These Men Have Been with Jesus
The more someone is with Jesus, the more that person becomes like Christ in purity, justice, holiness and love. In turn, their pure walk produces in them a great boldness for God.
The more someone is with Jesus, the more that person becomes like Christ in purity, justice, holiness and love. In turn, their pure walk produces in them a great boldness for God.
You remember the story of Elijah. On Mount Carmel, he faced 850 false prophets in a life-or-death showdown over whose God would prevail. He simply called on the Lord, and supernatural fire fell from heaven.
I know all about the restraining hand of the Lord. He allows his children to go only so far but no further. In my early days of ministry, he restrained me when I was ready to quit during times of awful discouragement. At times, I felt overwhelmed by all the financial responsibilities. I felt like a failure as a husband and father as well. I would get so low about my overwhelming obligations that I thought my faith would shatter completely.
From Adam to this present day, God has been searching for a people who will entrust their lives totally to him. He desires a body of faithful believers who give him their complete trust and confidence and commit themselves wholly to his keeping.
It is clear the Lord loves his church and desires to bless it. So why does Revelation 2 present such a fearsome picture of Christ as he appears to his people?
After Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, his listeners sat in awe. Scripture says, “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29, NKJV). The Greek word for authority in this verse means “with mastery, power, liberty; as one in control.” Jesus’ listeners were saying, in essence, “This man knows what he’s talking about.”
Our ministry receives letters from many Christians who have somehow lost heart. These are followers of Christ who have truly been saved. They’ve tasted the mercy and goodness of the Lord and experienced joy, peace, hope and gladness of heart. Then something happened; they fell into some kind of sin or compromise, and the joy of the Lord left them. Now they live in turmoil and fear, completely defeated.
“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered” (Psalm 68:1, NKJV). In every generation, God is rising to scatter his enemies. He puts to chase all demonic principalities, driving them from his people. The very words of this verse, in fact, were quoted by Moses when the ark went forward in Israel. “So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: ‘Rise up, O Lord! Let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you’” (Numbers 10:35-36).
When Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6, NKJV), he issued a powerful proclamation to his church. Tragically, we have not fully understood the power behind his words here. I believe if the church today truly grasped the simple statement that Jesus is the way, we would once and for all end our fleshly strivings to try to please the Lord and instead trust him for his promised favor.
Most Christians I know are kind, loving, considerate, caring and helpful. I believe very few in the church think of themselves as unkind. I don’t think you can be a true Christian and be unkind.
When we think of kind people, our image is of quiet, soft-spoken men and women who never seem to say a negative word about anyone. They are sweet and gentle, always willing to do something for another person, always carrying a kind word on their lips.