“But take heed to yourselves; for they will deliver you up to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Getting anywhere is by definition a journey.
Walk, bike, drive, or take the bus, no matter where I want to go, there is a path I must take.
If the path goes uphill, I must walk up that hill.
If the path is long, I must do a lot of walking.
If I don't walk the path, I cannot go anywhere.
We often speak about faith in terms of a journey. In my case, it has been quite a journey, with multiple detours and unexpected turns.
Even writing Peter's Proverbs is a journey, and a remarkable one. My faith is not the same as it was at the beginning.
Is my faith deeper? Is it wiser? I hope it is. I certainly like to think it is, but I have just enough honesty and integrity to admit that I really don't know. Like everyone else, I am the wrong person to measure my own gifts.
I do know that my faith is more rewarding now than when I first started writing these sermons. I realize as well my faith would not have grown in the ways it has had I not been writing Peter's Proverbs.
If I did not walk this particular path, I could not have reached this particular destination.
Reaching any destination demands walking a specific path.
Often, that path is dangerous. Often, to walk the path means we must risk attacks of all kinds, physical and otherwise.
To walk the path of Christian faith in places like Nigeria is to risk a brutal and barbaric death.
We can credibly say that Charlie Kirk was murdered right here in America because he walked the path of Christian faith.
Even when we are not threatened physically, Christians everywhere have been accused of “hate speech” and bigotry just for quoting Biblical passages and voicing Biblical teachings. Loving the Lord our God with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our mind is the epitome of evil in the eyes of many non-believers.
During the COVID Pandemic Panic, I faced the challenge of potentially being compelled to accept the toxic, deadly, and frankly demonic mRNA inoculations as a condition of employment. I was confronted with the worst of all choices: accept into my flesh the Mark of the Beast, or lose my job—just as is foretold in Revelation. It is not an exaggeration to say that, for a time, my job literally hung in the balance—and my employer was not shy about insisting all employees take the shots. But for the timely intervention of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, I was very nearly forced to choose between having a job and rejecting that Mark of the Beast.
I was praying constantly during that time—praying for strength, praying for resoluteness, praying for deliverance that I would not be forced to make that choice. Prayer was all that I had. I had no choice but to leave the matter up to God, because I had no influence whatsoever over the outcome.
I was praying especially because there was no assurance that declaration of religious belief would suffice. A great many in government were actively rejecting that faith could have any validity as a basis for rejecting the shots.
I have not had my life threatened as have Christians in Nigeria. I have not been a target of assassination. Yet after COVID I have some idea of what it means to endure persecution for one’s faith. It is not a pleasant experience. I am not even sure I could call it a rewarding experience, other than to admit gratitude for God moving Governor Abbott to do the right thing and ban the vaccine mandates.
The path of faith is frequently a path of persecution. To publicly proclaim the Truth is to jeopardize one's job, and one's secular friends.
Faith can be dangerous.
In a myriad of ways large and small, the truth of Jesus’ warning in Mark 13 is playing out right before our eyes. People are being delivered into trials for their faith. People are being delivered into death for their faith. People are being hated and vilified for their faith. All that Jesus foretold is coming to pass.
Yet whether we are threatened physically or otherwise, or even if we are not threatened at all, the path of faith is the path we must walk to achieve the rewards of faith. No matter the challenge, no matter the difficulty, if we do not stay on the path of faith, we shall see only the rewards of the faithless.
We must walk the entire path, all the way to the end, if we are to receive the rewards of faith. If we walk the path, but fall away on the very last step, we still only receive the rewards of the faithless.
We must walk the entire path, even though it leads through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. If we lose heart, if we abandon the path in fear, we will not receive any reward but that of the faithless.
Yet if faith were easy, if the path were smooth and straight and level, could the rewards of faith ever be all that great?
In everything we do, if the effort is small, the reward is also small. When the effort is great, generally the reward also is great.
The rewards of faith are great. There can be no debating this.
We are promised that if we seek righteousness, we will receive it. We are promised the Kingdom of Heaven if we will but continue to walk the path of faith, come what may.
We are taught that God’s Grace assures us that we will forgiven of our sins.
Yet we must have faith that these things will be, or else they will not be.
I have heard street preachers promise people that if they will only believe—and join the preacher’s church—their lives will go “from victory to victory”. I know from experience this is a lie. Even when we believe, we often go from hardship to hardship. Life’s challenges are not erased by choosing a path of faith.
Victory comes only at the very end. When we have walked the entire path of faith, when we have reached that final destination, there will we achieve our victory. All that comes before is the battle we must fight to win that victory.
Faith is hard, and yet it must be hard if it is to have meaning. We must be challenged, we must endure those moments when we pray for the cup to pass, we must even at times drink bitter gall from the cup, if our faith is to have any strength at all.
This much I do know: moments of crisis, moments of fear and even despair, are the moments when my faith has grown the most.
When Governor Abbott banned vaccine mandates in Texas, I felt the relief of being delivered from the Mark of the Beast. Without the crisis, I could not have known the deliverance. Without such moments, I would not appreciate what it means to take a stand on principle, or on faith.
In each such moment, my faith has gained greater meaning and deeper nuance.
Jesus does not mince words. He tells us plainly that the path of faith will be a path of danger. He tells us plainly that to follow Him we must take up the cross—we must invite our own trials, our own condemnation in the eyes of men, our own crucifixion.
If we choose the path of faith, we must accept that the path will at times be dangerous. We must accept that the path will be challenging. We must accept that the path will be uncompromising.
If we choose the path of faith, we must accept that if it is not hard, it is not faith.
Choosing the path of faith is not the end of the struggle, but the beginning.
My prayer this day is that my faith will endure despite all hardship, and all challenge. My prayer this day is that I will embrace all hardship and challenge as opportunities to let my faith grow. My prayer this day is that, through faith, I will come through all hardship and all challenge with greater wisdom and greater insight.
My prayer for you this day is that your faith will endure despite all hardship, and all challenge. My prayer for you this day is that you will embrace all hardship and challenge as opportunities to let your faith grow. My prayer for you this day is that, through faith, you will come through all hardship and all challenge with greater wisdom and greater insight.
Jesus does not mince words. He tells us plainly that the path of faith will be a path of danger. He tells us plainly that to follow Him we must take up the cross—we must invite our own trials, our own condemnation in the eyes of men, our own crucifixion.
Choosing the path of faith is not the end of the struggle, but the beginning.
If we choose the path of faith, we must accept that if it is not hard, it is not faith.
Way Truth Life
.....endure to the end.
To be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see....
....grace and peace to you Amigo, thanx!
Matthew 5:8 ♥️👁️
skopos kai telos
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy” - Psalm 126:5