Strength

[David7183]

You know I’ve come across many people who’ve argued with me about the existence of God. They think that the Believer is weak because they look for a purpose to this life and are scared of death And are looking for something to feel safe. So according to them this is considered weakness. Well I’ll tell you what... I can’t think of anything else that shows the amount of strength that us believers have than to follow God. Weakness Is giving in To your body. It’s fleshly desires and to live in sin by doing so. Real strength comes from God for the believer and there is nothing tougher than denying yourself from every sin this world has made so enticing And picking up your cross and deciding to follow the Lord Jesus. Because the believer knows what it takes to stay on this path and that should be enough evidence to show how strong we are when we have God on our side.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Read something interesting along these lines the other day:

I had occasion to be on a college campus, a college of about 25- or 26- thousand students. And they asked me to come and to speak on Christianity and culture on the open forum. And several thousand students were gathered around and I was to speak on Christianity and culture. What am I going to say, right? So I could exhaust everything I know about Christianity and culture in about ten minutes. And then I decided since the predominant number of students didn't know Jesus Christ that I would speak on the deity of Jesus Christ and how to know God through Him. And so I went ten minutes on Christianity and culture, 40 minutes on the deity of Jesus Christ, and I just proclaimed salvation through Jesus Christ. You could have heard a pin drop. I know the Spirit of God controlled things because it was really just straight-on gospel. And there are those times, you know, when you preach and you feel like you're just pushing and it's hard and there's resistance.And then there are those times when you're just flying. And I felt like I was just soaring. I mean, I was freewheeling and stuff was coming and the power of God was there.

And I got all done and it was incredible what happened. One guy walked up to me, he said, "I need to know Jesus Christ." And I had the privilege of leading him to Christ. Another guy I had the privilege of seeing in my office a few days later, came to Christ and went to seminary. I mean, God really touched some lives. Continued below..................

 

[Deuteronomy]

But the impact of it was, they banned all Christians from the campus. They closed down the free speech platform. They took the Christian book table off the campus. And the next time I spoke at a near campus, the whole group of students from the other campus that protested came over and ringed the podium where I was speaking and shouted the whole time. They called our home in the middle of the night with obscene phone calls, threatened the family, threatened my wife. And my first reaction was..I've got to quit doing this, you know, this is creating problems. My second reaction was, I think I made a wave. I mean, I think I made a dent in the kingdom of darkness. And I began to realize what Peter said that when you're persecuted for righteousness sake, the Spirit of grace and glory rests on you. And there was a tremendous sense of identification. I felt sort of quasi-apostolic, you know, I was knowing what some of those guys went through. So I really believe that when you approach this responsibility of standing before the world to testify for the sake of Jesus Christ, you've got to realize that it's a hostile world. And if the gospel is truly preached, they're going to react.

~Dr. John MacArthur (from Spiritual Boot Camp/How to Witness)

.........2 Timothy 3
.........12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

 

[EmilyFoster]

Very well said, David. It takes a lot of commitment and dedication to follow Jesus. People who don’t believe can say anything, but only we know the love, amazing grace and peace that we receive each day as we look up to Him in faith. Blessings to you and yours!

 

[Hungry]

You know I’ve come across many people who’ve argued with me about the existence of God. They think that the Believer is weak because they look for a purpose to this life and are scared of death And are looking for something to feel safe. So according to them this is considered weakness. Well I’ll tell you what... I can’t think of anything else that shows the amount of strength that us believers have than to follow God. Weakness Is giving in To your body. It’s fleshly desires and to live in sin by doing so. Real strength comes from God for the believer and there is nothing tougher than denying yourself from every sin this world has made so enticing And picking up your cross and deciding to follow the Lord Jesus. Because the believer knows what it takes to stay on this path and that should be enough evidence to show how strong we are when we have God on our side.

I agree with your comments but what the world sees is not what you have stated. The sad truth is that out of the one billion “Christians” who use the Name of Christ, there are only a handful on the narrow path. The majority are indeed superstitious, fearful and hedging their bets for afterlife insurance. Others are misinformed and follow a Santa Claus theology. Some are hate mongers and attempt to coerce others into following like a political party. By the time someone has had their taste of Christianity their mind has been made up. Again, this only solidifies what you stated. Not only do we fight our flesh but also contend with all those who oppose the Messiah, and false believers along the way.

 

[Deuteronomy]

The sad truth is that out of the one billion “Christians” who use the Name of Christ, there are only a handful on the narrow path. The majority are indeed superstitious, fearful and hedging their bets for afterlife insurance. Others are misinformed and follow a Santa Claus theology.

Hi Hungry, sadly, I think I agree (nevertheless, I do hope we are wrong about only a handful from the church being on the narrow path). Also, I think A. W. Pink has something to say about the trend of much of modern evangelism and "afterlife insurance".

~Deut
.