THE VERSE
You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish.~Luke 21:16-18
THE THOUGHT
"Some of you they will put to death...but not a hair of your head will perish." What a strange way for Jesus to put it! How is it possible to be persecuted, insulted, beaten, and even killed- and yet not a hair of your head will perish? It's the same thing that Paul said in Romans 8. "For your sake we are being killed all day long...but in all these things we are more than conquerers through Him who loved us." Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and for those of us who have been rescued from sin by our Savior, death is actually the greatest possible good, because then we will finally be with Christ! With this promise firmly grasped, it is time to start living radically, and time to start taking risks for the kingdom of God. Nothing can ultimately harm us, and we have been promised that though we will have tribulations in this world, Jesus has overcome the world. So lay it all down on the line, and step out into the line of service, though it may cost you everything in this world. To live is Christ, and to die is gain!THE PRAYER
Dear God, Forgive my feeble faith that is content to sit in the cloudy puddles of compromise rather than plunge into the deep waters of radical conviction and obedience. Draw me deeper with the sweet pull of Your precious promises, and by Your Holy Spirit, give me power to act on Your Word, living and dying radically for Your glory.EXTENDED READING
Luke 21:12-19Romans 8:28-39
THE QUOTE
"Oh! Down, down, down with everything else, but up, up, up with the cross of Christ! Down with your baptism and your liturgies! Down with your fine music and your robes, and all your ceremonials. But up, up, up with the doctrine of the naked cross and the Saviour." ~Charles SpurgeonTHROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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