ICS Daily Devotions
Rooted In Him To Stand Strong
John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Jesus made it very clear that we will suffer persecution. Jesus promised us that the world will hate us. Light and darkness cannot co-exist. When light comes, darkness has to leave. When light comes, it will also reveal all the work of darkness and sin in the world. We are the salt and light of this world. As Christians, we do have values and principles that are exactly at the opposite end of the world. The Pharisees and the religious people persecuted Jesus because Jesus was righteous in His dealing and was not legalistic nor was He a conformist.
Given a situation where everyone in the industry is bribing and your client expects you to do the same but you want to be different because you stand by your values. As a result, they favor those who give them bribes. What will you do when they persecute you for standing up to your values and principles? Trust God to provide or we will stumble as mentioned by Jesus.
Perhaps you just join an advertising company and the media industry is quite a liberal place. Parties, alcohol, drugs and free social life is the kind of lifestyle your bosses, colleagues and clients have. Your bosses or clients may favour you or even give you a promotion if you join them often in those social hangouts. You are young and you want to prove yourself. On the other hand, they persecute you for your Christian values and principles. Do you stand or stumble?
You might be confronted and sifted by the devil because he is looking for every opportunity to oppress you through persecution by your boss or peers. However, these persecutions are pale in comparison for those who have been martyrs for their faith when they reside in countries who are hostile against Christians.
Jesus wants us to allow the word to take root in our lives so that we can stand firm in the midst of tribulation and persecution. He does not want us to fall away because we have been very shallow in our faith or has no rock solid conviction. The key to withstand the tribulation and persecution is to be rooted in Him.
Mark 4:17 And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
We need to be rooted in Him so that we will not stumble when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake. The seed will need time to take root when there is enough soil and we need to water it daily.
Philippians 3:8-10 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
Paul prayed that we may know the Father, to perceive and recognize Him. We need to be able to recognize what things are of God and recognize His works to understand the wonders of His person. God is consistent in actions with His character or nature. Unrighteousness cannot be in the presence of God, hence the need for the new birth and salvation. If we can recognize the work of the Father, we shall also be able to recognize the work of the enemy.
We not only need to know Word of God but also the God of the Word. This will give us greater understanding of the Word. Without knowing the nature and character of God, it will lead to a misinterpretation of the Word of God.
It takes a decision to get to know someone. We need to make this decision with God. We need to know that God is the sower even though He uses man to preach or teach His word today. He will not be the instigator or in cohort with the devil to steal the word that He has sown.
One way to be rooted is to know God’s character and the other is to be able to discern between the work of the devil and the goodness of God. If we do not know the character of God, we will be easily deceived by the devil.
You only know someone after you have formed an intimate relationship with them. Knowing someone doesn’t just come by spending time with them. You need to speak with them and more importantly learn to listen to them.
Make it your confession to grow in knowledge of God today!
Sermon series: There Is Power In The Seed
