9/19/12. Luke 21:5-19. STAND FIRM AND WIN LIFE-devotional

Luke 21:5-19
Key Verse: 21:19

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF  Wednesday, September 19, 2012

“stand firm, and you will win life.”

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your love and grace in our lives…in my life. You give me hope and an absolute reason to live each day. I am thankful that you are helping me to orientate and mentor others nurses. Help me to grow in this area. I thank you also for my small group at church. Please help Julie and I grow in these relationships. I pray for Jenn that she may give her heart to being part of the praise team at her new church. Please plant your word in my heart today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Earthly Things Will Pass Away (5-11).

Verses 5-11, “5 some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” 7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” 8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” 10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 there will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”

The disciples were impressed by the beauty and fortitude of Herod’s temple. It was indeed glorious, but it would not stand in the end. Today only the Wailing Wall stands. Even the pyramids are eroding and dissolving. No matter what mankind creates will perish, spoil and fade away. Anything I try to do, apart from Christ, will not last. The best thing that I can do is pass on my heritage and my journals and pics to my kids and to my grandkids and plant trees and shares my family history. These are OK and necessary but however, these things can not last, if they do not include the Lord. Without the Lord, our human achievements stand as a testimony to human achievement instead of God’s and cannot stand for all eternity.

The people of Jerusalem rejected Jesus. As a consequence of their rejection of the Messiah, Jerusalem faced severe judgment and the temple would be completely destroyed by the Roman General Titus in 70 A.D. The temples’ destruction and the building or the Dome on The Rock, is a testimony that Jesus is the only Temple and that temple worship is no longer necessary. This shows that even the glorious temple that seemed indestructible was not even able to stand. Nowadays we see that that even huge sky scrapers can not stand forever.

In addition, Jesus prophesied about the passing of all creation and the end of time. Without the Lord, nothing can stand forever. Only what is done for Jesus Christ will last. If this is the case then, what should I live for? I should live for things that last forever. I must live for the glory of God and the gospel. I must build up treasures in the kingdom of God. My life in this world is so fleeting. I am past the mid life time. There are some people I know who have passed on and one even had a heart attack. How foolish it is to not live for the eternal things that are found in Christ.

Part 2: Tough Times (12-19).

Verse 12-19, “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 stand firm, and you will win life.”

Jesus teaches his followers that they must be prepared to face persecution. Early members of the church were persecuted as they left their Jewish traditions and became Christians. Persecution of Christians occurs today and will continue to occur until our Lord returns. Such trials might come from government authorities. They could come from those closest to us – even our brothers and sisters. This happened in Soviet Russia and in many lands today. Verse 17 is especially daunting: “Everyone will hate you because of me.” This is true. People do not have a kind place in their hearts for Jesus and Christians. They tolerate Christians as long as Christians don’t speak too much. But they resent us. I hope that I am ready for all forms of persecution. I want to be able to stand and accept anything that comes my way. I can only stand in the power and the grace of Jesus. I pray that may kids may all take a stand for Jesus.

However, with the assurance of eternal life in Christ, we are to stand firm in our faith and rely on the Holy Spirit for words and strength. There is no other way. I can not imagine being tortured for Christ. I can not imaging being in prison for my faith. I am kind of sensitive and am easily hurt when people reject me. I truly need God’s help and he promises me that if I make a decision to stand firm in my faith then he will keep me from perishing. He will help me to win life. (This does not mean that I won’t die. I surely won’t die before my time. But it is a guarantee that I will lake it into heaven to spend eternity with Christ.) I just want to have God’s strength to bear up with anything that will happen.

I need to stand firm in Gospel faith. I need to stand firm in my devotion to Christ and fidelity to the Scriptures. It does not mean to stand firm in the old paradigms of ministry that need to adjust with the times. May God help me to stand firm and the wisdom to know what this means.

Prayer: Lord, hide all of your promises in our hearts so that we may remain faithful in difficult times.

One Word: Stand firm in Jesus