Devotions with Pastor Jerry Schmid

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

Have you heard the joke about the farmer who won an award? He was always out standing in his field!  Do you feel like you are outstanding in your field?
 
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
 
Revelation 20: 11-15 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
 
Dr. King once said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”
 
D.L. Moody once said: “Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.”
 
In Acts 2 we find the day of Pentecost ushering the Holy Spirit into several thousand believers who then became steadfast in spreading the gospel through which the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. But with the later burning of Rome by Nero, the Christians began to drift away, finding it no longer popular to mention their faith or to proclaim they were Christians.  Paul knew then, things would get worse both then and now. 
 
That brings me to the question, “Where do you stand”?   Are you standing strong in your faith, proclaiming Christ, preaching the Cross, or are you finding it more comfortable to sit in the back seat as a silent passenger along for the ride?
 
How will the message of Christ go on after you are gone? In this marathon of life who will pass the torch on for you and do they know what to do? Paul encourages us as Timothy, to pass on what we live for by preparing the next generation to carry on our faith.  You have a holy calling to pass your faith along.
 
“I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. (II Timothy 1:3-5).
 
Paul appealed to Timothy to remember his spiritual heritage. We each have one, be it good or bad, but we are who we are today because of someone influencing us to come to Christ.  Others have left their mark on our life, and by God’s grace we can pass on the hope for others to come to that place. Those who will one day lead in our place, one day speak in our place, their feet will walk the path to touch other hearts.
 
“For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (II Timothy 1:6-7).
 
Keep repeating to yourself “I am not ashamed of the Gospel; I am not ashamed of Christ”.
 
Paul asks us to join him in suffering as a bold witness. Not everyone will like your witness for Christ, but be bold in your faith because of what God has done for you. You were saved by His grace through Christ, death has been defeated, and through Christ we can have immortality in heaven with Him.  So, reject fear; it is only a disguise of Satan, stand strong on Jesus Christ the rock. 
 
Remember, for you as a Christ follower, heaven is not a threat, it’s a promise, but for those who fear or reject you sharing God’s grace, for them Hell is not a threat, it is also God’s promise to all who reject even the name of Jesus Christ.
 
In conclusion; Power up for the battle, and GET-R DONE!
May God bless you with His peace, assurance, confidence and boldness.
 
Confidently Yours in the Victory,
Rev. Jerry Schmid