Daily Bread 5-27-17
Philippians 1:27,28
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
ref. - Is 41:10 - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Matt 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt 5:10-12 - Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Good news! Paul's wish and prayer for the Churches of God is still God's will and the wishes and prayers of the leadership today! When we stand for something there will be many that will not stand with us. There will be many that turn themselves into our adversaries. They will try to portray us as someone more evil than them. But, have no fear, Brothers and Sisters, as long as our conversation and our actions and beliefs are in congruence with the Gospel of Christ, and we are doing the right thing with God we have nothing to worry about. But we must make sure that it is this Gospel that we are standing for. Otherwise we are not the one being persecuted, but the one who is doing the persecuting against God's people.. Just another look in the mirror and inventory of our souls will reveal on which side we are standing. But, again, if we are within the Gospel, we should have no fear. Those who oppose will try to gather others of like minds together and even try to convince others to "jump on" their bandwagon, but this will not affect us in the end, it will only affect those who oppose. That verse about the millstone comes to mind right about now. This is nothing to joke about and nothing to beat our chests about, though, as one day it is them, and the next it could be us. We really need to make sure that we are right with God, and if we have been corrected by the Gospel or messages of the Gospel and convicted, we must repent. In essence, we must make sure that we are under the protection and promise of the Gospel of Christ. Then we must also keep those who oppose in our prayers. They have no idea the severity of their actions. It doesn't affect whom they are trying to oppress, it only will affect the outcome of their eternity. So, if we are on the right path, in good standing with them that have the rule over us and the Church, living within the Gospel, let us not be pulled down, slowed, down or held back, by those who oppose. We can stand boldly before the throne of grace and watch the devil fall at our feet!! We are saved! We are a part of this wonderful Gospel! And we are blessed!!! Have a great day!!!!