If you were in a situation where you, one of your children, spouse or other family members were threaten with death, torture or rape if you did not denounce Christ—would you be able to stand?
Of course most of us are shouting out, “Yes, I would!!” But
the truth is…you won’t know for sure unless you are faced with that situation.
All of us (including myself) want to think it would be a no-brainer and we
could stand. But that is not necessarily so.
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on
account of you, I never will.” 34 “Truly
I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this
very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” 35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with
you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.
(Matthew 26:33-35)74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:74-75)
Now if Peter, a disciple of Jesus, (one of Jesus’ inner circle guys), could disown him because he was afraid of what might be done to him, if he were associated with Jesus. What makes us so sure we would not be of the same mindset when the rubber met the road?
This is really something to think about, especially for those of us who are already weak in our faith and trust in God.
Some of us are so scary, we are unable to do the smallest of things God requires. It can be fear of what others may think, fear of making a mistake or fear of having to let go of something we want to hold on to.
If fear of the little things can control us, what do we think will happen if we are put in a situation where everything we hold dear to us (in this world) is put on the line?
It’s like getting up every morning proclaiming, “I am believing God for a million dollars!” yet you spend most of your day stressing over the fact that your electric might be shut off for non-payment of the bill. Where is the faith for the electric bill?
The Bible tells us that God is our provider and the One who will supply all that we need. We read this, you say you believe it, yet…you browbeat your husband about money and bills. If you’re single you might take things into your own hands, like finding a boyfriend with money so that he can help you financially. And we all know, their no such thing as “Free” beyond salvation.
Paul admonishes us, “That [we are] to walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition]. (Colossians 1:10 (Amp)
When we profess that we desire to please God in all things, what does that really look like for us? What does it really entail? Will it affect our thought life, our conversations, the way we dress or how we treat others?
You bet it does! Yet, there is a big problem for many of us in these areas.
How many of us spend a good portion of our day rehashing something someone has done to us or said to us—feeding our anger and unforgiveness? How much time do we spend in conversations that are nothing more than gossip or foolishness? How many of you single ladies are dressing by the world’s standard—provocatively and enticing to men? Why is it that so many of us are unable to show kindness and mercy to certain people?
Could it be that we are not steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God?
Do we realize the Bible has the answer to every problem or situation we can ever encounter in this life?
The key is sisters…we have to make the choice to be obedient and do what it instructs us to do.
If a soft answer deters anger, then why are you shouting at your husband? Because the flip side of that would be…shouting and loud words stirrup anger—right?!
Proverbs tells us, “A man who finds a wife, finds a good thing.” In other words, it is between him and God. So, single ladies why are so many of you on dating sites? (Statics show that 63% of the people signed up on ChristianSingles.com believe its okay to have sex before marriage.) Why are you trying so desperately to hook a man?
Jesus says, “Pray for those who have wronged us.” He took it even further to say, we should do good for them. Yet, thoughts of unforgiveness rule us because we refuse to let go and do it God’s way.
Sisters if we are not obedient in the everyday things of life, how can we ever expect to stand in the hard times?
Things are getting ready to change in the Western world as we know it, and we need to spend this time (right now), figuring out what we really do believe about God for ourselves!
When the hard times come, it is impossible to live off of someone else’s revelation or experience. It is also impossible to build an ark of safety during a storm.
It’s time to get serious about reading our Bibles and studying and meditating on what it has to say. It is time to gird up our loins and know what we know…deep in the recesses of our hearts. Amen!
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