberated from the captivity of his sins, but also from the captivity of the religion with which he was identifying. There was an extraordinary joy and happiness in his face after this experience. In the past, he wore black shirts, as his job was to make people in the mosques cry. But after experiencing Jesus in his life, even his shirts changed to lighter colors! He is now using his voice to sing for the Lord and shares about Jesus wherever he goes.

Being a well-known person among Muslim religious leaders and other people, one evening the secret police knocked at his door. Two weeks later, they released him from prison on bail until his trial time. He had to borrow half of that money from his relatives. As he lost his job as a Quran reciter, he does not have any source of income, so it is difficult for him to live and to pay the money back to his family. But he is trying to live at peace with all people and show God’s holiness in his life. Praise God for the faith of this brother and for his steadfastness in following Jesus.

RESPONSE: Today I will live at peace with others and reveal God’s holiness in my life.

PRAYER: Pray for more believers of Muslim background to find peace with God and others.