“And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

— Acts 1:8

Friendship with the world can cloud our vision of Christ. Even the old legend of King Arthur teaches that principle.

Jesus wants us to tell others about Him, so that they too may come to experience His forgiveness of sins. There is great joy in spiritual reproduction.

I remember the words of Dr. Manford Gutzke, professor of English Bible at Columbia Theological Seminary. He said, “Gentlemen, you can always tell the difference between a real rose and a milliner’s rose made in a flower shop. The real rose may be beaten by the winds, it may be eaten by the cat, it may have holes from worms in it, while the milliner’s rose may be a beauty to behold. But one thing is certain, the milliner’s rose will never produce another rose.”

Which are you? The real thing or a fake? A nominal Christian never produces another Christian, but real Christians do. That’s one of the easiest ways to tell. So determine that you are going to witness for Christ. I hope you will determine that you are going to witness to someone every week. If you don’t know how to do that, you ought to learn how, and there are programs, such as Evangelism Explosion, that are more than happy to train you. But if you can’t do that, and until you do, at least invite them to come to church. Ask God to use you to help others follow Jesus.

Lord of the harvest, give me strength for today to be a Christian with a winsome and active witness. May the people I invest my time in know You and love You as I do…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
BE REPRODUCING CHRISTIANS.

“You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God?”

— James 4:4

Friendship with the world can cloud our vision of Christ. Even the old legend of King Arthur teaches that principle.

Knights of the Round Table sought after the Holy Grail, which was purported to be the cup from which Christ had drunk at the Last Supper. The fact that they would spend their whole lives seeking after that cup is difficult for us to see. That was an age of much superstition, but nevertheless there are some truths to be learned from the legend.

There was only one Sir Galahad. According to the original tale, he kept the eyes of his soul upon that goal. By resisting temptation and by resisting a life of ease, he plodded onward until at last it was revealed to him through a great oak tree.

He saw the Grail resplendent in the heavens. He dismounted from his white horse and stood fascinated by the vision, which lighted up his armor. When discussing this ethereal vision later with the King, Arthur wisely noted this vision was for him, but not the others.

There is something to say for those who are pure in heart that they shall see God, and one of the consequences of impurity in our lives is that the vision of God grows dim and fades away. Have you wondered why it seems that God is far away, hard to find? Ah, my friends, upon what have your eyes been feasting? Where have your thoughts been dallying? Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Holy God, give me the strength to turn away from the lure of this world and all the vain things that charm me most. “Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my life” and keep my thoughts heavenward so I will not lose sight of You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
KEEP OUR VISION OF HIM.

“…I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

— 1 Kings 19:14

God can use one man or woman of conviction, even while the rest cower in fear. Think of the great Athanasius who lived in the 300s. At the time, the deity of Christ had come under such enormous attack that it seems that the majority, even within the church, were denying the very deity of Christ. Athanasius, this bold defender of the deity of Christ, seemed to be the only one willing to take a stand. He was even banished from the Roman Empire five times, but he came back. It is possible that without his steadfast stance, we might not even know about our divine savior Jesus Christ.

If it weren’t for the boldness of Martin Luther, we might not even know about justification by faith. I think about William Carey, the first Protestant missionary who carried the Gospel to India. Carey said, “One thing I can do is plod,” and so with determination he plodded along and he translated the Bible into numerous different languages. One time one of those translations went up in flames, and he had no back up. But what did he do? Quit? No, he plodded with true determination, and he did it all over again.

Elijah thought he was the only one standing for God in the days of wicked Ahab, but God had reserved 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. May the Lord find us faithful, even if we are in the minority.

Almighty Father, thank You for raising up men and women through the centuries who have stood contra mundum. Raise up people in our time that will stand strong and show the world Your truth…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
STAND AGAINST THE WORLD.

“…in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season…”

— Psalm 1:2-3

The godly man is described in Psalm 1 as one who loves the Word of the Lord and ruminates on it in the morning and in the evening. By being so grounded in the Scriptures, he becomes like a tree with deep roots. But many people do not have deep roots, and so they hardly grow.

The Japanese have a way of taking what ordinarily are large trees and reducing them into tiny little trees and the way they do that is, first of all, cutting off the tap root. Those trees then are only able to use the surface roots, the smaller surface roots of the plant; and so the tree just doesn’t grow very much.

And that is the way it is with most people in this world. Their tap root does not go down deep into the Word of God, and so all they have for nourishment are those surface roots that are sucking up the things of this world. Consequently their spiritual growth is badly stunted and they will never show spiritual depth. They will never persevere unto the end and be saved. They will never be like Martin Luther, who could stand before the Diet of Worms and say, “Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me.” Therefore, he would not recant anything. Spending quality time in the meditation of the Bible is the key to true spiritual depth.

Lord of the Vineyard, thank You for cultivating and fertilizing and digging around me. Let my roots grow deep past the top soil and down to the nourishing rich soil of Your Word…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, OUR
ROOTS CAN GROW STRONG.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

— Proverbs 23:7, KJV

Paul believed that he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him, and he changed the world. But many Christians today never claim this promise or virtually any other promise in the Word of God. Sadly, they live lives with a trail of many defeats.

In fact, I think it can certainly be said that before any man is beaten at any task, whatever it may be, he first of all is beaten in his own mind. True grit is something that is given to us in part by the spirit of God, something also that must be cultivated.

One psychologist advised keeping the faculty of effort alive in us by a little gratuitous exercise of the soul each day. He says to do something every day that is a little heroic or arduous for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, and, thus, develop your soul. And let no man despise, he says, these unimportant efforts at self-discipline, they forge character. We talk a great deal about bad habits, but there are good habits that need to be cultivated and inculcated in our children. A man who stands by his guns, who stands fast, is generally a man who has learned to do this over a long period of time. God uses different types of people, including those who never quit in what they believe God wants them to do, despite the obstacles.

Lord, give us strength today to do something we would rather not do. Please develop strong Christian character within us. Show us clearly what small act of heroism we can do today and give us the strength to follow through…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, OUR
CHARACTER IS BUILT.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were so.”

— Acts 17:11

The Scripture is the final authority in all religious controversies. It is to the Word of God, the oracles of God, not to men, that we are to turn. Down through the centuries people have said, “Well, the minister said this or the priest said that or the church has said this or the Rabbi declares this.” But the Scriptures declare it is only in the Bible that we have the infallible Word of God.

I charge you not to take what I say on faith, but to examine what I say in light of the Scriptures. I endeavor to proclaim no novel doctrines, and offer no new religions, but simply to declare that faith which, once and for all, was delivered unto the saints. It is up to you to examine it.

The Bible tells us that the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica because they received the Word with all readiness of mind. In fact, they searched the Scriptures daily to see if this preaching was true. Who was it that was preaching? None other than the Apostle Paul himself. God declares that these people were noble and I would charge you to believe nothing I say without testing it by the Scriptures. If it is contrary to the Word of God, reject it. May God make us good Bereans.

Father, thank You for speaking through Your holy Word. Help us never to reject it to listen instead to man’s opinion. Help our churches so that we all boldly proclaim Your Word and not any false doctrine which twists and distorts what You have clearly said…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN BE
GROUNDED IN THE WORD OF GOD.

“Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are able to overcome it.’”

— Numbers 13:3

Joshua and Caleb were among the twelve spies who Moses sent into the Promised Land. But sadly, he and Caleb were outvoted by the other ten who said it was a great land, but it was filled with giants.

Nonetheless, Joshua and Caleb said we are more than able to possess it. “Let us go up at once and take it,” they said. They were not men that were filled with fear, timidity, or defeatism. They were positive, they were strong, they were courageous, and they wanted to go up at once.

Now they had also seen the giants. They did not by any means declare that the majority was wrong in its facts of the case, they were just wrong in their conclusions. They had seen the giants and yes, compared to the giants I suppose they were grasshoppers. Ah, but Caleb and Joshua saw the Lord God Jehovah, and compared to Him, the Anakites or Anakim were but ants crawling around on the earth. And so that courage, which is an integral part of true grit, comes from a confidence and faith in God’s Word.

Being Christian does not mean that God spares us from facing giants in our lives. What it does mean is “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). God is much greater than Satan. The Lord can give us victory over all the giants we face. Let us face the problems in life with the eyes of faith, like Joshua and Caleb, as opposed to eyes of unbelief, like the other ten spies.

Lord of hosts, in Your army and in Your company, we are conquerors. Jesus, You who are the Captain of the Lord’s army, give us strength for today and courage to face the giants. Thank You for the “weapon” of Your Word, which is the sword of the Spirit…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN OVERCOME
THE DARTS OF THE EVIL ONE.

“Then I looked. And there was a great multitude which no one could count, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”

— Revelation 7:9

When Jesus died and rose from the dead, there were some 120 believers who gathered in an upper room to pray, at His command. No one even took note of their existence.

Then Peter preached a sermon, and 3,000 believed. Shortly thereafter, 5,000 more were added to the number, followed by a great multitude of Jews and priests. Next came a time of persecution and when it ended in 313 A.D. with the Edict of Toleration, there were about 10 million professing Christians. By the year 1000, this number had grown to 50 million. By 1800 A.D., the number had grown to 215 million professing Christians. That is an increase of 165 million in 800 years.

In 1795, the modern missionary movement began in earnest with William Carey. By the year 1900 A.D., 100 years later, the number had grown to 500 million professing Christians. That is an increase of 285 million in one century. Jump ahead to today, and we are talking about roughly 2.2 billion professing Christians, larger than any other religion.

There is nothing even vaguely approaching this accomplishment in the annals of human history. When we look at the explosive growth of the Church worldwide, it makes us realize that, by God’s grace, we are winning.

Jesus Christ, Lord of the universe, grant us strength today to further Your kingdom on earth. Thank You for letting us be a part of this great multitude who belong to You. Help us to not miss the big picture in our everyday life…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND HIS GRACE,
WE ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE.

“…until we all come into…the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”

— Ephesians 4:13

Sanctification is just a technical term coming from the Latin that means spiritual growth—that God did not birth us to be merely babies. We are to grow and become little children and older children and then mature adults.

We are the army of Jesus Christ. We sing, “Onward Christian Soldiers,” but can you imagine a kindergarten full of little children putting their toy rifles on their shoulders and marching off to war singing “Onward Christian Soldiers”? We would say, “Aren’t they cute? Certainly nobody is going to get hurt by that army. That’s for sure.”

So I would ask you: If you have been born of Christ, have you grown in Christ? You know, it’s interesting, you will hear a lot of people say, “I’m a born-again Christian.” Now that certainly has a wonderful truth to it. It’s saying that we have experienced that life-transforming act where God changes us, and we have a new birth.

But what would you think about a person that you met who is fifty or sixty years old and every time you talked to him, he told about what a wonderful birth he had had—that his mother didn’t have a whole lot of pain. It all worked out well, and you keep seeing him and he keeps telling you about when he was born, as if that is the last thing that ever happened to him. God wants us to grow in Christ unto maturity.

Lord Jesus, we repent of our spiritual laziness. We repent of taking the things of You so lightly, while seriously engaged in other pursuits. Give us strength for today, Lord, that we may begin to develop great spiritual maturity…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
AGE GRACEFULLY IN CHRIST.

“…and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.”

— Isaiah 52:5

We live in an age that is awash with blasphemy. It is grievous to hear the name of Jesus Christ taken in vain, spoken of blasphemously. Why would anyone speak that name in blasphemy? It is the only sin without any motivation other than the pure demonic hatred of the fallen heart of man against God. Why? What more could He do than for you He has done?

God says in the Ten Commandments that He will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Yet people blithely take God’s name in vain all over the place in this culture. They treat it like it doesn’t mean anything—and yet their very lives depend on Him, whose name they take in vain. It’s hard to turn on the radio or watch TV or a movie and avoid hearing blasphemy.

I would remind every blasphemer, every persecutor, every antagonist of Christianity that they are persecuting the living, risen, glorious Son of God, before whom one day they will stand and give an account of themselves and before whose feet they will bow. For many of them it will be the last thing that happens before they are taken and cast into hell.

God’s name is holy. We should not take it in vain in profanity or by using it lightly. Don’t ever say, “The Lord told me…” if it really was only your own wishes that told you. The name of God is to be praised, not defamed.

Holy God, we tremble when we think of all the blasphemy of our society. We cringe when we hear even little children swear. Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do. Give us strength for today to always honor Your holy name…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE
CAN KEEP HIS NAME HOLY.