Page 60 - Living Light 86

Friday November 8 - Faith in... making a stand
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born... they were not afraid of the king’s edict. Hebrews 11:23
Think of the scenario. The king of Egypt had issued a decree that all baby boys born to the Hebrews were to be thrown into the River Nile, in order to keep their population numbers down. But Moses’ parents knew that their boy was special and their faith enabled them to ignore the king. Challenging him in this way would have dire consequences if they were caught, but their faith in the true King overrode this.
These days many Christians are making a stand for their faith, particularly in countries where they are persecuted. According to the charity Open Doors, over 365 million Christians currently face persecution and discrimination. These Christians are making a stand because they have faith in their true King. We are yet to experience this level of persecution in the UK, but it is surely coming, with our culture growing more and more hostile to our faith every day.
However, we have to consider context. Any persecution we encounter is going to be at a far lower level than for our overseas brethren. Here, it is in the form of pressure to compromise over language and lifestyle, work practices, freedom of speech – all of these subtle attacks on our faith. Perhaps now is the time that we should confront at least some of them head on. Do we have the faith to make a stand?
Father in heaven, please give me the courage to make a stand for you in any situation that you place before me. Amen.
Saturday November 9 - Faith in... our trust
...yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews 11:39-40
Hebrews chapter 11 in its entirety features a gallery of people of God, from Abel to King David, who were faithful right to the end. Each of them are just rungs on a ladder propped up by the cross, the ultimate place of sacrifice. Each lived a life of faith and suffered for it, although none of them received what had been promised. You and I are that promise... allow that fact to sink in! We are cheered on by this ‘cloud of witnesses’ (Hebrews 12:1) as we run the race that is set before us.
But we too don’t always receive what is promised. We sow seeds but don’t always see results. The sower is not always the reaper. I remember my time in an inner-city church in a largely Muslim area. Evangelists would come from overseas for two- or three-year stints and spend much of their time knocking on the doors of our Muslim neighbours. Many of these people saw next to no results in their time there, but the effects of their witness often became apparent many years later. We need to ‘take the long view’ – we are all part of a larger process, sometimes with many people speaking into the life of one individual. Our faith should be sufficient for this; it’s not just all about us!
Father in heaven, give me faith to accept that my efforts are always going to be worth it in the long run. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
58
PRAYER FOR TODAY