July 11
Nehemia purposes in his heart to rebuild the wall
around Jerusalem as the Lord had sent him to do, but he is being
harassed and threatened as as he meets fierce resistance:
"For
they all were trying to make us afraid, saying,
'Their
hands will be weakened in the work,
and
it will not be done.'
Now therefore,
O God, strengthen my hands."
Nehemiah
6:9
Similarly, in the New Testament, Paul testified of the
Lord in Jerusalem, resulting in the religious leaders taking an oath
that they won't eat until they have killed him.
"...more
than forty of them lie in wait for him,
men
who have bound themselves by an oath
that
they will neither eat nor drink
till they have killed him..."
Acts
23:21
But the Lord encourages Paul:
vs:11
"But
the following night the Lord stood by him and said,
'Be
of good cheer, Paul,
for as you have
testified for me in Jerusalem,
so you
must also bear witness at Rome.'"
If you serve the Lord,
it is guaranteed that you will be resisted, rejected, slandered,
and opposed by the enemy of God. Our natural human reactions sting
for a moment, but the Lord has told us that this is an occasion to
"be of good cheer," REJOICE! It takes a very mature
believer to be able to do that.
"If the world hates you,
you know that it hated me before it hated you."
John
15:18
Strive to keep this in mind always, and do not
waver.
"Blessed
are you when they revile and persecute you,
and
say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.
Rejoice
and be exceedingly glad,
for great is
your reward in heaven..."
Matthew 5:11-12
MORE:
Rejoicing
in
Suffering?
No comments:
Post a Comment