“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:33)
It is clear that Christians everywhere are under heavy pressure. Today, almost all the servants of God we know are surrounded by chaos, and are experiencing tremendous stress both personally and in their relationships and ministries.
Peter wrote: “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9)
It is not only your country where evil is on the rise and dark forces are twisting and perverting all that is good and true. Believers in China, India, and everywhere else we serve are crying out for stability and peace, but those things are becoming increasingly rare in a decaying world that seems to lurch from one crisis to another.
God’s Word in the above passage encourages us to persevere, and not to shrink back and be destroyed. If there is one thing we would like to exhort you to do, it is to daily read or listen to the Word of God, allowing His living water to wash over you and transform your mind.
If we lack the discipline of daily coming to eat the bread of God, we have no chance. We have yet to meet anyone who fell away from Christ while they were strong in the Word of God.
The good news is that “we do not belong to those who shrink back.” No! We serve a Living God who specializes in helping His children triumph in the midst of darkness. In the Scriptures we read about Job, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Paul and others who faced continual struggle and chaos around them but continued to serve God.
This has been the testimony of the Church in China, as over 110 million people have fallen in love with the Lord Jesus in the past half century, despite unceasing efforts by the government to destroy their faith.
Do you feel weak as you try to live out your faith in a world that increasingly hates God and His ways? Good! For we are not called to overcome the world by feeling strong, but by embracing our weakness and giving it to the Lord.
The Apostle Paul testified: “He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
In China, we are honored to serve the Lord’s people, many of whom are seeing greater fruitfulness for the kingdom of God than ever before! Revival has broken out among the poor and destitute in many places, and thousands of people have found a new depth of sweetness in Jesus Christ that they didn’t know during easier times.
If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed in the midst of life’s storms, don’t give up! Our King promises a time of fruitfulness will result if you cling to Him in faith. No matter how difficult things may become in the future, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Pray for the tens of millions of Christians throughout China who are currently undergoing the most severe examination of their faith in the past 50 years. Pray the Body of Christ will not only survive the fierce Communist persecution, but will emerge triumphant, more refined, and greater in number than ever before!
China - in His image 