A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Bob Gass Ministries)
Scripture for the Day (June 21, 2018)
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. (Philippians 1:20)
Over half of all Christians now live in the Third World, often in an anti-Christian environment. More Chinese Christians take part in Sunday worship than the combined attendance of Christians in all of Western Europe. Lebanon is 39 percent Christian; Sudan, 5 percent; Egypt, about 10 percent. Many of these saints worship at their own risk.
You may be one of these that worship at your own risk. You may be the only Christian in your Iraqi university, or an Arab woman who offers prayers in silence, or a Messianic Jew who lives in Jerusalem. Or perhaps you’re in a society of religious freedom, but a community of spiritual oppression. Family members mock your beliefs. University professors belittle your convictions. Classmates snigger at your choices. Colleagues pressure you to compromise your integrity. Coworkers make it their mission to snag you in a weak moment. If that’s where you find yourself, stand up for Jesus!
Paul wrote these words from his prison cell: “I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (vv. 19-21 NIV).
Hymnist George Duffield Jr. wrote: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory, His armies shall He lead. Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.” Today, stand up for Jesus!
In the Grammy award winning song “Break Every Chain” that was written by Will Reagan the last verse contains the following words:
There’s an army rising up, There’s an army rising up, There’s an army rising up,
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain.
There are people giving their lives for the gospel in foreign lands even as we write this devotional. We cannot be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. We cannot backup or be dismayed or afraid. We have to march forward in the love of God and in the power of His Spirit.
