Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
“It is written.” – Luke 4:4.
“It is written” should be in the heart and on the lips of every Christian. “It is written” should decide every controversy, settle every doubt, and overcome every difficulty.
~ F. WHITFIELD
Monday October 9, 2023
Psalm 119:59
I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies.
What we think about when we are free to think about what we will—that is what we are or will soon become. . . .
The Psalms and Prophets contain numerous references to the power of right thinking to raise religious feeling and incite to right conduct. “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.” “While I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue” (Psalm 39:3). Over and over the Old Testament writers exhort us to get quiet and think about high and holy things as a preliminary to amendment of life or a good deed or a courageous act. . . .
Thinking about God and holy things creates a moral climate favorable to the growth of faith and love and humility and reverence. We cannot by thinking regenerate our hearts, nor take our sins away nor change the leopard’s spots. Neither can we by thinking add one cubit to our stature or make evil good or darkness light. So to teach is to misrepresent a scriptural truth and to use it to our own undoing. But we can by Spirit-inspired thinking help to make our minds pure sanctuaries in which God will be pleased to dwell.
Rev. Francis E. Clarke, founder of Christian Endeavor, told of a young man, out in the Maine woods with his camera for a pleasant outing, who stopped at the entrance of a cavern on a rocky hillside, and impulsively thought: “Let us see what kind of a photograph I can get out of that cave.”
Steadying the camera just a little way from the mouth, he gave the sensitive plate a long time exposure into the darkness of the interior. Then he went heedlessly on his way.
When later he developed the plates, a thrill of astonishment passed over him as the exposure of the cave revealed in the center of the opening—but concealed from his eyes by the darkness within—a huge lynx crouched and ready to spring. Danger, disfigurement, perhaps death, had confronted him; yet he had been quite unaware of the peril, in the thoughtless gaiety of holiday freedom.
It’s easy to get self-absorbed when we’re criticized—or when we think others are criticizing us. Because of our real or imagined defects, we start to believe other people don’t take us seriously. It’s easy to get off course in an attempt to defend ourselves.
As a young leader, Timothy may have dealt with criticism in the Ephesian community because of his age. Paul gives him advice: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
Paul doesn’t offer defensive solutions. Rather, he calls Timothy to be a living example of his teaching. He reinforces Timothy’s calling by encouraging him to stay focused on his call, speech, and conduct. By being the contrast to the rumors about him, Timothy thwarts criticism.
But Paul isn’t simply giving leadership advice. By reaffirming Timothy’s purpose and calling, he is helping Timothy focus on God’s work instead of his own abilities (or a defense of them). Paul doesn’t want Timothy to be guided by fear of others; he wants him to think about God.
We don’t have to be in a leadership position to experience this type of criticism or to respond in the way that Paul suggests. When feeling defensive or concerned about other people’s opinions, we shouldn’t be concerned about defending ourselves. We’re not intended to reaffirm our own stellar traits or abilities. That flies in the face of the gospel. Instead, we should act in a way that points people to God’s work, shifting both our focus and their focus to the one whose opinion truly matters.
Scripture References: Genesis 4:12-24
When we think of Cain, we automatically think of the first murder. As tragic and horrific as that is, I believe there is something that the Lord, through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration is trying to tell us, something that is far greater a catastrophe than murder itself.
Remember, any sin can be forgiven, including murder, save for the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Now, I’m not going to dwell on that unforgivable sin, rather, the point I want to make is that the murder of Abel is not Cain’s greatest sin, but rather, the sin that followed, and a sin that most likely is on par with the unforgivable sin.
Cain left us a lasting legacy and murder is not that legacy. Jesus made the statement, “He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning . . .” (John 8:44). Satan, the devil himself, holds that title. However, we shall endeavor to discover Cain’s legacy and the horrific stain it has left on mankind.
“My punishment is greater than I can bear,” cried Cain and I would imagine it dawned on him as soon as his passion had spent itself and the consequences of his wickedness became apparent, and this is how most feel when they find that they now live in the presence of an irrevocable deed they have done. It most likely seems too heavy a penalty to endure for the short time that a person’s passion gets a hold of them as it did Cain; and yet as unable as Cain was to rouse the dead Abel so unable are we to revive the past we have destroyed. Thoughtlessness has set in motion agencies we are powerless to control; the whole world is changed to us. One can fancy Cain turning to see if his victim gave any sign of life, possibly even striving to reanimate his dead brother, calling the familiar name, but only to see with growing dismay that the one blow had finished all with which that name was associated, and that he had put himself into a whole new situation and his world as he knew was forever changed; in essence, a new world. We also are often times drawn back in thought to that time which has forever changed our lives, striving to see if there is any possibility of altering the circumstances of the past, but only to realize, to late, we might quite as well try to raise the dead. No voice responds to our cries of grief and dismay, and repentance of a thing once done is far too late. All life seems now to be is but a reaping of the consequences of the past. We have put ourselves in every respect at a disadvantage. The world around us seems cursed to the point that we are hampered in our moving forward and can’t make as much of our situation as when we would had been innocent.
We have removed ourselves from right relations with our fellow men and can’t feel the same to them as we should feel; the heaviness of guilt and the face of God appears to be hid from us, so that now and again as time after time it appears our hopes are no more and our life is darkened and disturbed by the obvious results of our own past deeds, and thus, we are tempted to cry out with Cain: “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”
Yet Cain’s punishment was actually less than even he expected, I’m sure. He was not put to death as he would have been at any later period of the world’s history, but rather, he was banished. Also, even this punishment was lightened by God having given him a token, a sign, that he would not be put to death by any zealous avenger of Abel. Rather, he would experience the hardships of a man entering as it were, unexplored territory; however, even this, to an enterprising spirit, might not be without its advantages and even charms.
Philip Doddridge: Piercing Heaven – Puritan’s Prayers
I turn to you in my doubt and uncertainty, Lord. I know that you live forever. You are the one who determines life and death. You bring us down to the grave, and only you can say, “Return!”
So if there is still room for prayer, please hear mine on your servant’s behalf: Would you spare him yet a while, that he might recover strength once more?
But if he is out of reach of this prayer, help us to accept your wise will.
We adore your name, and your praise mingles with our tears. And though we mourn the loss of our loved one, even so we rejoice to think that we do not mourn like those who have no hope.
Because to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Amen.
WE can also now understand why God permitted Abram to fail, why a famine came in the land of plenty. It was to test Abram and to bring out of it something greater than could have been done in any other way. God seems to test Abram to see whether he will trust God. If Abram had said, “Well, here is a famine and there is all kinds of food in Egypt, but I’m going to trust God alone, I’m going to stay right here, even if I have to starve to death, I’m not going to go, I’m going to stay where God placed me, I’m not going to go until God tells me to go”—if Abram had said that, I am sure that God, who was able to use the ravens to bring the food to Elijah and rain manna from heaven for Israel, would not have failed Abram in this hour. But Abram listened to the flesh and said, “There’s all kinds of food in Egypt; here the land is all parched and dry. God wants me to use my head, doesn’t He? I’m going to Egypt.” And right there he made his mistake. For God after all is faithful. Is it not strange that Abram had trusted God when he left the Ur of the Chaldees and had come all the way to Canaan, but he could not trust God to keep him after he got there? Do you get the point, or shall I make it clearer? Abram trusted God to save him, but he could not trust God to keep him. Regarding his being kept, Abram felt that he had to do something himself. There are thousands of poor souls today who trust God to save their souls, and then think that they have to do the rest. They cannot trust God to keep them, even to the end.
There is another lesson here. We trust God for eternal things, but we do not dare to trust Him for the material. We say, “Amen, hallelujah, Jesus is my Saviour; I know whom I have believed; hallelujah for salvation” but the moment something goes wrong, all our joy is gone. One of the family gets sick; then we begin to doubt, and cannot trust the Lord any more. Someone has said that God is still waiting to show what He can do for anyone who dares to trust Him all the way. Let me say this to some of you anxious worriers, who worry the way you do because you cannot trust Him: You have trusted God for eternity, but you cannot trust Him for this week, or this day. Then, like Abram, you go down in the pit of despair.
PSALM 122 is another song of praise on the theme of Mount Zion, site of the temple in Jerusalem. Pilgrimages to the house of the Lord were not only a regular obligation for the Israelites but joyous occasions as well. The march through the city gates and uphill to the temple complex was spiritually uplifting and communally bonding.
But one of the defining moments of this worship experience was a prayer for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6–9). This was actually an intercession for everyone involved in the life of the Holy City. It was essentially a request for God’s blessing on the decision makers in government and their policies and programs.
But the pilgrims’ concern for Jerusalem did not end with prayer. They also pledged to seek the city’s good (Psalm 122:9). This suggests that believers today do well to pray and work for the good of their own cities, in such a way as to benefit all the people of their communities. By promoting “peace be within your walls” and “prosperity within your palaces” (Psalm 122:7), God’s people will be fulfilling Paul’s admonition to “do good to all, especially {that is: not only} to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
Saturday October 7, 2023
1 Peter 1:15-16
As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
People are often surprised when they meet a genuine, down-to-earth Christian, someone they can relate to. They don’t expect someone with such high morals to be so real and likable. This perception is no doubt the result of a gross misinterpretation of the Christian’s call to holiness, and it is why we must change our perspective on how to live according to Jesus.
Christ never commanded us to be “holier than thou,” which by definition means “excessively or hypocritically pious.” On the contrary, when He tells us to “be holy, for I am holy,” He is referring to His ability to connect with sinners and yet keep His character and integrity intact.
That is the key to being effective witnesses, and when we learn to accept people where they are while standing firm in our convictions, they will be drawn to what it is that makes the difference in our lives.
Few things are more infectious than a godly lifestyle. The people you rub shoulders
with every day need that kind of challenge. Not prudish. Not preachy. Just spot-on
clean living. Honest to goodness, bone-deep, nonhypocritical integrity.
CHARLES SWINDOLL
Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.
COLOSSIANS 3:14
Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” – Exodus 19:3-6.
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. – Romans 11:28-32.
Abba Eban said that Ben Gurion considered Israel both the descendant of the biblical Israel and the harbinger of the messianic peace dream. Ben Gurion had his history right, but not present day Israel’s purpose in the world. Golda Meir made a similarly vacuous statement: “As for the Jews being a chosen people, I never quite accepted that. It seemed, and it still seems to me, more reasonable to believe, not that God chose the Jews, but that the Jews were the first people that chose God, the first people in history to have done something truly revolutionary, and its was this choice that made them unique.”
The Jews have always had a problem with God. Despite the personal attention he paid them, and his repeated revelations to them, God remained a mystery to his people. It was, as Pascal wrote, given to the Jews to love the Old Testament, but not to understand it. God revealed so much to the Hebrew nation, to have so little of it understood. Yet, they cannot to this day escape what Golda called the “religious question.” “Suffice it to say that no easy way was ever found of getting around the place of religion in the Jewish state. It bedeviled us then, and to some degree it bedevils us now.”
For sure. The Jews have never known quite what to do with God. But God knows exactly what to do with them. He will be finished with them only when he fulfills his promises to their founding fathers.
53
O the nobility of Divine Friendship! Are not all His treasures yours, and yours His? Is not your very Soul and Body His: is not His life and felicity yours: is not His desire yours? Is not His will yours? And if His will be yours, the accomplishment of it is yours, and the end of all is your perfection. You are infinitely rich as He is: being pleased in everything as He is. And if His will be yours, yours is His. For you will what He willeth, which is to be truly wise and good and holy. And when you delight in the same reasons that moved Him to will, you will know it. He willed the Creation not only that He might Appear but Be: wherein is seated the mystery of the Eternal Generation of His Son. Do you will it as He did, and you shall be glorious as He. He willed the happiness of men and angels not only that He might appear, but be good and wise and glorious. And He willed it with such infinite desire, that He is infinitely good: infinitely good in Himself, and infinitely blessed in them. Do you will the happiness of men and angels as He did, and you shall be good, and infinitely blessed as He is. All their happiness shall be your happiness as it is His. He willed the glory of all ages, and the government and welfare of all Kingdoms, and the felicity also of the highest Cherubims. Do you extend your Will like Him and you shall be great as He is, and concerned and happy in all these. He willed the redemption of mankind, and therefore is His Son Jesus Christ an infinite treasure. Unless you will it too, He will be no treasure to you. Verily you ought to will these things so ardently that God Himself should be therefore your joy because He willed them. Your will ought to be united to His in all places of His dominion. Were you not born to have communion with Him? And that cannot be without this heavenly union. Which when it is what it ought is Divine and Infinite. You are God’s joy for willing what He willeth. He loves to see you good and blessed. And will not you love to see Him good? Verily, if ever you would enjoy God, you must enjoy His goodness: All His goodness to all His hosts in Heaven and Earth. And when you do so, you are the universal heir of God and all things. God is yours and the whole world. You are His, and you are all; or in all, and with all.
Thomas Traherne (1637 – September 27, 1674) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. Traherne’s writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he saw as his intimate relationship with God. His writing conveys an ardent, almost childlike love of God, and is compared to similar themes in the works of later poets William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His love for the natural world is frequently expressed in his works.
The work for which Traherne is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. Before its rediscovery this manuscript was said to have been lost for almost two hundred years and is now considered a much loved devotional.
Thanks to Sister Monika for the use of her inspirational poetry!
Be blessed all who read!
Fascinating God! You Are!
You Pull Me Out of Time and Space
Into A Realm So Close Yet Far
I Feel Your Breath upon My Face
It’s in The Twinkling of An Eye
That I Am Here with You
My Mind, My Heart Cannot Deny
That What I Know Is True:
You Are Right Here Within My Life
In You, I’ve Been Made Whole
Overcoming Sin and Strife
For Filling Up My Soul
Is You and Only You, My Love,
My Jesus, Lord and King
Joined to The Realm of God Above
And to The Earth I Bring
What You Have Given Me to Do
The Ladder Angels Climb
To Bring Down What Is Sent by You
Transfusing with Divine.
No Longer Destined to The Tomb
I Have Been Birthed from Heaven’s Womb
To Learn About the Life to Be
When Death Brings “Life Eternally”
For There Is Now No Fear of Death
I Live in God’s Eternal Breath.
James speaks of the Scriptures as “the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The thought is that the word becomes a sacred deposit in the Christian’s life when he is born again. This is the word that is able to “save your souls.” The Bible is the instrument God uses in the new birth. He uses it in saving the soul not only from the penalty of sin, but from its power as well. He uses it in saving us not only from damnation in eternity, but from very real damage in this life. It is this present, continuing aspect of salvation in which James is speaking of.
It is not enough to receive the implanted word; we must obey it. There is no virtue in possessing the Bible or even in reading it as literature. There must be a deep desire to hear God speaking to us and an unquestioning willingness to do whatever He says. We must translate the Bible into action. The word must become real and alive in our lives. To profess great love for God’s word or even to pose as a student of the Bible is a form of self-deception unless our increasing knowledge of the word is producing increasing likeness to the Lord Jesus. If we continually learn what we ought to do, but do not do it, we become depressed, frustrated, and callous. By letting it become a part of us we also become more responsible to God. The ideal combination is to read the word and obey it implicitly.
“Anyone” who is a “hearer of the word” only but does not change his behavior “is like a man” who takes a glance in the mirror each morning, then completely “forgets what” he saw. He derives no benefit from looking into it. When the mirror says “Wash, Shave,” or “Brush,” we should at least do as we are told. Otherwise the mirror is of no practical benefit to us.
The man “who looks into the” word of God and who habitually puts it to practice is like the man who uses the mirror for change. To him the Bible is “the perfect law of liberty.” Its precepts are not burdensome. As he obeys, he finds true freedom from human traditions and carnal reasonings. The truth makes him free. He seeks to live it out in daily practice. His simple childlike obedience brings innumerable blessings to his soul. “This one will be blessed in what he does.”
James contrasts “useless” religion and “pure and undefiled religion.” Religion here refers to the outward forms of ritual and ceremony rather than the inward spirit. It means the external expression of belief in worship and service rather than the doctrines believed.
“Anyone” who “thinks he is religious,” but cannot control “his tongue, . . . this one’s religion is useless.” He might observe all kinds of religious ceremonies which make him appear very spiritual. But he is deceiving himself. God is not satisfied with rituals; He is interested in a life of practical godliness.
An unbridled “tongue” is only one example of futile “religion.” Any behavior inconsistent with the Christian faith is worthless. James emphatically states that such “religion is useless.”
What God is looking for is the practical type of godliness which takes a compassionate interest in others and keeps one’s own life holy. As examples of “pure and undefiled religion,” James praises the man who visits and cares for needy “orphans and widows,” and who keeps himself “unspotted from the world.”
We should put our own faith on trial with the following questions: Do I read the Bible with a humble desire to have God rebuke me, teach me, and change me? Am I anxious to have my tongue bridled? Do I justify my temper or do I want victory over it? How do I react when someone starts to tell an off-color joke? Does my faith manifest itself in deeds of kindness to those who cannot repay me?
These are all situations we face daily. The question is, do we take what we read in the word and use it in light of these situations? Something to honestly ponder.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Father, most holy and precious Lord, we praise you that even the colors of creation seem brighter, and the joy of friendships in him ever deeper and your love and mercy overwhelm us with hope ever richer. Lord, we praise you that in Christ’s resurrection we have the assurance that though we were lost, now we have been found. Though we were empty, each day we are being filled. Though once we merely existed, now we are receiving new life. Though we were alone, now he is with us always until the end, and beyond. We come to praise the living Christ. For this we exalt, magnify and praise you.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
There was a man . . . whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel. – Luke 2:25.
“Away went Simeon, morning after morning, to see if he could get a glimpse of Jesus. Perhaps unbelief suggested to Simeon, ‘You had better stop at home this wet morning: you have been so often and have missed Him: you may venture to be absent this once.’ ‘No,’ said the Spirit, ‘go to the Temple.’ Simeon would no doubt select a good point of observation. See how intently he watches the door! He surveys the face of every child as one mother after another brings her infant to be presented. ‘No,’ he says, ‘that is not He.’ At length he sees the Virgin appear, and the Spirit tells him it is the long-expected Saviour. He clasps the Child in his arms, presses Him to his heart, blesses God, and says: ‘Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’ “
~ F. WHITFIELD
Friday October 6, 2023
James 1:14
Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
We have what is known as wish-thinking.
By that we mean thinking which does not follow the laws of logic but the impulses of our whims and desires. To strengthen or defend our wishes we try to provide them with a foundation in logic.
There is a great deal of this kind of thinking in daily life. Undoubtedly it is this which makes many a private and public debate so spirited.
It is not so much a matter of ascertaining the truth but of defending one’s own wishes.
In the hour of temptation wish-thinking occurs in its completest form.
If we cannot defend our actions from a moral standpoint, we become the more zealous to defend them on logical grounds.
The process of inner corruption sets in.
That falsification of character begins which consists not only in committing sin in the hour of temptation, but also in being untrue to oneself afterwards. In lying oneself away from one’s evil motive. By saying that things went so badly in the hour of temptation, not because you wanted to sin but because of the circumstances, because of other people, or because of your inherent nature. You blamed it all to these things.
By so doing you lied yourself away from the deepest thing in sin, namely, its guilt; this that you sinned willfully, that it was your act.
The hour of temptation becomes the hour of our life’s great humiliation.
No doubt we all have memories which cause our faces to blush with shame.
We failed. The metal in us was too soft. We were capable of longing, hoping, thinking, and talking, but not of living. For to live is to be tempted.
At the Vermont Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., the offering was taken and the dedicatory prayer was given, then a robber came forward and took it. The church officers followed him out and grabbed him from the rear. A tussle took place. The robber bore down on the men with a revolver. He pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire. The police arrived and made arrest, and ascertained that the gun was loaded. The Lord was watching over the church officers and the offering.
~ Christian Victory
Biblical lists can be annoying, but they’re also a testament to God’s faithfulness. It’s a true gift when someone in a faith community records the history of the group and their work—particularly when God has answered prayers. By looking through a recorded history, like a prayer journal, faith communities can see how God used them both collectively and as individuals. They can see where He interceded and begin to see how He intends to use them in the future.
God’s past faithfulness points to His future faithfulness. His specific dealings in the past point to likely dealings in the future: they show us what He has gifted us to do and thus the type of thing He is likely to call us to down the road.
1 Chronicles 4:24–5:26 records God’s acts among His people and points to His future faithfulness. Similarly, Psalm 78:1–12 calls God’s people to hear their story told, but it’s really God’s story. The first account focuses on the individuals, whereas the second recalls God’s work among a group of people. All of God’s work—among individuals and groups of people—is unique, but it is also interconnected. It is all a manifestation of His presence. Paul makes a similar remark to Timothy: “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thankfulness” (1 Timothy 4:4).
Although God may manifest Himself in different and unique ways among individuals and groups, everything He does is for good—from the beginning until now (compare Genesis 1; John 1). God desires for us to experience Him, as individuals and as members of faith communities, doing His good work. In being both, we come to understand what it means to truly follow Jesus.
Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 5:14-20
The Christian is no longer a slave of the patterns of the world and society around him but has a fresh and independent and personal moral insight: he or she wants to be more “Christlike.” Paul wrote to the Galatians that he had labored painfully for them “until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). This gospel claim is not an option for us, as if that calling counts only for apostles or other ministries. To all believers in Philippi he addresses the sacred calling: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13; Emphasis mine).
Paul Lived What He Preached
Paul spoke with a conviction born from a personal experience with the risen Lord Jesus. On three different occasions Paul testified that he had encountered the living Christ in a dramatic way on the road near Damascus (see Acts 9:3, 22:6, 26:12-13). That event had been the turning point for the zealous persecutor, Saul of Tarsus. Paul’s conversion then was not the result of a logical or theological conclusion, but a transforming life encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. Only through that event did Paul’s heart change and did his mind accept a new concept of God and of His plan of salvation.
The heavenly calling that Paul experienced was of such a heart-changing nature that it resulted in his permanent devotion to the Lord Jesus. His commitment would stand the test of time and conquer every opposition and threat he experienced. Standing at last before Emperor Nero himself in Rome, he did not waver or shrink back for fear of his life, but remained faithful to Christ till the last moment of his life. Paul’s commitment to Christ was so complete that he testified: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21; Emphasis mine). He explained this by saying: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11). That is total devotion and perfect gratitude!
In his testimony to Timothy, Paul wrote from prison: “Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed” (2 Timothy 1:12). Here is the decisive issue of the gospel: do we have a personal trust and commitment to the risen Lord Jesus? Not just what we believe is important, but Whom we know and trust is of ultimate importance. Paul reminded Timothy of Who he believed in. This is the same redemptive knowledge that each believer must seek for themselves. This is more than theological clarity, it is the transforming power of knowing Christ from the heart.
Paul was a true ambassador for Christ and he calls all Christians to be the same. He wrote from his prison cell to all the Ephesians: “I . . . the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1). We are all called to be representatives of God and of Jesus Christ, and to pass on the freedom we have in Christ our Lord and the blessing we have received in His fellowship. May we all demonstrate in daily life what we are in Christ!
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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