The Right Ambition

                                                   THE RIGHT AMBITION

Introduction: By nature, humans are ambitious. We all want to do something good in and with our lives and leave a significant footprint behind. No one wants to be a cheat or a crook. When you ask children what they want to become when they grow up, they usually say, I want to be like, Michael Jordon, Steph Curry, a film actor, doctor, or engineer, etc.

            Here are some funny ambitions of kids: "When I grow up, I want to be a customer in a store. I will buy broccoli, tomatoes, and carrots, and when I get home, I will make soup with them." "I want to be a person who cleans tables." "I will one day be a Potato." I want to be a wolf." "I want to be a batman." "When I grow up, I want to be like Mommy."[1]

            We laugh at these ambitions; for example, to be a potato or a wolf, some may or may never happen. What is ambition? I found this definition on LinkedIn "Ambition means a strong desire to do or achieve something in life. Ambition gives us aims, objectives, goals, and targets in life. It gives us a sense of direction and motivation toward our goals in life.[2]

 We all need ambition. Without it, we remain purposeless and useless. It is one thing to have ambition but another thing to have the right ambition. Some quotes on ambition: "There is one weakness in people for which there is no remedy. It is the universal weakness of lack of ambition. – Napoleon Hill. "The man who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won't succeed; you must have a larger ambition." John D. Rockefeller. What is your ambition?

Last week we saw how we fold our earthly tent and be transferred to our true home, our new bodies. In today's passage, we will see what happens to us when we die, what should be the right and supreme ambition in life and death, and how we will be judged based on how we lived on this earth. Considering that, how can we live out our daily existence in this world? 

Vs. 6-8, "So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies, we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. In NASB, Vs. 8, "but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Let me unpack these verses.

What does it mean, "as long as we live in these bodies, we are not at home with the Lord?" It means while we are alive on earth, we are away from the fulness of God's presence. It does not mean we have no contact with God while we still live on this earth.

The Holy Spirit enables us to connect with God regularly through prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship. We live not by sight but by faith. Paul expressed heavenly homesickness and a strong desire to be at home with his Lord. Then he says in verse 8, "but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."

I. What does it mean to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord?

Paul states that he is confident in his eternal destiny and longs for the day when he can be "absent from the body" and be present with the Lord he loves and serves. To be "absent" from one's body means to die because, at death, the spirit is separated from the body and moves into its eternal abode—heaven with the Lord or hell, separated from God for eternity.

Paul struggled to choose whether to remain in the earthly body or to be with God in heaven. He expressed his struggle to the Philippian believers as he wrote from a Roman prison.

Philippians 1:21-24 "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So, I really do not know which is better. I am torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live."

Paul's ambition in life was to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. If he lived, he could continue to labor for the Lord. If he faced execution, he would depart this life and be with Christ. He desired to be with his Savior, but if he remained on earth, he could continue ministering to others. Pay attention to one word, "confidence." It occurs ten times in II Corinthians.

Despite all hardships, Paul was always confident in the Lord because he had the same faith as David, who said, "They (the righteous) do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them." Psalm 112:6. We all go through hard times; some are more than others, but people of God will put their firm trust in God, who created the heavens and the earth.

We do not live by sight but by faith. We can hope for a heaven that we have not seen. We do that by believing what the Scriptures say about it and living by that belief. Have you wondered what happens to people when they die? The Bible indicates that both believers and non-believers will have resurrected bodies. Daniel 12:2, "Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace." When a born-again believer dies, his soul immediately enters the Lord's presence in conscious bliss, awaiting that grand resurrection day! Then what happens?

 

II. What happens when we all come before the Judgment seat of Christ? (Vs. 10)

Vs.10, "For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body." Unfortunately, many people live irresponsibly as though they don't need to give account to anybody in this world and the world to come. The Bible teaches us. It is appointed for men to be born once and die once.

Then we all must stand before Jesus Christ and give an account of how we lived in this world. You may evade the justice system and never be caught, but you can not escape facing the righteous Judge when you die. Believers in Christ will go to heaven, and others will go to hell.

III. The right ambition. (Vs. 9)

Vs.9, "So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him." "Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him." (NASB). Paul was speaking of his aim in life, but not the proud and selfish desire that the word expresses in English. "Aim" is from Greek, meaning "to love what is honorable.

Paul demonstrated that it is fitting and noble for the believer to strive for excellence and all that is honorable before God. Phil 3:13-14, "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul's highest ambition was to Please Him in life and death. That was the right ambition, and it should be so for every believer. Please, God? Can God even be pleased? How do we live out the right ambition of pleasing God? Scriptures give us clues about what pleases God.

When it comes to pleasing God, Jesus and Paul are our models. Jesus said, John 8:29, "And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him." Jesus did, and we, too, can do things pleasing to God. What are they?

 When we live by faith and do not doubt God's character, it pleases God. Hebrews 11:6, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." We please God; when we live holy lives and offer bodies as living sacrifices. (Romans 12:1-2).

When we share the gospel of love with others, God is pleased. (I Thes 2:4). "Hebrews 13:16, "And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God." These and more help us reach our right ambition of pleasing God in life and death. If you are already working out this right ambition, don't stop it. Increase it even more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4681722/Teachers-share-young-students-hilarious-life-goals.html

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-ambition-aim-life-become-muhammad-ishaq#: 

Our True Home

                                                                          OUR TRUE HOME

A nine-month-old baby in India never saw the daylight. A beautiful young woman's Life in Sharon was suddenly taken away. A ninety-six-year-old woman is Lying-in State in London. Who are they, and what do all of them have in common? The nine-month-old baby was born still to a missionary couple in India. The young woman in Sharon is our beloved sister and friend Katherine Blau, affectionately called KK, who was suddenly taken away from us.

The ninety-six-year-old woman is the famous Monarch of England, Queen Elizabeth II. Though the location, vocation, and ages may differ, they all have one thing in common: Death has taken them away from this world. Death is the common denominator for all of us, no matter who we are. It could come anytime to anyone, anywhere unannounced, and we are gone.

Every time we attend a funeral service of a loved one or a friend, we are gripped with grief momentarily, and then we go on our way to living life as usual. But those moments are for us to ponder life's complex questions such as: Who am I? What do I value? What is my purpose in life? What is my destiny? What happens when I die? Is there a life after death? Etc.

When I was eighteen, I came close to viewing my grandmother's death for the very first time. As I peered into her coffin, looking at her wrinkled, peaceful, and motionless body, I realized something. Will my Life one day end up like that in a casket? Or is there more to life?

My grandmother earnestly prayed for me that I would surrender my Life to Jesus one day. For one last time, I felt like she was urging me from that casket to give my life to Jesus. That was the turning point in my life. As I surrendered my Life to Jesus, newfound Joy flooded my spirit, and I found my purpose: to live and serve Jesus all the days of my life.

Today we will look into the passage in II Corinthians 5:1-5 and deal with two complex subjects of death and what happens to our bodies when we die. I pray that God will open your mind and heart so that you will understand your purpose in life and your final destiny.

I. Living in our physical body is compared to living in a Tent. (Vs.1-2)

            Vs. 1-2, "For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing."

            Paul compared our living in our physical bodies to living in a Tent. What a flattering analogy! He did that to convey our life's temporary existence on this earth. Think of that for a moment. Our earthly bodies are like a tent. When we go camping, we live in a tent. It may not have all the luxuries of a home. We groan, complain, and put up with discomforts, and one day we fold our tent and go home, similarly, with our bodies on this earth.

As Paul noted, "Our outer self is wasting away." We can have all the plastic surgery. We insure ourselves from the cradle to the grave. But this body of ours will wear out and waste away. Some of us feel it literally in our bones, this wear and tear. We may make it to 70, 80, or even 100, but the time or our living in the tent (body) is limited, and one day it will end.

We must ask ourselves, where will I spend my eternity? In light of that, how should we live our lives? Here is the advice of King Solomon, "Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old and say, "Life is not pleasant anymore." Ecclesiastes 12:1-6. Let us remember our Creator before it is too late.

Also, have the mindset of the Apostle Paul, who chose Christ above all else. Phil 3:8-9 "Yes, everything else is worthless compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him." If you don't choose to be with Christ on this earth, you cannot live with Him through all eternity in heaven. What are you pursuing?

 

II. What happens to our bodies when we die? (Vs. 3-4)

Paul's focus was not on the temporary and destroyable tent but on the house, the building in heaven which is indestructible and lives on forever. He was not worried about death because He looked for the resurrection of the body, a thought unfamiliar to Greeks.

Vs. 3-4, "For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life."

These verses only apply to those who trust Jesus on this side of the earth. They are the only ones who will get to live with Him for eternity. Most people don't want to die and do whatever they can to live. Only a few who lost all hope in this life try to end their lives, hoping for a better life to come. What happens to our bodies when we die?

The Pagans of Paul's time viewed matter as evil and spirit as good. Paul knew that Christian death would not mean being released into a disembodied spiritual life but an actual, eternal resurrection body. Unlike the Pagans, Paul believed that when we die accepting Christ, we will receive a glorified, immortal perfect body, like what Jesus received.

Paul expressed our collective groaning in this earthly body and our eagerness to die and get rid of these bodies that currently clothe us and put on our glorified new bodies. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he said, "For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:53-55. Paul equates our future glorified new bodies to our true home.

III. Our True Home (Vs.5-6)

            Vs. 5-6, "God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, he has given us his Holy Spirit. So, we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies, we are not at home with the Lord." Paul explains that we will have our true home, our new bodies in heaven. He goes further and says we will be at home with the Lord.

So long we live in our earthly physical bodies, we are not home with the Lord. But when we die, we get to live in our true home and at home with the Lord. In other words, we will live in our glorified bodies in the glorious presence of the Lord forever. That is the hope of Christians.

How could Paul be confident about this glorious reality of those who die in Christ? Vs. 5, "God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, he has given us his Holy Spirit." For what purpose has God prepared us? That is to live and reign with Him forever. Did you know no matter who you are, God wanted all human beings to live with Him forever in heaven? 

That was God's intended plan from the beginning. If you wonder who made you and for what purpose you exist in this world, listen to these words of Paul to Colossians, "For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him." Colossians 1:16

If Jesus made all people for himself, why do so many people reject Christ and live as if they don't belong to Him? It is because of Satan and human sin. Our sins have separated us from God, His Son, and his purposes in our lives. That is why we feel restless in this world. But thank God, for He is reconciling us back to Himself through His sons' death and resurrection.

The Holy Spirit calls people back home to be with Jesus in eternity. Would you listen to His voice and secure your true home (glorified new body) when you die and be with Jesus forever?  

 

 

Seeing The Unseen

                                            SEEING THE UNSEEN

My wife and I like catching up with some news on T.V. after dinner. These days the News is so polarized and saturated with political basis. Tired of all that, my wife suggested we watch PBS, so we switched the channel and watched a breathtaking nature documentary.

It was about teeming life in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest captured by a network of more than fifty remotely operated cameras. They covered the dark rainforest floor up to a tangled canopy 300 feet in the air. The crew captured the lives of exotic creatures and discovered these animals' incredible tricks to survive in the extreme jungle climate.

For the next hour, my wife and I feasted on the hidden beauty of the Rainforest. We observed the incredible sights of pygmy marmosets, boisterous howler monkeys, solitary pumas, mesmerizing leaf-cutter ants, a colony of bats, and stunning sunset and sunrise views.

We were particularly fascinated by seeing butterflies feast on the tears of an ever-patient turtle. These animals have a surprising symbiotic relationship. The salty moisture around a turtle's eyes and nose contains a large amount of sodium that butterflies crave.[1] Amazing facts!

For us to enjoy the unseen world of the Amazon Rainforest, someone needed to capture it with powerful cameras and document it. Even then, unless we deliberately switched to that channel, we couldn't have discovered that incredible beauty. In the end, it was worth watching.

Similarly, the Bible contains some exceptional beauty to be found. God's prophets and servants saw those startling truths and documented them for us to believe, experience, live by, and share with others. In a way, the unseen world is more accurate and eternal than the quickly fading world we see. The Apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to See the Unseen, to help them in their struggles and find purpose. What does it take to See the Unseen?

I. What gives believers the courage to continue preaching the Gospel of Good News? (13-14)

In verse twelve, Paul relates how they faced death all day long as it resulted in eternal life for the Corinthian believers. Then he explains what enabled them to preach the Gospel continually. Vs. 13-14, "But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke." We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you."

Upon his conversion, the apostle Paul began preaching Jesus Christ boldly throughout the region. In Iconium, a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. Some Jews who rejected the message poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul.

The crowds stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. Subsequently, Paul received flogging and had near-death experiences, but nothing deterred him from preaching.

What made Paul and the disciples so resilient in preaching the Gospel? Paul quotes David, who kept trusting God despite hardships. Psalm 116: 8-10, "He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. And so, I walk in the Lord's presence as I live here on earth! I believed in you, so I said, "I am deeply troubled, Lord."

Even when they would have died preaching the Gospel, Paul and the disciples knew that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise them with Jesus and present them to himself together with us." Even today, our faith in God and His promises give us the courage to keep preaching the Good News. Paul writes in Hebrews about how to live a life of faith in this world.

Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."

II. What strengthens us to never give up despite struggles and hardships in our lives? (15-16)

Vs. 15-16, "All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day."

Paul and the early disciples faced death every day, yet they were willing to pay that price if it meant salvation for those they preached to. What strengthened them never to give up?

God's grace in and through them saved people everywhere. The more people got saved, the greater their gratitude for God. In the end, not Paul or the disciples but God receive all the glory.

            The realization that God's grace changed people strengthened them never to give up. Even when their bodies gave up outwardly, their spirits were renewed daily. Paul started his ministry as a young zealous Pharisee. When he encountered Jesus, he knew how much he was to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. Paul recounts all the struggles he endured in his letters.

            When writing the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul was a well-worn missionary on his third missionary Journey. His body might have shown signs of wear and tear when he said, "Though our bodies are dying; in ESV, it reads, "though our outer self is wasting away."

            What Paul went through was the natural process of aging. Similarly, our physical body is in the process of aging and will eventually die. No one escapes natural aging. But those in any Christian ministry or leadership age even faster. In the recent Inter-Faith clergy meeting, I shared that it will be six years as a shepherd of Hope Church in December.

One clergy commented, Yeh, we see your hair has become gray. Let's accept the aging process boldly and graciously. Due to the media, there is much emphasis on staying young and beautiful. We are pressured to keep up with the looks of celebrities. True beauty is not what we see outwardly but a man's or woman's inward character, which must be searched and admired.

III Seeing the Unseen (17-18)

In the last two verses of the passage, apostle Paul draws our attention to an awesome invisible reality. Though our bodies don't grow younger, our spirits are renewed daily. Wow! Vs. 17-18, "For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

More than any other disciple, Paul endured unbearable suffering and persecutions, yet he viewed them as light or small, lasting only for a brief moment. On the contrary, the glory they produce outweighs them all and lasts forever. That insight gave him a different perspective.

He stopped focusing on what he saw and instead looked at what could not be seen. Not only Paul, but we have great examples in the Bible of those who saw the unseen. Hebrews 11 contains many such heroes and heroines of faith. Abraham confidently looked forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

Moses refused to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin and instead chose to suffer with his fellow brothers, for he was looking ahead for a great reward. What kept him going was that he kept his eyes on the invisible one. Who is the unseen one that Paul was referring to?

Hebrews 12:2, "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne." What does it take to see the unseen?

It takes faith. Though our eyes have never seen Jesus, we put our faith in Him. "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; It gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Do you believe in Jesus, the unseen one? That will radically change your life.

 

  

 

 

 

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[1]   https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/undercover-jungle-preview-bhyaka/19985/

Treasure In Clay Jars

                                    TREASURE IN CLAY JARS

Last week we learned how Paul encouraged us to live out the New Covenant by not giving up, rejecting sinful deeds, not tricking and distorting God's word, and telling the truth before God. Then he transitions to what the believers in Christ contained within themselves, why we go through hardships and heartaches, and what they accomplish in us and others.

I. Treasure In Clay Jars

Vs. 7, "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." When we want to store treasure, we look for a solid, unbreakable iron safe. When God wanted to store His most valuable treasure, what did He choose to keep it?

The Apostle Paul used an unusual analogy of a clay pot to show us God's preferred storing place for His treasure. Clay pots were commonly used in ancient times and in some eastern cultures to hold dry goods such as flour, seeds, and liquids such as oil, water, and wine.

Also, treasures were frequently concealed in clay jars which had little value or beauty in themselves and did not attract attention. Paul uses these commonly seen and readily available clay jars to explain to the Corinthians a spiritual truth of a treasure of great worth God deposited in them. What is the treasure, and why has God ordained this treasure should be in clay jars?

 

The Treasure:

What was the Apostle Paul referring to here as "this great treasure"? The light of the glorious Good News of Jesus Christ that God graciously shone in our hearts. What do people value or aspire to in our world? Is it great wealth, success, and prominence?

Jesus challenged that worldly and vain pursuit saying, "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" Mark 8:36. A rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answered, follow the commandments.

The young man responded I've been following them since my childhood. "Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this, the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions." Mark 10:21-22. The apostle Paul also contends for the rich.

Colossians 2:1-3, "I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

In the book of Revelation, God had a harsh message for the Laodicean Church that became lukewarm in their love for Christ due to their riches. They said they were rich and had everything they wanted, yet God viewed them as wretched, poor, blind, and naked. God challenges them to open their hearts and let Him come in. Revelation 4:14-22

Some theologians compare the modern-day American Church to the Laodicean Church. We think we are rich and have everything we want, yet we are poor and miserable without Christ. On the one hand, people want to pursue riches and happiness outside of God. On the other hand, our heavenly father finds great delight in giving his children the Kingdom.

What are you seeking these days? Where are you storing up treasures? In this world or heaven? If you store up treasures on earth, they will be robbed, but our treasures in heaven will be safe. Paul reminds us that we have Jesus, the great treasure in us, but for what reason?

So that we know that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. This great treasure of Jesus and his message of love is for us to enjoy and be grateful for, but also we might share it with others.

II The challenges of sharing the gospel treasure with others.

We looked at how Christ shines his gospel light in our hearts, and we become the recipients of the treasure, the message of Christ and Christ himself. Jesus calls us to become His disciples. Tim Keller notes, "Discipleship is not an option. Jesus says that if anyone would come after me, he must follow me." Here are a couple more quotes from someone who paid the price to be an ardent disciple of Christ in the 20^th century. Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted:

            "Salvation is free, but Discipleship will cost you your life." When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Let's see what Paul and others endured while sharing the gospel treasure with others. Vs. 8-10, "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed but not driven to despair. We are hunted down but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies."

We will undoubtedly enjoy the treasure, the presence of Christ, and the assurance of salvation, but also face heartaches and troubles, including persecution. This is the whole gospel. The word of faith movement doesn't talk about suffering. Many Christians in the west want wealth and health but cannot handle it when troubles hit them and shake their faith.

The reason is we don't have a theology of suffering. We love our comforts and ease. Many of the early disciples knew about and experienced suffering. They were hard-pressed but not crushed. They were confused but did not give up hope. Hunted down, but they knew God never abandoned them. They were knocked down but got up and kept going for the Lord.

Through their suffering, they continued to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be seen in their bodies. Even in our lives, God allows suffering so that we will be conformed to His image, and his glorious gospel light will continue to shine through us.

Pastor Josef Tson, a Romanian pastor and educator, suffered terribly under the Communists before the fall of the Iron Curtain. After one particular cruel bout with an interrogator, he was very discouraged. Then the Lord met with him, giving him a Christlike perspective. The following week the interrogation began again, but everything was different. His interrogator stopped and said, "Mr. Tson, who visited you this weekend?

I have in front of me a different person than the one who left here. Somebody came and changed you completely. I have to know who came and visited you." "Jesus visited me," said Pastor Tson, "and made me ready for the battle again."[1] When we go through hardships, could we also say, like Pastor Tson, Jesus visited me and made me ready for the battle again?

What motivated the early disciples, the apostle Paul, Pastor Tson, and thousands of others, despite all the hardship, not to give up their faith and continue to share the gospel? Vs. 11-12, "Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So, we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you." What incredible examples of suffering, servitude, and sharing of faith.

They all followed in the footsteps of the one who saved them and entrusted to them the ministry of the New Covenant of grace and love. We enjoy the fruit of the labor of the early disciples and missionaries who sacrificially and fearlessly spread the good news.

 

Because of their suffering, we get to live and have the treasure, the presence of Christ, in us. The time of reckoning for the American Church has come. God is shaking our core foundations and comfort zones, so we run to Him and take Jesus as our greatest treasure.

As we thank God for this incredible treasure in us and enjoy all the blessings with it, let's also pray that God will give us opportunities to share this glorious good news with others.  

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[1] https://www.preachingtoday.com/your-soul/preacher-devotions/grave-dwellers.html