Day by Day

[Soldier4Christ]

"Why Be a Christian?"

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me." Matthew 5:11
   

When Jesus was with us He said that His followers would be persecuted. One of the great men I have had the privilege of meeting was a Lutheran pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. In 1945, when the communists seized his native land and tried to control the churches, Wurmbrand resisted, beginning an underground ministry to his people as well as the invading Russians. He was arrested in 1948, spent 14 years in prison and three years in solitary confinement, where he saw no one but his communist torturers.

After he was freed, Richard Wurmbrand wrote many books, including one in which he related: "I remember my last Sunday school class ... I took a group of 10 to 15 boys and girls on a Sunday morning, not to a church, but to the zoo. Before the cage of lions I told them, ‘Your forefathers in faith were thrown before such wild beasts for their faith. Know that you also will have to suffer. You will not be thrown before lions, but you will have to suffer at the hands of men who would be much worse than lions. Decide here and now whether you wish to pledge allegiance to Christ.’"

Today, if I wanted to tell potential believers about the persecution they will encounter, I would take them to a laboratory, instead of a lion’s cage. I would let them look through a microscope at the billions of bacteria that are invisibly, unrelentingly prepared to invade and attack and destroy them from within. I would explain to them that Satan has prepared for them a private, personal persecution which will come to them when their resistance is low and they are weak. I would tell them that Jesus’ words are still true: persecution comes to those who follow Him.

Which might make you ask, “Why be a Christian?” The answer is simple: only Jesus can save us from sin, death, and Satan. Born in Bethlehem, Jesus lived His life fulfilling the laws we could not keep. He swam through the temptations that sweep us away. Carrying our sins, Jesus was betrayed, beaten, nailed to a cross, and left to die. But Jesus also rose and showed to all who believe that the hope of heaven is a reality. Why be a Christian? How could we not love Him, who loved us so very much?

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"Why Be a Christian?"

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me." Matthew 5:11
   

When Jesus was with us He said that His followers would be persecuted. One of the great men I have had the privilege of meeting was a Lutheran pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. In 1945, when the communists seized his native land and tried to control the churches, Wurmbrand resisted, beginning an underground ministry to his people as well as the invading Russians. He was arrested in 1948, spent 14 years in prison and three years in solitary confinement, where he saw no one but his communist torturers.

After he was freed, Richard Wurmbrand wrote many books, including one in which he related: "I remember my last Sunday school class ... I took a group of 10 to 15 boys and girls on a Sunday morning, not to a church, but to the zoo. Before the cage of lions I told them, ‘Your forefathers in faith were thrown before such wild beasts for their faith. Know that you also will have to suffer. You will not be thrown before lions, but you will have to suffer at the hands of men who would be much worse than lions. Decide here and now whether you wish to pledge allegiance to Christ.’"

Today, if I wanted to tell potential believers about the persecution they will encounter, I would take them to a laboratory, instead of a lion’s cage. I would let them look through a microscope at the billions of bacteria that are invisibly, unrelentingly prepared to invade and attack and destroy them from within. I would explain to them that Satan has prepared for them a private, personal persecution which will come to them when their resistance is low and they are weak. I would tell them that Jesus’ words are still true: persecution comes to those who follow Him.

Which might make you ask, “Why be a Christian?” The answer is simple: only Jesus can save us from sin, death, and Satan. Born in Bethlehem, Jesus lived His life fulfilling the laws we could not keep. He swam through the temptations that sweep us away. Carrying our sins, Jesus was betrayed, beaten, nailed to a cross, and left to die. But Jesus also rose and showed to all who believe that the hope of heaven is a reality. Why be a Christian? How could we not love Him, who loved us so very much?

JOHN,3:16  good night Pastor Roger I am a Christian because I love God and I do what he tell me to do "Whosoever believeth in Him(Jesus) should not perish but have everlasting life.Pastor Roger this why I ama Christian.I want to be eternally with God  who so love me first I love god with all of my being.and believe in Jesus Christ was sent by God.and that is the will of God...when someone ask Jesus what is the will of God? Jesus said" that you believe in God, and in Him (Jesus)that He sent."the answer is all there and that is our part for a shot at salvation right there.it is done for our part believe repent do good,wait on God.believe in the Lamb of God the Son of the Living God.the Word made Flesh, the Light of the world,the messiah the Christ. come Lord Jesus come..God the Son

[Soldier4Christ]

Amen, def. Many people today do not understand what it truly means to be a Christian. Accepting Him completely as our Lord and Saviour is the true meaning of being a Christian.

[Soldier4Christ]

"I Need to be Sure"

When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask Him, "Are You the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Matthew 11:2-3
   

This story comes from a Christian grade school teacher in a small town in the southeast. Having rehearsed her second graders, she felt brave enough to take them caroling. They went to a number of places where the people were homebound. After each place, the children talked about how the older folks had smiled as they sang. The children had never seen such smiles.

The wandering concert ended up in the community’s only nursing home. There, the teacher, with her charges in tow, wandered the hallways giving a song at the doorway of each resident. Only then did she notice that one of her more enthusiastic singers had rewritten the words to one of the songs. Where he was supposed to be singing, “Noel, Noel”(Noel meaning Christmas or Christmastide), he was belting out, for all to hear: “No hell, no hell, born is the King of Israel.”

I like the boy’s interpretation. “No hell” certainly explains the purpose of Christ’s coming, doesn’t it? Because God’s Son came into this world, all who believe on Him no longer have to fear sin, death, the devil, or hell. Because of Jesus, all who believe in Him as Savior know they need not fear hell. The job is done; our redemption is complete. Believers have God’s Good News of great joy that the angels first announced to the Bethlehem shepherds. Christians have a Savior, Christ the Lord.

It is regretful that so many people seem to question the reality, the completeness, and the truth of Jesus atonement. They keep looking for another Savior. If you are among those who are looking, let me assure you that Jesus’ work is real, total, and effective. Jesus’ resurrection on the third day has shown to the entire world that His work was finished. His disciples believed. They died confessing the truth of what they had seen and heard. Not one, not one confessed to having made up a lie. Still not sure?

Then I encourage you to search other religions. No other faith makes such a resurrection claim. Search the history books and see that no other incident in history so changed the course of so many lives, as did Christ’s resurrection. Which means, like the little boy, you can believe that because of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection, there is, for you, no hell.

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completly is the Key word..thank you Pastor Roger..Def

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"completly "is the Key word..thank you Pastor Roger..Def

[Soldier4Christ]

Amen.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Misunderstood"

“…For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37b
   

There are days the President of the United States must feel like staying in bed. He may have felt that way if he read an article that was carried last week by U.S. News And World Report. The story, quoting Steven Kull, of WorldPublicOpinion.org said, “While U.S. leaders may frame the conflict (in Iraq) as a war on terrorism, people in the Islamic world clearly perceive the United States as being at war with Islam.”

It doesn’t make any difference how honorable our soldiers try to be or how respectful our ambassadors are of local customs. Eighty percent of the Egyptians, Indonesians, Moroccans, and Palestinians who were questioned want our bases removed, and our soldiers sent home. It doesn’t seem to make any difference how many times America’s leaders promise that we are trying to protect our country from terrorism; the majority of the Islamic people interviewed believe we are trying to export western culture and western values to their nations where there is little separation of church and state.

In short, they think we are liars, and none of our words or actions seem able to convince them otherwise.

Although no earthly leader can ever be compared with the heaven-sent Son of God, we are able to say that Jesus’ mission was also misinterpreted. He healed those who were sick in body and soul. He reached out to those whom society had rejected. He called sinners to repentance and forgiveness. He gave His life as a ransom so that all who believe on Him might be saved.

In spite of what He said and did, Jesus’ contemporaries thought He was a liar, a heretic, an insurrectionist, a blasphemer, a son-of-Satan. They congratulated themselves every time they thought they had countered God’s truth with their own opinions and fabrications. They refused to hear Him when He spoke of God’s love. They condemned Him when He didn’t play their way. They nailed Him to a cross and laughed as He died. Three days later, and ever since, they have denied His resurrection from the dead.

In spite of humankind’s refusal to believe God’s truth, Jesus did all that was necessary for our salvation. Why? He tells us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6b). Jesus was and is the Truth, so we might be saved. Believe it.

[funtainventures]

Pastor Roger, even the redemption our Lord freely bestowed on us His Believers is today misunderstood by many. "How can the blood shed by one justify so many?", they ask in disbelieve.

All shall one day understand, but it will come too late for many who today refuse the truth.

More grace to you Pastor.

[Soldier4Christ]

Unfortunately that is very true. It is for this reason that we must continue to do our best to tell them the truth.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Under The Earth"

Psalm 91:2 "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."
   

Every October 31st most Lutherans, along with a large share of Christendom, lift their voices in the singing of the battle hymn of the Reformation: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” When Martin Luther first wrote those words in 1529 the concept of a stone fortress high up on a hill made sense. However, modern inventions of war like gunpowder, bombs and cruise missiles, have made the concept of a fortress all but obsolete. Even so, most people like to sing the song. Most people like to have a place where they can feel secure. Even the multi-talented Superman likes to get away from it all in his Fortress of Solitude.

To create a fortress of safety and solitude appears to have been the motivation for a man in Buffalo, New York. While investigating a fire recently, James O’Neill, a member of the Buffalo, New York fire marshal’s office, came across a man who has been living underground for the last six years. O’Neill, in order to protect the man’s privacy, declined to give the individual’s name, or the location of his 16 x 20 foot underground fortress.

On the other hand O’Neill did supply a number of details for the curious. For example, we know it took the man two years to dig his place of refuge. Readers of last week’s Associated Press article have been told the walls of the dwelling are covered with minimal-maintenance insulation and plastic tarp, while the ceiling of the home is composed of wood and roofing material. The resident of this underground fortress sleeps on a foam bed, uses car batteries to light his quarters, and cooks his meals in a hot pot. I can’t tell you if he has a phone, running water, gets mail or pays taxes.

Are you wondering, “Why?” The man speaking from his cave-like home offers an explanation. He says his diggings are a ‘peaceful and tranquil place to live.’ He has found his fortress, at least for the present.

While most people might not go to the extreme of digging an underground refuge, much of the world is involved in a desperate search for some person or place where they can feel safe and secure from the sin, madness, and nastiness of life. As Christians we rejoice that, in Jesus, we have found our Fortress. As the Savior’s blood-bought people we know that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

[def]

"Under The Earth"

Psalm 91:2 "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."
   

Every October 31st most Lutherans, along with a large share of Christendom, lift their voices in the singing of the battle hymn of the Reformation: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” When Martin Luther first wrote those words in 1529 the concept of a stone fortress high up on a hill made sense. However, modern inventions of war like gunpowder, bombs and cruise missiles, have made the concept of a fortress all but obsolete. Even so, most people like to sing the song. Most people like to have a place where they can feel secure. Even the multi-talented Superman likes to get away from it all in his Fortress of Solitude.

To create a fortress of safety and solitude appears to have been the motivation for a man in Buffalo, New York. While investigating a fire recently, James O’Neill, a member of the Buffalo, New York fire marshal’s office, came across a man who has been living underground for the last six years. O’Neill, in order to protect the man’s privacy, declined to give the individual’s name, or the location of his 16 x 20 foot underground fortress.

On the other hand O’Neill did supply a number of details for the curious. For example, we know it took the man two years to dig his place of refuge. Readers of last week’s Associated Press article have been told the walls of the dwelling are covered with minimal-maintenance insulation and plastic tarp, while the ceiling of the home is composed of wood and roofing material. The resident of this underground fortress sleeps on a foam bed, uses car batteries to light his quarters, and cooks his meals in a hot pot. I can’t tell you if he has a phone, running water, gets mail or pays taxes.

Are you wondering, “Why?” The man speaking from his cave-like home offers an explanation. He says his diggings are a ‘peaceful and tranquil place to live.’ He has found his fortress, at least for the present.

While most people might not go to the extreme of digging an underground refuge, much of the world is involved in a desperate search for some person or place where they can feel safe and secure from the sin, madness, and nastiness of life. As Christians we rejoice that, in Jesus, we have found our Fortress. As the Savior’s blood-bought people we know that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

AMEN"AMEN"AMEN(Romans 8:38-39)BRAVO HALLELELUJAH BROTHER

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AMEN"AMEN"AMEN(Romans 8:38-39)BRAVO HALLELELUJAH BROTHER

I am full of Joy Joy Joy of the Spirit right now!!!thank you Pastor Roger I am under the unluence of God ..

[Soldier4Christ]

I'm glad that you like these devotions sister. The word of God is always a heart warming experience.

[Soldier4Christ]

"His Name is Jesus"

He was named Jesus. Luke 2:21
   

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

The Christ Child was named “Jesus.” The meaning of His name—the Lord saves—defined His role as the Son of God. God came to earth to save His people from sin.

THE JOURNEY—DAY 32
Bill and Chuck met for lunch. Bill approached the subject of Jesus by saying, “Chuck, yesterday you said you felt like you really do need a savior. Can I tell you about my Savior?”

Chuck replied, “I would like to know more. But I’m not saying I’m suddenly going to convert!”

Bill responded, “That would be God’s doing. However, I can tell you His name is Jesus. There is a lot you may not know about Him. There is a lot I don’t know about Him, either. But I can tell you what I know.”

Bill smiled and thought, “I know what I know and what I know, I apply.” He proceeded to tell Chuck about Jesus’ sinless life, that He died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins, how He rose from the dead, and that He was living and coming again on the last day. Bill shared the hope he had in Jesus that would be fully realized in his own resurrection.

Chuck listened with interest and asked, “How do you know it’s true?”

Bill said, “It’s a matter of faith in Jesus and believing what He has done.” Bill asked if he could have Pastor Greer meet together with them for more discussion. Chuck agreed.

REALITY JOURNEY
Salvation is found only in Jesus. A witness of the Gospel remains incomplete without a focus on Jesus as Savior: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).