THE CROWN OF VICTORY
Author: Sakkie Parsons
After a conversation with someone who is currently going through a troublesome time and wishes the LORD will come and take him , I would like to share the following thoughts from the Bible:
JAM 1:12
Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (TNIV)
We regularly pray and then wait to see if the situation becomes worse, however we must remember:
Although we do not understand how things actually work in the spiritual world, our LORD tells us that we should pray continuously and not to become disheartend.
Then that is exactly what I should do:
LUKE 18
Continue until the judge hears!
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.
3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think,
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (TNIV)
Often we think that our situation is unbearable – then I remember the verse out of the Bible which was written by my hero Paul :
HEB 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (TNIV)
Then I think to myself:
When the first Christians started, people filled the stadiums, not to watch rugby, where a player could receive a red card for punching another player. No, they filled the stadiums to see how lions and other wild animals chaced people around, while jubilent crowds watched them being torn apart and eaten.Millions of the rulers subjects were not only torchured , sometimes during social events in the evening, they took Christians and bount them to stakes, tarred them and then set them alight using them as torches to provide light while they partied.
The Bible tells us that Paul, and confessed by Paul, was also involve in the persicution of the first Christians – through his ignorence:
ACT 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. (TNIV)
ACT 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. (TNIV)
ACT 9:2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (TNIV)
What a thought – When Paul, after his conversion to Christianity, started to mingle and began to know them, some of the first Christians loved ones were more than likely sitting in jail – they accepted him despite his past and no doubt shared communion with him.
You see –
It is truly amazing to eventually reach that place, to read in the Bible of the testimonials of the first Christians behaviour, and shows us, if we follow Jesus and we fix our eyes upon Him, that it is possible to forgive any wrong doings against us.
HEB 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, (TNIV)
HEB 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (TNIV)
HEB 12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (TNIV)
It was that way for me in the past, and I am sure it will continue into my future, and it can also be that way for you, provideing you keep your eyes on our Lord.
When I at some stage in this life receive the loving grace of our Lord to look into what has happened in my life, I will also see, that I have become a better person, because I have always kept my eyes fixed upon Jesus.
ROM 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (TNIV)
Jesus’ asks the question of us especially at this time:
Will He still find us faithful to Him if He suddenly and unexpectedly, through His godly intervention, in acordance with His plan for our lives correct something in our lives?
LUK 18:8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (TNIV)
I want to encourage you –
Do the best that you can with the loving grace from the Lord and leave what you cannot do totally in His hands – and remain obediant to Him with your eyes fixed upon Jesus.
In other words to explain what I meant by ‘remain obediant to Him with your eyes fixed upon Jesus’:
Live life to the best of your abilities based on Jesus Christ’s principles which you find in His precious Bible and at sometime, you may totally unexpectidly, experience something wonderful.
1COR 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (TNIV)
Yes my friends, I look at these things around me and I realise the we live in a totally broken world and if I wonder why our Lord does not come and fetch us, I remember:
2PET 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (TNIV)
How wonderful to know –
Come, our Lord comes!
And we must be sure to be prepared and much more, make sure that we are busy with His works when he comes to fetch us.
2PET 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (TNIV)
In troubled time we must remember:
HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (TNIV)
HEB 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (TNIV)
We experience trials and tribulations, then sometimes we are heart broken, I can testify to that, but it is not that unreasonable hopelessness: ‘I will not meet my goals’, that is in my heart.
No!
I remember what our Lord, in His own words, asked us to write and then I am continually amazed about the overwhelming peace and tranquility in my heart..
1COR 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (TNIV)
1COR 15:58 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. (TNIV)
2THES 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. (TNIV)
Come let us show our steadfastness in our beliefs and always be thankful towards our Lord Jesus Christ for His sacrifice for us, as a person, on the cross and the wonderful privilage it is that He has prepared a place for us, next to Him, in our completeness, to live with Him in glory upon glory forever.
PHIL 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (TNIV)
PSM 13:6 I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me. (TNIV)
Greetings,
Sakkie