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Price of Faith
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Posted by: angelofthelord
Matthew 14:6-11)
The price of freedom, the price of faith. As horrible as it was to watch
the events of 9/11 unfold, it happened in New York City, far away from 95%
of the nation. 3 1/2 years later, those memories have faded and the
enormity of that moment are all but forgotten.
Since we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, never before have we had such
extensive coverage of any war in our history. But the fact is, these wars
are being fought half way around the globe and have no real impact on the
daily lives of the vast majority of people in this country.
Let me remind you of this important fact. There are incredible
numbers of people throughout the world that HATE the United States and all
that it stands for, hate the people of this great nation, and have as their
goal in life the destruction of this country and the death of everyone who
lives here. That is the reality of this world we are living in. We can
never take lightly this war on terrorism or doing everything that we
possibly can to protect ourselves from a very real enemy that would love to
wipe this nation and all of its people off the face of the globe.
THERE IS A PRICE FOR FREEDOM!
Beheading is not a new way to kill someone. In today's Scripture, we read
of the beheading of John the Baptist. What did he do? Shared the truth of
God's Word. As a matter of fact, if you study church history, you will see
that in was routine for Christians to be killed for their faith. Many of
the apostles
and many others of God's choice servants throughout the years were brutally
killed
for their faith in Jesus Christ. It has not been uncommon for those who
follow Jesus to be tortured and killed as they took the Gospel to different
parts of the world.
Even today, in December 2004, there are many places in the world where
people
are killed for their faith in Christ. That is why I laugh when people in
the United States claim to be persecuted for their faith. While we struggle
to get up on Sunday morning, put on nice clothes, drive our cars to
multi-million dollar state-of-the art luxurious churches, there are brothers
and sisters in Christ in parts of the world today that are imprisoned,
beaten, tortured, and killed for proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Lord!
THERE IS A PRICE FOR FAITH!
Let me wake you up today with a scenario, one that is not as far fetched as
you may initially think. In the Old Testament, when God unleashed His
judgment
on the children of Israel, it was often by allowing their enemies to invade
their land and take them captive. We see this form of judgment on Israel
for their rebellion to God many times. I have shared with you in the past
this nation is not only due, but OVERDUE God's judgment for our rebellion to
Him.
Now, imagine if God allowed one of the enemies of the United State to invade
our land and take us captive. I know you are saying it could never happen.
After all, we are the greatest power on the planet. We have the greatest
armies, the greatest weapons, a tremendous nuclear capacity. You don't have
to be a history major to realize there have been many great nations over the
course of human history, and at their height, I am sure ALL of them said the
same thing. Where are those great nations today? Only a fool does not
learn from history.
I wonder what happens if God allows a Muslim nation to invade and
successfully take over the United States. I can guarantee you that the
first thing on their list will be to ban Christianity. All of the churches
will be burnt to the ground and those who claim Christ will immediately be
imprisoned, and ultimately killed. It would actually be interesting to see
how many people would still stand for Christ under such a scenario. If
people have such a hard time just going to church on Sunday, have to be
almost forced to serve God in some small way, are they actually going to die
for Jesus???
Let me ask you a question that only you can answer. Think about it before
you do. If you were taken prisoner, and told you can denounce Christ and be
free, otherwise you will have your head cut off, what would you do?
The good news is that we know how
the story ends. GOD WINS! For those who have accepted Christ as their
Savior, we have the assurance of everlasting life. Jesus said in Luke 12:4,
"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and
after that can do no more." For the Christian, evil man can kill your body
because of your faith, but your everlasting soul belongs to the Lord! THAT
is why those great men and women of God throughout the ages had no fear of losing their life for the Gospel. They knew they would be spending eternity with their Lord after this brief journey was over, no mater how it ended.
Let us pray for everyone today. We can never lose sight that we live in a
sin-filled and lost world, full of people who have chosen to live their
lives in rebellion to the God of the Bible. God has blessed us with a great
nation that has great freedoms. It is because of those freedoms that we
have the ability to share our faith in Christ with people here as well as
with those around the world. We can never take that freedom for granted,
and have to make the most of each day. We never know if we will have these same freedoms tomorrow.
Pray today for those who pay the price for our freedom, and pray today for
those today who pay the price for our faith!
Posted by: ChosenByHim
WOW! That was really something. Gave me alot to think about.