Pastor Wurmbrand worked his way through the others prisoners to where another pastor sat motionless on the floor. He had just been thrown into the cell. He was badly beaten. Wurmbrand did not know if he would survive the night.

    With loving compassion Pastor Wurmbrand knelt down beside the beaten pastor and asked, “My brother . . . can you say the prayer, ‘Father forgive them’?”

    The man winced with pain, touching his swollen, bruised face. It was difficult to speak. The words came out slowly, “I cannot.”

    Just as Pastor Wurmbrand began feeling sympathy for the man, the beaten pastor began to speak again. With tears in his eyes he said, “My prayer is not ‘forgive them.’ My prayer is . . . ‘Father, forgive them and me.’ If I had been a better pastor, perhaps there would have been more converted torturers.”

    This weary pastor expressed his concern for the missed opportunities to convert his enemies to Christ. Both pastors realized a young member of Romania’s Communist Youth Organization was once arrested and unmercifully beaten by a supposedly Christian police officer. This incident hardened his heart toward Christ for the rest of his life. This missed opportunity for the gospel finally became the dictator of the former Communist nation of Romania. Nicolai Ceausescu was responsible for the torture of countless Christians, including Pastor Wurmbrand and his fellow beaten pastor.

No regret is greater than that from a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, life often brings missed opportunities like the birth of a child, a Christmas morning, or even that last flight out going home. However, nothing compares to the missed opportunity to change another person’s eternal destiny. We never know how the seemingly nominal person sitting next to us on the train one day might affect the world for Christ—if only we said something. Equally true is the possibility that breaking our silence might detour a determined Christian opponent. You may count many missed opportunities for the gospel in your past. However, you can change your future by seizing the opportunities given to you each day to share your faith.

If all mankind had been righteous and only one man a sinner, Christ would have come to endure the same cross for this one man. He so loves every individual.

ST. AUGUSTINE

“With the flames of love’s fire that Jesus kindled in my heart, I caused the ice of Siberia to melt. Hallelujah!”

Bishop Victor Belikh’s face lit up as he spoke these words. He had learned the powerful secret of letting God take over one’s heart even in the worst of circumstances. For twenty years he had suffered in the lonely prison cell in Communist Russia without a visit or news from his family or friends.

"Every evening, a simple straw mattress was placed in his small cell. He was allowed to sleep for seven hours before the mat was removed. He spent the remaining seventeen hours of each day walking circles in his pathetic little space, and if he stopped or broke down, guards would beat him or throw water on him until he continued. After twenty years of such incredible hardship, he was sent to a forced-labor camp for another four years in Northern Siberia, where the ice never melts. He survived only because he allowed the fire of God to melt away all bitterness and anger.

Belikh’s situation is rare, but his resolve through Jesus Christ is available to everyone who suffers. Jesus stoked the fire of love in Belikh’s heart—a godly furnace that was able to keep him warm for twenty years.

Fire. The mere word ignites powerful images. It implies danger when shouted in a crowded building. It embodies comfort when camping on a frosty night. It is connected with strong emotions during the “heat” of the moment or a “fiery” temper. Fire is also used to refine and to harden metals through the smelting process. Fire illuminates and consumes darkness. In all these images, one thing remains constant. Fire is associated with change. Like an encounter with fire, an encounter with God is life changing. Has the fiery love of Christ ignited, sustained, refined, comforted, and ultimately liberated you as it did Belikh? Human cruelty can never extinguish the flame of God’s love. Is the flame of God’s love alive in you?

Mary was only seventeen when Muslim fanatics raided her village in Lebanon. Mary and her parents were confronted with a grueling choice: “Become a Muslim, or you will be shot.”

Mary boldly told the man, “I choose God. Go ahead and shoot.” Mary and her family were shot and left for dead. Two days later, the Red Cross arrived in the village and found a miracle. Mary was alive—paralyzed by the bullet wound.

Devastated and grieving, Mary clung to her faith and prayed. Finally a strange peace came over her. She made this commitment to God: “Everyone has a job to do. I can never marry or do any physical work. So I will offer my life for the Muslims, like the ones who killed my father and mother and tried to kill me. My life will be a prayer for them."

Her prayers and her undeniable witness of Christ brought many Muslims to faith in the Son of God. In Lebanon, 1990 was the fiercest year of the fifteen-year civil war. Thousands were killed or wounded, and hundreds of thousands fled. However, Mary’s offering of her wounded life encouraged many Christians to stay and take a stand for Christ.

The greatest gift to God’s service will not fit in an offering plate. When we view our entire lives as offerings to God, our resources to benefit his kingdom are unlimited. Many of those who have been persecuted like Mary share a similar story. They continue to offer their lives to serve those who oppress them as an act of worship. Therese of Lisieux once noted, “Sufferings gladly borne for others convert more people than sermons.” The majority of Christians will find it easy to make the usual excuses for offering their lives: “too busy” and “too much going on.” However, God can reveal unique ways that we can be witnesses for Him.

A fellow prisoner who was a priest in a Russian prison had betrayed Zoya. He made false accusations about her so that he could be released from prison and escape his own torture. During the trial, Zoya refused to say one word against him. She said, “When Judas betrayed Jesus, he was a treacherous man. But Jesus called him ‘friend’ in Gethsemane. Should we not learn from Christ’s example and behave like this towards those who betray us?”

    Zoya Krakhmalnikova spent six years in a Russian prison for sharing Christ with others. Her time there gave her a unique insight into God’s Word and how it applies to the harsh realities of life.     “In prison, every cell door has a hole called the Judas hole. Through it the guards can control you every five minutes. They watch you closely, inspecting you and instructing you. This helped me to understand, if the Communists are so diligent about keeping an eye on me, would not God and his angels do so with even more diligence?”

    Zoya could have easily allowed bitterness to rule her heart. But she took the lessons in Scripture and directly applied them to her own life. They were hard lessons. But they served to make her life and the lives of those around her a little brighter.

Going on an extended trip without packing one’s things is a seemingly ridiculous proposition. Who would travel unprepared? Yet Christians make a spiritual journey every day without being adequately spiritually prepared for their trek. We need to be prepared with God’s Word in our hearts in order to apply them when needed. Many of us struggle to succeed in spiritual tests because we have not studied God’s principles ahead of time. We end up feeling like failures when we could have been victorious like Zoya by applying God’s Word to our situation. Your faith in Christ may take you to extreme places. Are you prepared for the journey? Make sure you have plenty of God’s Word—you’ll need it.

A martyr is, he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom.

T.S. ELLIOT—MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

When Romanian poet Constantin Ioanid wrote the poem entitled, “God Exists,” he could not have known the significance his words would have in Romanian history.

    One night in 1989, Christians were protesting in the town of Timisoara. A bishop who had become a puppet for the Communists had fired the reformed Pastor Tokes for faithfully preaching the Word of God.

    On the day Pastor Tokes was to leave his home and church, the Christians surrounded his house to prevent the police from evicting him. Quickly the crowd grew, and the army was called out to stop them.

    The soldiers began shooting, and many were killed or wounded. Then an amazing thing happened. The entire crowd, instead of fighting the army, knelt down and prayed. The shocked soldiers were overwhelmed and refused to shoot anymore.

    Meanwhile, the whole town had gathered, and a local pastor addressed the crowd from the balcony of the Opera house. He recited Brother Ioanid’s poem, and the whole crowd began shouting, “God exists! God exists!” Leaflets with the poem’s text were passed around, and those who knew the music composed for the words began to sing. Soon thousands were singing it again and again.

    The song became the beginning of the Romanian revolution that led to the fall of Communist dictator, Nicolai Ceaucescu.

A revolution is a new resurgence of belief in a very old idea—whether freedom, personal dignity or even the existence of God. These self-evident principles remain unchanged during the cycle of oppression. Though they may go “underground” for a time, their existence is unchallenged. A spiritual revolution resurrects the belief in the existence of God—although God himself was never dead. The revolution begins with God’s revelation of truth. We all need courage to resurrect our faith in the basic, powerful, and life altering proposition that God exists. We are part of a revolution when we join other Christians who begin to live like they believed it. What would spiritual revolution look like in your own life?

If you like this devotion, why not buy a copy of the book it's from called Extreme Devotion.  Click here to buy it today.

Barto was on the brink of starvation. Once a Communist Party official and prosecuting attorney, he was now considered expendable by the same party. He was sentenced to labor in a Romanian prison camp. His stomach, once full, was now wasting away. He wondered how much longer he could go on.

    Seeing Barto’s frail stature, a fellow prisoner came up to him and offered to share his rations of food. “Thank you, my friend,” he said to the other prisoner. “How long must you be here?” Barto asked as he woofed down the food.

    “Twenty years,” replied the prisoner. His eyes seemed to question Barto.     “What crime did you commit?”

    “I was tried and sentenced for giving food to a fugitive pastor who was being chased by the police,” the man stated calmly. Barto noticed his voice didn’t carry bitterness like Barto had heard from so many others.     “Who gave you such a harsh punishment for doing a good deed?” demanded Barto.

    The prisoner replied humbly, “Sir, you were the state prosecutor at my trial. You don’t recognize me now, but I remember you.”

    The man went on. “I am a Christian. Christ taught us to reward evil with good. I wished then for you to realize that it is right and good to give food to a hungry man—even your enemy. Now, I can show you.” Barto began that day to understand that his own spiritual needs far outweighed his physical ones.

Kindness is the way to our enemies’ hearts. And it may do something for their souls. God uses kindness as his strategy of choice when dealing with us. Instead of giving us exactly what we deserve for our offenses against him, he deals with us kindly. His kindness is an example of how we should fashion our own approach to those who offend us. Kindness arrests their attention. It is as unexpected as it is undeserved. Like Barto, our kindness toward an enemy may awaken a spiritual hunger for the source of our compassion. However, regardless of their response, we must follow the example of our Lord when dealing with our enemies. Who needs your kindness today?

“Our Lord commanded us to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy,” Florea calmly told the prison guards. “I cannot work on this day.”

    The Romanian prisoners were forced to labor every day, but each Sabbath Florea refused. For his refusal, the guards routinely beat him so bad he lost the use of his arms and legs. He could only move his head.     Because he could no longer labor, Florea was forced to sit in his cell all day long. He had to rely on other prisoners to feed him. In spite of his situation, Florea was not downcast.

    When other prisoners would complain about their situation, Florea would encourage them. “If the outlook is bad,” he would say, “try the ‘up-look.’ When Stephen was stoned, he looked up and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This comforted Stephen’s heart, and it will comfort yours too.” He encouraged his fellow prisoners not to “look out” to their circumstances but to “look up” at Jesus.

    One of Florea’s fellow prisoners was Richard Wurmbrand, who was released from the prison and found Florea’s nine-year-old son. He told him what a blessing his father had been in prison.

    The boy smiled and replied, “I would like to become a sufferer and encourager for Christ as my father has been.”

A Christian is not privileged with a certain set of circumstances. Nice home. Perfect family. Good health. No, a Christian is a person with a certain attitude toward any and all circumstances. A person’s attitude makes the difference, regardless of circumstances. A heavenly attitude focuses on God’s presence amid trials. Fixating on our hardships distracts us from a heavenly outlook. We feel burdened. Depressed. Hopeless. In contrast, a godly outlook on our troubles brings confidence that God is at work. We relax in God’s presence, waiting to see how he will work out our concerns. Are you undergoing a trial right now? Where are you focused? Ask God to redirect your energies so you can look beyond your troubles and feel his presence near you.

Dear Maria,
    At last I am able to write to you. We arrived safely at the new camp, which is about ten miles from town. I can’t describe life here, but I thank God that I am reasonably healthy and have the strength to work.
    I was put to work in a machine shop with another sister whose health is very bad. I have to do the work of both of us or we will both be punished. We work twelve to thirteen hours every day, and the food is scarce. But I don’t want to complain.

I wanted to tell you that I thank God he used you to lead me to Christ. For the first time, I feel my life has a purpose, and I know for whom I suffer. I have a burning desire to tell everyone here about the great joy of salvation.

At work they curse and punish me because I cannot be silent. How could I be? As long as I am able to speak, I will witness to everyone about his great love.

There are many believers here. Last night we were able to sneak out to the river, where seven brothers and I were baptized. I will never forget this wonderful day! Please don’t weep for me. My purpose here is clear, and my faith remains strong.
    Love,

    Your Varia

Some call it destiny. Some refer to it as fate. Regardless, most people long to give themselves to a certain cause. Christians know it as a “calling”—God’s purpose for their lives. When we fulfill God’s purpose for our individual life, we become part of a much bigger picture. We are satisfied that whatever we do and whatever happens to us advances the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are connected. Useful. For the first time in our lives, no matter what the circumstances are, we feel we are actually contributing to something beyond ourselves. Nothing can defeat someone once they have taken hold of this purpose. What do you sense is the greater purpose of your life?

The following wonderful devotion is taken from the book Extreme Devotion, which you can purchase online at the Voice of the Martyrs book store.

In a forest one day, three young trees all agreed to pray that they would be used for some noble purpose rather than decay from old age.

The first tree wanted to become a manger where tired cattle could feed after a long day’s work. God rewarded the tree for having such modesty. It became a very special manger—the one in which the Son of God was laid.

The second tree prayed that it might become a boat. The prayer was answered, and soon its fine wood sheltered a very special passenger—the Son of God. It heard Jesus calm a fierce storm by saying, “Peace, be still.” The tree counted its life as worthwhile in order to witness such a scene.

The third tree, however, was made into a large cross to serve as an instrument of suffering. The tree was initially deeply disappointed in its fate. However, one day Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to its limbs. Strange, but the cross did not hear groaning and cursing as on other crosses. Instead it heard the Son of God offer words of love and divine forgiveness—words that opened paradise to a repentant thief.

The tree then understood that its part in the crucifixion of Jesus provided for the salvation of humankind.

In underground churches across eastern Europe, the parable of the three trees was often told as an encouragement to those suffering for their faith. These believers needed to see purpose in what they endured. They must have had such high hopes and aspirations when they originally said they wanted to be used by God for his glory. Yet, oppression seemed to have cut them off from God’s plans. How could unjust suffering play into such a plan? Like the tree that formed the cross, they realized they were also being shaped into God’s ultimate purpose for their lives. From this perspective, suffering is not seen as an interruption of God’s plans for your life, but an integral part of the process.

Susannah Wesley was born in 1668, in England, when the state church and government crushed any form of Christian worship or education not controlled by them. This determined Christian woman began programs of Christian education for adults in her kitchen and daily with her children.

In 1662, six years before Susannah was born, the English government passed a law forcing the state church’s Book of Common Prayer in all worship services. Two thousand clergy were forced to resign. In 1664, a law was passed forbidding more than five people who were not family members worship together without a state official. In 1665, the Five Mile Act was passed aimed at Nonconformist ministers who were forbidden to come within five miles where they had founded a congregation. This law was upheld for almost 150 years. Soldiers destroyed meeting houses, took away furniture and Christian books. Five thousand Nonconformist Christians died in prison.

Although Susannah was associated at times with the official church, she refused to be a “Sunday-only” Christian. Her angry neighbors burned her fields and stabbed the three cows that gave milk to her family. They called her children “the little devils.” One of her children, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodists, led a great spiritual awakening in England. He had learned perseverance from his mother.

Many believe the reason England did not experience a bloody revolution, in the same way that France was terrorized, is due to the Christian revival that began among the poor in Great Britain. This spiritual revival was led in part by John Wesley, who also championed practical help, education, jobs and food. Did the influence of his mother, Susannah Wesley, help to save England? Your influence for Christ does change history. Even if we don’t have biological parents or grandparents like the Wesleys, who pass down the Christian faith to us, God gives us a spiritual family to nurture and love us. Who is your spiritual mother or father—someone who taught you about Christ? To whom can you be a spiritual brother or sister?

“O most merciful Christ,” John Huss wrote while awaiting his execution, “give us a courageous spirit, so that it may be ready. And if the flesh is weak, may your grace go before it, for without you we can do nothing, and above all, without you we cannot face a cruel death. Give us a bold courage and upright faith, a firm hope, and perfect charity, that we may give our life for you in all patience and all joy. Amen.”

    Huss had called for reform in the fifteenth-century church, challenging priests who sold indulgences (the right to sin without consequence) and calling for biblical standards of justice. Huss was promised royal protection to present his defense. But he now sat in a dungeon, awaiting death, and cried out to God.

    On July 6, 1415, Huss was stripped and chained to a stake. As the fire was lit around him, Huss prayed, “Lord Jesus Christ, it is for the sake of the gospel and the preaching of the word that I undergo with patience and humility this terrifying, ignominious, and cruel death.”     As the flames rose around him, Huss, with his final breath, cried out, “Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me.”

    Huss’s witness was crucial in ending the practice of selling indulgences and influencing Christians to return to biblical teachings.

Prayer. That which does the most, we often do the least. Prayer is our first defense against spiritual warfare, yet often our last resort. Those who are persecuted for their faith teach us the priority of prayer. Their last remarks are not fighting words. Their final actions on earth are not resistance. Instead, prayer is their dying breath, confounding their accusers and convincing others of their resolute faith. History shows persecuted saints’ dying prayers can influence others for the gospel perhaps more than if they had lived. When you are in life’s crucible and the “flames” are hot around you, will you turn to prayer? Will others see your first and last defense is your communication with your heavenly Father?

After they all had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to die, twenty-six Christians were marched to the place where crudely made crosses stood. Almost three months earlier, they had been arrested in Kyoto, Japan, and charged with following Christ. One of the convicts was named Ibaragi Kun.

Seeing how young Kun was, an official took him aside and urged him to recant his faith to save his life. Looking the official in the eye, Kun said confidently, “Sir, it would be far better if you yourself became a Christian. Then you could go to heaven with me.”

The officer stared, startled by the young man’s faith. Finally, Ibaragi asked, “Sir, which cross is mine?”

The bewildered official pointed to the smallest of the twenty-six crosses. Young Kun ran to the cross, knelt before it, and embraced it. When the soldiers began to nail his hands and feet to the cross, he did not cry out in pain. He courageously accepted the path God had laid out for him.

The crucifixion of the twenty-six Christians on November 23, 1596, was the beginning of a period of intense persecution of Christians in Japan. Over the next seventy years, as many as one million Japanese Christians would be killed for their faith. Many would embrace their own crosses to follow the example of Ibaragi Kun, a very mature twelve-year-old boy.

Spiritual maturity is not measured by a birth certificate. Chronological age has little to do with conviction. Rather, spiritual maturity is measured one day at a time. We measure our maturity by how well we daily apply our faith. Contrary to popular belief, spiritual maturity is not how much we know about the Bible. Many people are very familiar with the Bible, yet they remain strangers to spiritual maturity. Obedience to the Bible’s commands is the mark of maturity. One question will help us know how well we are growing spiritually. We must ask ourselves each day, “How much more do we look like Jesus today than we did yesterday?” Our answer is a true reflection of our growth.

The unwritten code of the police was clear: If you catch the Khmu or other tribesmen converting to Christianity, arrest them. If you catch anyone evangelizing the tribesmen, kill him.

After “Lu” had been shackled at the hands and feet and shamefully marched through the village, the Communist police threw him in a pit. “We will let you go,” they said, “when one hundred Christians in your village renounce their conversion to Christianity.” But they were unable to find believers willing to turn their backs on Christ.

Then tragedy struck the police. One officer’s son broke both legs in an accident. His other son became critically ill. The officer who had beaten and harassed new Christians suddenly died of a heart attack.

Other officials fearfully pulled “Lu” from the pit and allowed him to return home. Government authorities were too frightened to take action against the Christians in the village after seeing what happened to their leader.

Seeing God’s show of power, more Khmu became believers. Where there had been one hundred Christians, now there were seven hundred. They even sent Christians out to tell other villages about Jesus. While the Laotian authorities were controlled by their fear, the Christians in Southeast Asia overcame theirs.

Fear is one of the most basic human motivations. It drives stock markets and fuels wars. Its unruly energies can be used for great harm or channeled for great good. Professional boxers are often told fear is their friend. Fear can make them better fighters. It keeps them alert. It sensitizes their determination. In the same way, God can use our fears and make us better fighters for his cause. Whenever we are afraid, we have the potential to do the impossible. Why? That which is impossible in our own strength is made possible with God’s help. Fear makes us more likely to forsake our own resources and rely on God instead. In this way, extreme fear can lead to extreme faith.

“I admire Communists.” The words seemed strange from a pastor who spent fourteen years in Communist prisons, but Richard Wurmbrand was sincere when he said them.

“Many Communists were willing to die to defend their ‘Utopia.’ They were more committed to their cause than some I met in churches.”

In every enemy Pastor Wurmbrand saw a potential friend and a potential Christian. By loving his opponents, he not only saw many come to know Christ but also increased his opportunities to witness.

“When they called me a ‘dirty Jew’ and told everyone not to read my books, people immediately went out to see what this ‘dirty Jew’ had to say,” he chuckled. “I welcome anyone who has offense against me. Others are not always interested in what you have to say. You need to challenge them to the truth before you share your beliefs. To do this you must understand where they are coming from and be able to speak intelligently. But we must also remember to always speak in love.”

Pastor Wurmbrand’s words were not some high-minded ideal that he didn’t exemplify. He and his wife Sabina welcomed into their home a Nazi officer who worked at the very concentration camp where all of Sabina’s family had been exterminated. When the officer saw their forgiveness and love for him, he was won into the kingdom.

Note: These statements were made during one of Pastor Wurmbrand’s final interviews prior to his death in February, 2001.

Jesus taught us that others would recognize our faith by our love—especially when it comes to dealing with the opposition. How we treat our enemies is equally important as how we treat those in our own Christian family. In fact, our response to criticism often makes a greater statement for Christianity than any other example. When believers put this powerful principle of the Christian faith into practice, they distinguish themselves from the rest of the world. The natural response to opposition is to refute it or return the favor. Instead, believers strive to understand their enemies, not undermine them. Opposition, when put into this perspective, is welcomed as an opportunity to exercise faith and imitate Christ’s commands.

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so
Much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

A VOM worker recently met secretly with two Palestinian Christians, encouraging them and providing some practical assistance. Without knowing who he was meeting with, one brought a book that had greatly encouraged him: an Arabic version of Tortured for Christ.

The two men lead separate house churches in their areas of the West Bank. They have both lost jobs and family members because of their new beliefs.

“God wishes for all my people to come out of the darkness into the light,” says one. Through the peace of Christ, they are able to endure weekly interrogation by Palestinian authority agents.

One brother has been enduring these interrogations every week for more than two years.

“What is it?” Soviet captain Marco snarled at the young boy. “What do you want?”     The boy, only twelve, swallowed his fear as he stood before the Communist officer. “Captain, you are the man who put my parents in prison. Today is my mother’s birthday, and I always buy her a flower for her birthday.”

    “Since my mother taught me to love my enemies and to reward evil with good, I have brought the flower instead for the mother of your children. Please take it home to your wife tonight, and tell her about my love and the love of Christ.”

    Captain Marco, who had watched unmoved as Christians had been unmercifully beaten and tortured, was stunned at the act of love of this boy. His tears fell as he slowly walked around the desk and grabbed the boy in a fatherly embrace. Marco’s heart was changed by the gift of Christ’s love. He could no longer arrest and torture Christians, and soon he himself was arrested.

    Only months after the boy’s visit to his office, Marco slumped in a filthy prison cell surrounded by some of the same Christians he had previously arrested and tortured. He tearfully told his cell mates of the young boy and the simple gift of a flower. He considered it an honor to share a cell with those he had previously hunted and attacked.

Generosity is second nature to the believer. Jesus taught that others would recognize real believers by their demonstration of love. And not just for those who love us in return. Oftentimes, generosity toward strangers and even enemies is the best application of Jesus’ teachings. Witnesses to our acts, if not the recipients themselves, are befuddled at the sight. Imagine a wounded Christian worker who prays for the boss who unjustly fired him or her. Picture the impact of grieving parents who give the gift of forgiveness to a drunk driver. The world doesn’t understand generosity. However, it is affected by it all the same. We find we are never more like God himself as when we give generously to others. God gave his only Son to demonstrate his love for the world and purchase our salvation. What could you give today that might open someone’s heart to God’s kingdom?

“I lost all my friends at school. Now that I’ve begun to ‘walk my talk,’ they make fun of me.” Rachel’s journal entries showed her disappointment that the very people to whom she wanted to show Christ’s love turned away from her. But she wouldn’t give in.

    “I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus. I will take it. If my friends have to become my enemies for me to be with my best friend, Jesus, then that’s fine with me. I always knew being a Christian means having enemies, but I never thought that my ‘friends’ were going to be those enemies.”

    Rachel was a student at Columbine High School on the day two students opened fire in the school. One gunman asked her if she still believed in God. She looked him in the eye and said yes, she still believed. He asked her why, but he didn’t let her answer before killing her.

    Rachel Scott passed her test, and because she did, her light reached beyond her school to around the world. Long before the test came, Rachel expressed her willingness to give her all for Christ. The words from her journal, written exactly one year before her death, tell about her commitment: “I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything, I will.”

Faith is the invisible expression of our personal relationship with Christ. The Bible characterizes people’s faith as a light—a diffusion of hope that affects everyone around them. Jesus chose this illustration because of light’s inability to be restrained. For example, reading by flashlight under the covers, unknown to the average child, is hardly effective in terms of disguising late-night activity! Light simply shines by its very nature—despite our attempts to restrain it. Likewise, tension arises in believers’ lives when they must choose to fully express their faith or attempt to muffle it someway. With the reliability of the daily sunrise, those who have affirmed their decision once and for all find shining their light to be second nature.

Brother Ho was sick and running a fever when he and his friend stepped into the icy waters of the Mekong River. They were Bible students in Laos before the Communist soldiers overran their college.

    They barely escaped with their lives on their way to Thailand. They could not say goodbye to their families, who were not Christians, because they might be turned over to the police. So they said a silent prayer and stepped into the cold, muddy, river with precious cargo strapped to their backs—Bibles wrapped in plastic. Other earthly possessions were left behind.

    Ho thought to himself, “Lord, at least if we die, they will know we are Christians and hopefully read one of these Bibles.”

    About halfway across the river, Ho’s friend desperately shifted the plastic bag under his chest to float on it. The sudden splashing noise alerted the guards in a nearby tower, and they shined a spotlight onto the river. The light flashed over one of the plastic bundles and the guard dismissed it as just a fish.

    Relieved, Ho and his friend quietly made their way to the Thailand side of the river. They thanked God that their Bibles contained the words of eternal life and had also saved their lives that night. After arriving to safety, they dedicated themselves to ministering in the many refugee camps of Thailand.

The missionaries in this story were relying on more than paper and leather binding to save them. They relied on God. Still, their midnight river crossing gives us an accurate picture of the role the Bible should play in our lives. We are to rely on God’s Word as if our very lives depended on it. We are unlikely to find ourselves in a situation where this truth becomes a literal reality. However, the illustration is valid. We must cling to the promises of Scripture to preserve our lives. When we are in trouble, we cannot swim far enough on our own to get us out of a mess. We must “float” on God’s Word, or we will altogether sink.

                                                                                                                                            

What made them really angry, angry enough to murder, was that this convert used to be a terrorist like them.

Maria Elena Moyano had screamed with them for revolution in Peru. She had pleaded for feeding the peasants by the power of the gun. Then she met Jesus Christ and found a different kind of revolution—a revolution of love in her heart.

She became the vice-mayor of Lima’s largest shantytown. She organized far-reaching relief efforts among the poorest of the poor, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and tending to the orphans.

“They call us Christians ‘firefighters of the revolution,’” she said, “because they say we extinguish the fires they set. They want the population to have absolutely nothing to eat, hoping that then the people will resort to arms. But we must not fear terror. We must oppose injustice and savagery to help those in need.”
Maria knew she would suffer, but she also knew that she must share Christ’s sorrows before sharing his glory. Maoist terrorists attacked with a violent rage, blowing up the building where the food for the poor was housed. “Sometimes I fear,” said Maria, “but I insist we should never resort to violence. It is difficult to defeat terrorism, but not impossible.”

Angry at the effectiveness of Maria’s work and unable to stop her, the guerrillas killed Maria on February 1, 1992.

The Pharisees were not exactly tactical experts. Like the terrorists in Lima, their strategy for discouraging people from following Christ brought unintended results. Both the Pharisees and the terrorists worked hard for the people’s allegiance. The Pharisees tried starving the people’s souls while the terrorists tried starving the people’s stomachs. However, the people in Jerusalem and the people in Peru followed the revolutionary teachings of Jesus all the same. The harder the opposition works against Jesus, the more it works to advance his cause. The opposition can work against you and your efforts, but it will never defeat you when you work for the kingdom. In fact, the opposition may unwittingly work in your favor.

“Why do you continue these meetings?” the secret policeman asked the Christian. “Do you think your neighbors wouldn’t report you to us?”

    The young man was a new Christian, but already he had led twenty others to Christ. They were praying that God would provide them a place to gather and worship together.

    For three weeks, the North African Christians met in an apartment—an illegal gathering that could lead to their arrest. Their praise and singing alerted the neighbors, who reported them to the secret police. Three times the young Christian had been hauled in for questioning.

    “Do you speak against Islam?” demanded the officer during the third interrogation.     “No,” the Christian answered. “We have nothing to do with Islam. We worship Jesus.”     “Do you speak against our leaders?”

    “No, sir. We pray for our leaders, just as Jesus told us to.”

    “Why don’t you find another place to meet? Then your neighbors will stop reporting you.”     “How can we, sir? We don’t have the proper permission.”

    The officer reached into his desk and took out a form. He wrote for several minutes and handed the form to the Christian. It granted the Christians the right to meet together in a church building that was no longer being used. A beautiful building and government permission to meet there—it was an answer to their prayers.

There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. God always answers each of our prayers. Yet he may not answer in the way we prayed he would. Sometimes the answer is, “Wait.” We must wait on his timing in order to move ahead. Sometimes his answer is for us to “grow.” Our request is right on target, but we still have some growing to do in order to move ahead. Still, sometimes we are disappointed to hear his answer is, “No.” Our request is not in line with his will, or the timing is not right. And sometimes, the answer is, “Go.” Our request is on target. We are spiritually prepared, and the timing is right. What is God’s answer to your prayer right now?

At 5:00 A.M. they heard pounding on the door and immediately knew it was a police raid. Sabina’s husband was already in prison, and she worried about the fate of her young son if she were taken away, too. So when the Romanian police burst in early that morning, shouting and intimidating her house guests, Sabina quietly prayed and committed herself and her family to God’s care.

    They demanded, “Sabina Wurmbrand? We know you are hiding weapons in here. Tell us where they are!” Before she could argue, they were throwing open trunks and closets, and emptying drawers on the floor. They kept shouting, “So, you won’t show us where the weapons are hidden? We’ll tear this place apart!”     Sabina, struggling to remain calm, said simply, “The only weapon we have in this house is here,” and picked up the Bible from under their feet.

    The officer replied, “If you don’t tell me the truth, you will have to come with us to make a full statement about those weapons.”

    Sabina laid the Bible on the table and responded, “Please allow us a few minutes to pray, and then I will go with you.”

    As Sabina was led away, she mourned the loss of her “weapon,” her Bible, but gained strength from knowing that she had hidden its words in her heart, where they could not be confiscated.

There is only one offensive weapon listed in the description of what is commonly referred to as the armor of God. In Ephesians, Paul lists defensive measures in a Christian’s faith, represented by a helmet, a breastplate, a belt, a shield, and protective shoes. However, he encourages only one offensive weapon: the Word of God. It is the weapon of choice. As an ancient soldier would depend on his sword, so we must depend on the sharp edge of Scripture to clear a path for our safety. Sadly, too many Christians are left defenseless in a spiritual struggle. They have not memorized the Bible like Sabina; they are unable to draw upon its strength. Don’t be another spiritual casualty. Take up your sword today.

The widow stood near the body of her martyred husband, holding the hands of two of her four children. Her husband had died in prison, and the marks on his body made it clear that death had come slowly and painfully.

    The other believers knew this could be their fate too, yet hundreds came to his funeral. He had died for his faith only three months after his conversion, and now they mourned him.

    The people crowded around the house where the funeral was being held, and many were inspired by his example. Eighty people publicly accepted Christ that day, including many young people who had been part of the Communist Youth Organization.

    The Christians walked the length of the city to the river, where they baptized the new believers. The crowd had now grown to over fifteen hundred people.

    Soon, carloads of police arrived. They set out to arrest the leaders of the service, for they couldn’t arrest everyone there. The Christians immediately knelt in prayer, asking God to allow them to finish the service. Then they stood, shoulder to shoulder, blocking the police from coming forward as the baptism service went on. The crowd dispersed only after all the new believers had been baptized, allowing the police to come forward.

    One thousand people were inspired by the sacrificial example of one new believer.

manifestation n. plainness, visibility; demonstration; display, prominence. The meaning of the word is clear. Yet is the manifestation of our faith just as obvious? The man in this story imitated Jesus. Plain and simple. As a result of his clear example, a host of others were compelled to follow suit in their own manifestation of faith. So, too, our lives ought to plainly display our own faith in Christ for all to see. Would others know how to follow Christ simply by watching your example? Better yet, would they be compelled to imitate your faith? Be careful that you do not muddle the manifestation of your faith with confusing rhetoric or other religious distractions. Simply be like Jesus, and others will follow.

“I will not run away. I am ready to take a stand.”

    Saratu Turundu was thiry-five and unmarried. She loved kids so much and desperately wanted her own, but God had not answered her prayer.

    Saratu chose to devote herself to God and the church. She embraced her church family with her whole heart and especially loved teaching Sunday school. Her interaction with the kids and her opportunity to show them the way to Christ fulfilled Saratu with incredible joy. She knew she could never be happy without Christ.

    But the fanatical Muslims who dominated her town of Kaduna, Nigeria, started persecuting Christians. She had heard stories of Christians being persecuted in other villages, their homes and possessions burned. Some were even beaten and killed.

    So when mobs came to attack the Christians in Kaduna, Saratu had already decided to stay and take a stand for Christ. Saratu’s brothers begged her to flee into the woods with them. But even as she watched the angry mob burn her beloved church to the ground, she wouldn’t go. She knelt and prayed on the floor of her apartment as Muslims doused the building with gasoline and set it on fire.

    She is remembered by her family and friends as a kind, compassionate person who showed love to everyone. She died loving her Savior.

Tales of super-human strength are as inspiring as they are incredible. We are awed by stories of mothers lifting burning cars off their children in terrible accidents. Driven by adrenaline, the human body is capable of amazing feats. In the same way that adrenaline affects the human muscles, our faith can enable our spiritual muscles to accomplish what we never thought possible. Saratu flexed her spiritual muscles when she decided to take a stand for Christ in her community. She likely never realized she had the strength to do so before that moment. Yet God enabled her to do it. Have you ever done something you thought you could never do? Thank God today for his faithfulness to make you stand strong.

On the road to Emmaus, the resurrected Savior walked with two disciples, talking with them about the recent events in Jerusalem. Though they did not recognize him, he talked with them about God’s plan for the Messiah. When they arrived at their town, Jesus acted as if he had to go further. Why? Didn’t he want to stay and continue the conversation?

To Piott, a Russian believer, Jesus’ actions showed politeness. He didn’t want to stay unless he was truly wanted. Piott had seen the Communists overrun his country. The police burst into people’s homes anytime they chose. Finally, a Christian shared with Piott the story of a Savior who knocked gently at his heart, waiting to be allowed in. Piott was impressed with this gentle Jesus and willingly opened the door. Jesus became Piott’s Savior and Lord.

Piott knew the meaning of conversion. He was changed. God sent him as a worker in the underground church. Here, he learned from the example of others. Growing Christians showed him how to develop his witness and exercise his faith. Soon, Piott made countless trips smuggling Christian literature into Russia. He grew more and more bold. He was driven to be not just a disciple, but to be a disciple maker, bringing others to Christ.

Finally, he was arrested and imprisoned. No one knows what happened to him.

Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand once said: “We should never stop at having won a soul for Christ. By this we have done only half the work. Every soul won for Christ must be made to be a soul winner. The Russians were not only converted, but they became ’ in the underground church. They were reckless and daring for Christ. . . . ” How does a person like Piott grow from being saved to saving others? Just as someone showed Piott how to become a Christian, someone showed him how to grow in his faith. People must be shown how to be more for Christ. Is your growing faith an example to others? God calls you to be a disciple as well as a disciple maker.

This devotion is taken from the best selling VOM book Extreme Devotion.  To secure a copy for your library, please click  here.

Delores’s aging body was weary from running, and she wept, “God, please have mercy on us, your children!” Delores was fleeing for her life, along with other believers, as attackers showered artillery on her village. Using her crude walking stick, she climbed, step by step, over a steep mountain range until she reached a safe location. She settled in a makeshift refugee camp among hundreds of others who had been displaced by the violence.

Delores is one of millions of Christians living in Indonesia—a nation made up of more than thirteen thousand islands. Indonesia is also the most populous Muslim country in the world. Yet the Muslims and Christians have shared the same space for years, living together in peace for generations. However, they face a new enemy: Fanatical Muslim groups have recently incited many jihads (holy wars) on the islands. Today, there is no peace between the Muslims and Christians.

In one city, Christians gathered and sang “I Surrender All” at the governor’s office in a peaceful demonstration of the cause of Christ. They pleaded for the government to acknowledge how many Christians have been slaughtered at the hands of militant Muslims. Even while the calm body of believers continued to sing, Muslim forces attacked another village and ravaged it. Many communities that used to thrive are now just piles of ash and rubble.

Delores is just one of a multitude of persecuted believers in Indonesia who cry out to God for deliverance. Revelation speaks of a multitude of martyrs who long for God’s judgment and justice. However, they must not cry out alone. We who are living must join our voices along with their earnest pleas. Even though we may be a world away in our own comfortable homes, our sincere support is merely a prayer away. When we offer our prayers for safety and deliverance, we join our hearts with those who are suffering. Will you pray today for Delores and other believers in Indonesia? Will you ask God to protect them on their journey and to hear our prayers for deliverance?

The following devotion is from the best selling book Extreme Devotion. Click here to get your copy today!

Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire in A.D. 320. However, Licinius, who controlled the Eastern half of the empire, broke allegiance with the West and continued to suppress Christianity.

When Licinius demanded that every soldier under his command sacrifice to the Roman gods, the forty Christian men of the “Thundering Legion” refused. Their general, Lysias, had them whipped, torn with hooks, and then imprisoned in chains. When they still refused to bow down and give up their worship of God, he ordered them stripped of their clothing and left in the middle of a frozen lake until they relented.

A warm bath was poured for any who would give up their convictions. The men prayed together that their number would not be broken. However, as it grew dark, one could not bear the cold any longer and ran to the warm bath.

One of the guards who had watched the forty brave soldiers sing to Christ became angry that one would give in to Lysias’s orders. His anger turned to conviction, and then his conviction turned to faith. He tore off his clothes and ran out on the icy lake, fulfilling their promise to be “forty brave soldiers for Christ!”
The forty died together that day. The one who gave up his faith for a warm bath also died.

Christian community is made up of several committed individuals who act in one accord. Whether it is a Christian campus, a Christian ministry, a church, or a family, the band of sisterhood and brotherhood is a force with which to be reckoned. We always stand stronger whenever we stand together. Throughout Scripture, God exhorts us to come together in a community of commitment—a family of faith. More than the principle of strength in numbers, a Christian community encourages its members’ faith. Like this story, the strong compensate for those who are weak. Have you identified your Christian community? Have you assured your church or family or other group of your love and allegiance despite all costs?

Another offering from the great book Extreme Devotion.

Nikolai Khamara was arrested for robbery and imprisoned for ten years. Khamara watched the Christians and wondered what kind of beings they were. They were men, but they would show joy despite their suffering and would sing in very dark hours. When they had a piece of bread, they shared it with someone who had none. Their faces would shine as they spoke to someone whom Khamara could not see.

    One day two Christians sat down with Khamara and asked him about his story. Khamara told them his sad tale and finished by saying, “I am a lost man.”

    One of the Christians, with a smile, asked Khamara, “If somebody loses a gold ring, what is the value of that gold ring when it is lost?”

    “What a foolish question! A gold ring is a gold ring. You have lost it, but somebody else will have it.”     “A very good answer,” said the Christian. “Now tell me, what is the value of a lost man? A lost man, even a thief, an adulterer, or a murderer, has the whole value of a man. He is of such value that the Son of God forsook heaven for him and died on the cross to save him.”

    The Christian said to the robber, “You may have been lost, but God’s love can find you.” Hearing this, Khamara gave his life to Christ.

How is value measured? Usually by a person’s investment of time, money, or emotion. That is, how a person treats a possession, an activity, or even a relationship reveals how much it is valued by that person. Consider, for example, the difference in the treatment of old work clothes and a new suit. Or the contrast between the care for a paper cup and a crystal goblet. And when a valued possession is lost or a loved one injured, oh the tears that are shed. So, how valued are people . . . are you? As the Christian told Khamara, so valuable that Jesus left heaven and died on a cross for his lost and rebellious creatures. God loves them that much. You are loved; you are valuable. Rejoice and spread this Good News to the other “loved ones” near you.

If you're like me, you were thinking a lot yesterday about all of those people who died on 9-11-01.  Some of those people entered an eternity without Christ Jesus, and others entered an eternity with Him.  And some people miraculously missed the flights that ended in such tragedy.  This is evidence that God is in control and that it is appointed unto man, once to die, and then after that, the judgment.  Today's Extreme Devotion is one of my all time favorite.  Read on...

What do you do with someone who is boiled in oil but doesn’t die?

It is said that Roman emperor Domitian commanded that the apostle John be boiled to death in oil, but John only continued to preach from within the pot. Another time, John was forced to drink poison, but, as promised in Mark 16:18, it did not hurt him. Thus John, the head of the church in Ephesus at the time, was banished to Patmos in A.D. 97.

John survived all of this because God had not finished with him yet. A “revelation” still had to come.

While he was in a cave on the island of Patmos, John received a vision. This vision became the book of Revelation—the book that would act as the driving force for evangelism in the church age. It prophesied the events that surround the return of Christ. John wrote of Christ’s second coming and welcomed his arrival. Even today his writings inspire believers to anticipate the glorious return of Christ.

Two years after John’s exile, the emperor Domitian died, and John returned to the church in Ephesus. The youngest of the disciples lived also to be the oldest, dying in peace in Ephesus at the age of eighty after over half a century of resilient service to Jesus’ church.

It’s impossible to retire from God’s service. Just ask John. At a time when the average age of death was much younger, John lived on to be eighty years old, faithfully serving all the while. Perhaps you have been struggling with your own usefulness in God’s service. Perhaps you feel too old and find yourself thinking God could use someone younger in your place. Or perhaps you are young and single and wonder if a married couple might be more what God has in mind. Instead of letting you quit on your own excuses, God wants to build into you a spiritual resilience that is not readily discouraged. Start asking today for God to reveal your next steps in service to him.

The early Christians were spiritual revolutionaries. In a society that worshiped idols and called those who refused “atheists,” Christians were a radical force that threatened Rome’s continuity. They went against the majority rule and so became a perceived threat to the Roman authority. They were hated so much that their deaths were not only numerous, but they were carried out with horrendous flair.

Christians were revolutionaries who proclaimed the last judgment and the coming transformation of the world through Christ’s return so that many could be saved. They promoted Jesus Christ as a higher authority than the Roman emperor. Therefore, Roman emperors sent out decrees stating that any professing to be Christians were sentenced to die with no further legal proceedings. No due process was provided for these “rebels” who dared to challenge the emperor’s rule. Roman imperialism sponsored ten extreme periods of persecution, each worse than the one before it.

The revolutionaries became known by the term martyr. It was adopted for those witnesses who bore their testimony before judges and emperors with the steadfastness of well-disciplined soldiers. They were termed martyrs, or confessors, even if they did not die under scrutiny. They simply would not change their minds. Martyrdom signifies being a witness of one’s faith in Christ, despite exacting circumstances. Every witness for Christ is a modern-day revolutionary.

The martyrs in history were, as we are today, soldiers in a spiritual war. This battle began when Jesus routed the powers of evil by dying on the cross. In his death, he disarmed hell and its demons. Martyrs carry on his battle, however, fighting not with physical weapons but spiritual ones. Their confession is their weapon of choice. They march into enemy territory like the restricted nations and fearlessly proclaim Christ’s victory over Satan. Their prized possession is not their lives, but their testimony. This is why they are willing to trade their lives in order to maintain their beliefs. Where will you take up the battle? Are you willing to wield the weapon of your confession?

Source: Taken from the great book Extreme Devotion.

Safeena is a quiet, lovely girl. Growing up in Pakistan, she learned that as a woman and a Christian, her opportunities in life would be limited and meager.

    So, when she got the job cooking and cleaning for a wealthy Muslim family, she was overjoyed that she could make some money and help her impoverished family.

    Eventually Safeena’s beauty and gentle demeanor attracted her employers’ son. He approached his parents about taking her as his wife, but Safeena was a Christian. They pressured her to convert to Islam, but Safeena bravely and steadfastly refused. After weeks of pressure, she wanted to leave, but she knew her family desperately needed the money.

    Finally, the young man gave up trying to convince Safeena to be his wife and made a harsh decision. He viciously dragged Safeena to one of the bedrooms and took her by force.

    Safeena was shattered. She immediately quit her job, but before she could bring charges, the family turned on her and told police that she was stealing. Safeena was immediately arrested and suffered further abuse in jail.

    Safeena does not regret taking a stand for Christ but still struggles with the shame of what happened to her. She is courageously holding on to the promises of God for physical and emotional healing amid her struggle to forgive her perpetrator.

We learn a lot about a religion from examining the results in the lives of its followers. This is a story about a family who followed the wrong god down the wrong path. This family’s religion pressured them toward manipulation, sexual immorality, lying, and injustice. In contrast, Safeena’s God, the God of love, led her to be industrious, sacrificial, and steadfast. One day, God will help Safeena come to a place of forgiveness for those who wronged her. Be careful when you hear others say that all religions are basically the same. We are called to be fruit inspectors—carefully examining the fruit of people’s lives to reveal their motives. Don’t be fooled by what you read about any religion. Look closely at the results in the lives of its followers.

I love today's Extreme Devotion because it gives me another opportunity to encourage you all to get the newest edition of the Foxes Book of Martyrs.  Click here to buy your copy today.

"FOXE: Voices of the Martyrs is the one book none of us want to be in, but it's the one book which should be in the hands of every Christian, and chained to every pulpit." ~Ray Comfort

John Foxe, a young teacher at Magdelen College, pleaded in prayer, “They call themselves your priests and ministers, but they worship themselves and their political power. Help them realize that there is no need for another mediator between God and man but Christ Jesus and his Word.”

Someone overheard John and immediately reported him to the college administration. They accused him of holding beliefs in rebellion to the government and against the state church. When he refused to deny his convictions, the council expelled him from the university.

Because of this, John had great difficulty finding work as a teacher. One day, exhausted with hunger, he sat praying in a church. A man John had never met suddenly appeared and thrust a sum of money into his hand. “Cheer up,” he said. “In a few days new work will present itself to you.” A few days later he was hired as a tutor.

Under the reign of Henry VIII, Christians like John were tolerated. When Mary I came to power, however, she executed any who defied the religious edicts of the state. Three hundred people died during her five-year reign. John and his pregnant wife fled England to Belgium, barely escaping being apprehended.

In defense of those who died for their faith, John wrote Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

It is one thing to read about persecution, yet quite another to experience it. In the same way, many people read about the lives of committed Christians and admire their courage from afar. Yet they have no firsthand experience of faith to call their own. While they extol the martyrs’ courage, they cannot relate to its source: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They may read the gospel message, yet they do not respond in faith. Martyrs lived and died calling others, even their oppressors, to faith in Christ. Could they be calling you toward Christian commitment even now as you read their stories? Don’t merely extol their faith when you are invited to experience it firsthand.

Another great story from the book Extreme Devotion.  I LOVE this story!

“Grandma, look at what I found!” The young North Korean girl was so excited. She was holding something she had never seen before. The grandmother looked at it with her failing eyes but could not make out the details. So she called the girl’s mother. “Please come tell me what this child has found.”

The elderly woman’s daughter entered the room and took the item from her mother’s wrinkled hand. Her daughter began to reads the words printed on the well-constructed plastic balloon. “The Lord Jesus loves you. Your brothers and sisters have not forgotten you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”

The grandmother exclaimed, “It’s Scripture! They’ve sent us Bible verses on a balloon! Please keep reading.”

The plastic balloon held words of encouragement for the three generations of North Koreans. It contained a message from Christians in the West and over six hundred Bible verses taking the reader from the creation, to the cross, to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In the last decade, over one hundred thousand of these “Scripture balloons” have been floated into North Korea.

The ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs found a unique way to reach these oppressed people with the Word of God and the gospel. It says in Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Like the balloons in this story, God longs to float encouraging Scriptures across our minds and hearts just when we need them most. However, he cannot bring to mind Scriptures that were never there in the first place. Ironically, though we live in a free society, we often act as if we were in a restricted nation like North Korea without access to God’s Word. Our Bible reading is sporadic and seldom—as if we did not have a copy of Scripture at all. Perhaps it is time to ask God to “float” his Word across the borders of your closed mind. Carve time in your schedule for Bible reading each day, and ask him to renew a desire for his Word.

Though Timothy was young, Paul encouraged him to be an example to all. Timothy proved he could live up to these instructions.

    Timothy was from Lystra, one of the cities Paul had visited on his first missionary journey. Timothy’s father was Greek, and his mother and grandmother were Jewish Christians who greatly influenced young Timothy. In fact, the Bible points out they were Timothy’s examples in the faith. Paul must have noticed Timothy’s potential to become a strong believer himself. When Paul came through on his second journey with Silas and Luke, Timothy joined them and journeyed into Macedonia.

    Paul considered Timothy his son in the faith. When the church in Ephesus needed a pastor, Paul left Timothy there to teach and encourage the believers in that city. Timothy shared Paul’s life and ministry. He may have even been with Paul the day he was beheaded in Rome, as Paul had asked for him to come for a final visit.

    After Paul’s death, Timothy returned to Ephesus to lead the church there. He continued to condemn the worship of idols that made many in the city of Ephesus rich. When Domitian ratified the second great Roman persecution of Christians, the idolaters became emboldened. Timothy was stoned to death around A.D. 98—faithful until the end, as Paul had taught him to be.

No one is expected nor encouraged to live the Christian life alone. In fact, it is impossible to do so. In the same way that Paul mentored Timothy, we need someone to show us the way and believe in our potential to make a difference for Christ. We grow by watching others who lead by example in our church, our community, our families, and our schools. As we begin to assume our own roles of influence, we need fans on the sidelines, cheering us on toward greater commitment. Who is your example in the faith? Who is responsible for teaching you how to live for Christ? It may be a close family member, friend, or pastor. Thank God for their influence in your life.

In chapel yesterday, our speaker read Luke 14:25-33. It is about the cost of being a disciple of Jesus. Here is a portion: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple… So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

Our speaker talked about some new believers in a Muslim country. One met with a Christian for two years before he made the decision to turn his life over to Christ. Another spent eight months contemplating living life in a “new way,” the way of Jesus Christ, before he accepted Christ. This is often the process Muslim believers go through when they accept Christianity. They are not thinking about the things, attitudes or behavior they will have to give up. As good Muslims, they most likely already live disciplined, moral lives. Instead, they are “counting the cost.”

They know it is not an easy decision. They know they will probably lose family, wives, husbands, possessions, jobs and respect–in fact everything they have and all they aspire to. In those months or years before conversion, they consider whether the person and claims of Jesus Christ are worth what it will cost them to follow Him. Therefore, after they make the decision to enter into a relationship and service to Christ, they are already prepared to suffer and die for His Name.

Last night, I visited a monument to Christian martyrs. It is a moving display with the names of martyrs through the centuries etched on the black surface. There is a book where visitors can record their thoughts and reactions as they view the monument. One person wrote, “I hope I would have the same courage these people have shown, if I ever experience persecution.”

This is a sentiment I see often echoed among American Christians. “I don’t know what I would do if an angry police officer was standing over me, threatening me, asking me to recant my faith. I hope I would stand up for Christ.” I’ve thought this myself. When we make our decision to follow Christ, we often do not consider the cost of following Him. We do not face the same opposition that Christians in other parts of the world face daily. We do not typically think of death or loss as part of our “deal” when we become Christians.

However, when I look at the words of Christ, I realize this is a wrong way of thinking. We should already have decided what we would do. It would be foolishness to make a decision, such as the one to turn over our lives to Christ, if we have not already decided to follow Him completely. In order to be His disciple, we must be ready to give up everything. Our mindset would not be, “I hope I will be able stand up for Him,” but instead, “I will, for I must, for the sake of Him who offered His life for me.”

I would rather be hung than betray my Lord. SALEEMA—A NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN IN PAKISTAN WHO HAS BEEN SEVERELY PERSECUTED FOR HER FAITH

Liuba Ganevskaya had been beaten repeatedly in the Russian prison. But when she looked up at her torturer, holding the whip above her back, she smiled.

“Why do you smile?” he asked, stunned.

“I don’t see you as a mirror would reveal you right now,” Liuba said. “I see you as you surely have been—a beautiful, innocent child. We are the same age. We might have been playmates.”

God opened Liuba’s eyes to see the man differently. She saw his exhaustion; he was as tired of beating her as she was of being beaten. He was frustrated that he wasn’t able to make her reveal the activities of other believers.

“He is so much like you,” God said into Liuba’s heart. “You are both caught in the same drama of life. You and your torturers pass through the same veil of tears.”

Seeing the man through God’s eyes, Liuba’s attitude changed. She continued talking to him. “I see you, too, as I hope you will be. A persecutor worse than you once lived—Saul of Tarsus—and he became an apostle and a saint.” She asked the calmed man what burden weighed on him so much that it drove him to the madness of beating a person who had not harmed him.

Through her loving concern, Liuba ushered her torturer into Christ’s kingdom.

Earthly eyesight is often hindered by a variety of ailments: astigmatism, nearsightedness, glaucoma, and others. Just as our eyesight benefits from corrective lenses, the eyes of our heart can profit from spiritual intervention. Left to our own devices, we see only the bad in others and not the good. But God grants spiritual vision to those who want to see life from heaven’s perspective. We can begin to see an intolerant boss, or someone who insults us, as a wounded individual who needs love. We can see behind the intimidating mask of a rebellious teenager to the frightened girl or boy who is crying out for acceptance. Do you see others with heaven’s eyes? What difference would spiritual eyesight make in your life?

I love Monday's because it's the day of the week that I share with you a devotion from one of VOM's most popular books - Extreme Devotion.  If you haven't received your copy yet, be sure to visit the bookstore.
And now...today's Extreme Devotion.

Neither drugs nor civil war can stop the spread of the gospel in Columbia.

    Juan and his wife, Maria, are missionaries among the indigenous people north of Cali, Columbia. Cali is controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist guerilla group. Many Columbian pastors and missionaries have faced opposition from FARC and have fled the area. When Juan met with a group of fifty FARC guerrillas three years ago, however, twenty of them received Christ. As he says, “We exchange pistols for epistles.”

    Now, the National Liberation Army has been attacking Christian churches in the region. Recently, more than twenty churches were shut down, and many pastors fled for their lives. Guerrillas often come and demand all the tithes and offerings or take the pastor’s life. Now Juan is the only pastor left in the area, and he receives no outside aid.

    Still, Juan and his wife made a decision to stay and continue ministering to the people. They say, “If we are to die because we preach the Word of God, we would rather die than leave the church.”     Juan does not condemn those who have left, nor does he talk about the difficulties they have faced. He prefers to share what God is doing and his burden for ministry. His mind is preoccupied, not with danger, but with reaching Columbia’s people for Christ.

Jesus describes an image of a pack animal burdened with a load. The animal does not struggle against the weight of the burden, however, for it is hardly heavy at all. Being burdened with the gospel is not the same as being weighed down with earthly concerns. The burden of the gospel simply means an awareness of others’ spiritual needs. Juan has a “burden,” but his burden is light. Following Christ’s example, we must be burdened for lost people. This load is light because we are always giving it away. We are not supposed to keep the good news to ourselves. Have you been rejected when you share Christ? Perhaps you have considered giving in to the opposition. Let Jesus’ burden for the lost motivate you to hang in there one more day.

Before prison we
heard about God.
But in prison we
experienced God.

PASTOR SZE—A CHINESE HOUSE-CHURCH LEADER WHO WAS IMPRISONED FOR HIS FAITH. HE SURVIVED FAMINE, ILLNESS, AND AN EXPLOSION IN THE COAL MINE WHERE HE WAS FORCED TO WORK.

 

The following is from the VOM book Extreme Devotion.

Persecution does not take us away from our home. Persecution helps send us along the way to our true “home.”

PASTOR J. COLAW

I hate the Communist system, but I love the men. I hate the sin, but I love the sinner. I love the Communists with all of my heart. Communists can kill Christians, but they cannot kill their love toward even those who kill them. I have not the slightest bitterness or resentment against the Communists or my torturers.

FORMER PRISONER OF FAITH UNDER COMMUNISM

A church that does not remember its persecuted brethren is no church at all.

A LUTHERAN PASTOR WHO ENDURED HORRIFIC TORTURE TO PROTECT MEMBERS OF THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH

In spite of the painful reflections and memories, I have no time for bitterness. My life is filled with too much happiness, too many loving, caring people to allow myself to be devoured by the cancer of hate. I rejoice. I sing. I laugh. I celebrate, because I know that my God reigns supreme over all the forces of evil and destruction Satan has ever devised. And best of all—my God reigns supreme in me!

PASTOR NOBLE ALEXANDER, IMPRISONED IN CUBA FOR TWENTY-TWO YEARS—I WILL DIE FREE

“Hurry, get into the closet. Do not make a sound unless you hear my voice. Do you understand?” Rose heard the two small voices of her preschool children say, “Yes, Mommy,” then she bolted out the door and headed toward her daughter’s school, praying that it was not too late.

At the proclamation of Sharia, or Islamic law, by the Nigerian government, pockets of violence broke out against Christian groups because they had opposed the laws. Rose’s oldest daughter was still at school during the rioting, and Rose was sure she would not be safe there. When she arrived at the school, her daughter had been taken to a military base for safety. Eventually, Rose found her, and they returned home where the two younger children were waiting safely.

The following day, when her husband left for a Christian gathering, it was the last time she saw him alive. Roughly 260 churches were destroyed during these riots, and more than 460 Christians were killed.
In the months since her husband’s murder, Rose has drawn comfort from the book of Acts. She said, “The same God that allowed Stephen to be stoned also allowed Peter to escape from prison. God has been faithful, and his grace has been sufficient.” Today Rose continues to work in the church where her martyred husband pastored, and she busily raises her three children.

It has been said God will never lead us where his grace cannot keep us. We must realize that sometimes his plan does not include a miraculous deliverance from illness, death, or oppression. Yet his grace is sufficient, and he has not abandoned us. We must trust that God would not lead us to a place of ministry or work without an adequate measure of his grace to make it. Sometimes his plan involves simply seeing us through an ordeal instead of delivering us from it. Have you come to a point where you are willing to entirely rely on him? You’ll likely never say that God’s grace is all you need until his grace is all you have.

For those who have suffered in prison for their faith in Christ, Holy Communion is a precious ceremony; however, it is rarely shared under the watchful eye of prison guards.

Tom White and a pilot named Mel were flying over Communist Cuba in a small plane, dropping thousands of leaflets that communicated the gospel of Christ to the oppressed people under Fidel Castro’s dictatorship. They got caught in a thunderstorm and were forced to make a crash landing. Although Tom and Mel were unharmed, they had landed in Cuba, and Communist guards were waiting with loaded guns. Tom and Mel were sentenced to twenty-four years in prison.

Tom was allowed two visits from his wife, Ofelia, who had a mission of her own. She smuggled a tiny packet of powdered grape drink enclosed in plastic and a rubber band. Tom would take the drink back into the prison cell so that he and the other Christian prisoners could share communion when the guards were not watching.

Tom and Ofelia White both understood one thing. Celebrating Jesus Christ and his shed blood on the cross was the most powerful symbol holding their marriage and mission intact.

Tom and Mel were released after eighteen months. Today Tom and Ofelia continue to celebrate Christ’s sacrifice for them in Oklahoma, where Tom directs the work of The Voice of the Martyrs.

Christ instructed his disciples to celebrate two traditions: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They are symbols of devotion to him—a celebration of his death and resurrection. As much as they are Christian traditions, however, they ought never become merely traditional events. We may not understand believers who risk their lives to commemorate the Lord’s Supper because the tradition has never been at risk in our own cultural setting. But those who are persecuted for their faith find their priorities are reordered. The symbols become precious expressions of devotion. What do the Christian symbols of baptism and communion mean to you? How will you heighten your celebration the next time you observe Christian baptism and participate in communion?

The following is taken from the book Extreme Devotion. Learn from this man.

Drunken Russian guards entered the cold cell one harsh winter afternoon. One prisoner, Nicolaie Moldovae, was a poet and composer as well as a devout believer and leader of an evangelical movement in the Orthodox church. He received a five year sentence in the brutal Russian prison for his ministry work.

“Lie on your belly!” a guard yelled to Nicolaie. In his thin shirt and shorts, he lay on the freezing floor. The guards then stepped on his back, legs, and feet with their heavy boots for an hour.

When the guards left, fellow prisoners knelt beside Nicolaie to see how badly he was hurt. To their amazement, Nicolaie said, “I have written a new hymn while I was being walked upon.” He began to sing, “May I not only speak about future heavens, but let me have heaven and a holy feast here.”

After Nicolaie was released from prison, the Communist police searched his home and confiscated a unique book of manuscripts that Nicolaie had worked on for several years. Hundreds of hours of precious work, writing, and devotion were immediately taken. After this, Nicolaie composed another hymn. “I worship you with gratitude for all you ever gave me, but also for everything beloved you took from me. You do all things well, and I will trust in you.”

Today, Nicolaie Moldovae’s songs are celebrated throughout his nation.

It has been said that life is ten percent what happens and ninety percent how one responds to what happens. In that light, the actual circumstances of life do not matter as much as a person’s attitude toward them. Circumstances are beyond anyone’s control. But an attitude or response is a choice. Life may bring us a disharmonious jumble of notes and melodies in a minor key. With God’s help, however, we can choose to arrange the notes to produce a song of worship and victory. We can choose to hear melody in the madness of our lives. How would you describe the current circumstances in your life? What is your attitude toward your situation? What do you need to do to change your tune?