People's motives in serving Christ vary from pure to sinful. However, other men’s motives should not rob us of the joy of Jesus Christ being preached.
Man is not promised an endless supply of strength for him to store up. Rather, God promises to provide the necessary grace and strength for the present trials.
Life is full of suffering that occurs for various reasons. Yet, the Christian is admonished never to suffer as a result of his wrongdoing.
The idea of the word respect is that an individual looks at two things and chooses to look at one of them a second time demonstrating favouritism.
Most men place their greatest emphases upon the here and now. Paul knew that life truly began at the moment man leaves his body to be present with the Lord.
Men tend to fret over the motives behind others’ actions. Instead, men should trust the Lord to deal with the motives at the judgment seat of Christ.
What can you learn from those who paid the ultimate price for their faith? How could you use more of the faith that they demonstrated in their deaths?
It was said that Peter’s death would “glorify God.” Obviously, it is not only necessary to glorify God in one’s life but also possible to glorify God in death.
A martyr is one who is killed for his faith. Only two individuals are specifically named as martyrs in scripture: Stephen and Antipas.
Mankind’s list of rules for pleasing God has become increasingly invasive upon the lives of those affected by such man-made decrees. Yet, the reality is that God most desires for man to trust Him in the present (through faith) as well as in the future (through hope). The Lord is well pleased when an individual chooses to place all of his hopes solely upon the Lord and upon His word. Simply put, man was created for only one purpose—to please the One who brought him into this world in the first place (Revelation 4:11). This single purpose is impossible to fulfil without faith (Hebrews 11:6) and hope in the Lord (Psalm 147:11). The Lord promised that He would one day return for His church. Placing all of one’s faith and hope upon that promise (of the Lord’s return) demonstrates an unfailing love for the Lord!
