"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" - Isaiah 41:10 (NIV).
When God is into something it will last. Immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus there was intense persecution of his followers. A man called Saul led the campaign to annihilate Christians, supervising the first martyrdom of Stephen. He later recalled, "And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him" (Acts 22:20).
Saul would be converted while out on the road seeking to kill Christians. "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name" (Acts 9:20-21). Everything was done to stop Paul and he too was severely persecuted. Once he pointed out, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked.." (2 Cor 11:24-25). Eventually he would be delivered to Rome, where he met his death!
The early believers suffered all manner of persecutions. A Roman Emperor called Nero inveted the practice of throwing Christians to lions for entertainment. His campaign would end in futility. In 312 AD Emperor Constantine decided to embrace Christianity.
But when believers realised the Gospel had been hijacked into a souless state religion, they rebelled and started the Reformation in 1517. Many would be burnt on the pyre as heteretic. In Uganda when the Gospel of Christ finally made its way here with the arrival of missionaries in 1877 the early believers were torched to death.
What force has not been leveled against Christianity? In the last century a Communist empire rose in the East determined to extinguish the flames of Christianity. But it all ended in oblivion with the fall of the Iron curtain in 1991.
All this is to say if you are on to something and are meeting all kinds of opposition yet deep inside you know it is God who has sent you do not waver. Stay focused. Stay on the road. The very fact that you are being faught hard, that the start is so fractured, is proof of what you are doing is of God. But no matter all the opposition your cause will prosper for you are not sent of man but of God!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray that knowing you are the one who sent me you lead me on from strength to victory, this I pray in Jesus's name.
Related upcoming events
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28/04/2024 - 29/04/2024 All day"The Lord is my shepherd!" (Psalm 23:1)
Psalm 23 of David is perhaps one of the best prayers ever written, with nuggets and inspirations, of benefit to us since and
ever before. “The LORD is my shepherd, “David begins.” I lack nothing” (vv 1). What is it that you lack? In his life David had started out as a shepherd, and he knew very well, that a shepherd’s job is to watch over his sheep, feed and water them, and since the Lord is our shepherd, we his sheep shall lack nothing.Verse 2 -3 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” This exactly what a good shepherd does; he takes his sheep to the best fodder, ensuring that his sheep are well fed and rested. When the sheep are restless the good shepherd is troubled. Our God desires and is pleased when we are at peace.
Sometimes we may all find ourselves going through a storm. In Verse 4- 5, David says, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” The Christian life is not without difficulties, but here David points us to God as our comforter and deliverer. We always have the staff of prayer to lean on.
In Verse 5, he writes, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” In his tumultuous life, David had to battle with many enemies, ranging from King Saul, to foreigners and members of his own family. He knew a lot about betrayal. And, we too, may face enemies no less, from those that oppose us in our workplace for their ambition’s sake, to those who are not pleased because of the Gospel we preach. Yet here, just as David, we are assured that victory is on our side- this is why our cup overflows.
“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (vv 6). The one who walks with God has a fresh smile ever, for God is with him. The blessings of God are with him wherever he goes.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham,
maker of heaven and earth, as David prayed in Psalm 23, may I not be troubled, for you are my shepherd ever watching over me and your goodness goes ahead of me!
