25 Sep October 21st Daily Devotional

A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

NOTHING DETERS A BELIEVER

2 Corinthians 4:13-14 “It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.”

St. Paul and Timothy were always under the threat of imprisonment and a martyr’s death.  Nothing deterred them.  Even if they would be killed the next day because of preaching and teaching about Jesus today, Paul would not be silenced.  To the Philippian Christians Paul wrote, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

David, who was under constant threat from his enemies remained faithful to Yahweh and penned these words in Psalm 116:12-15, “What shall I return to the Lord for all His goodness to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants.”

This is also true for you as it was also for St. Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  (Galatians 2:20)

It is the resurrection of Jesus that empowers and enables you to not be deterred either.  You may be persecuted for your faith, ostracized for witnessing your faith in Jesus, shunned because you speak the truth of God’s love for sinners, but “ . . . nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord.” Not even the threat of death can deter you because, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. . . He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 15:53-54, 57-58)

Prayer:  Lord, grant me a faith that will endure by keeping my faith ever focused upon You and everlasting life You have promised me.  In Your holy name.  Amen.

1. Oh, for a faith that will not shrink,
   Though pressed by every foe,
   That will not tremble on the brink
   Of any earthly woe!
2. That will not murmur nor complain
   Beneath the chast’ning rod,
   But, in the hour of grief or pain,
   Will lean upon its God.
3. A faith that shines more bright and clear
   When tempests rage without;
   That when in danger knows no fear,
   In darkness feels no doubt.
4. Lord, give me such a faith as this,
   And then, whate’er may come,
   I’ll taste, e’en here, the hallowed bliss
   Of an eternal home.

(Author:  William Brathurst, 1831   Public Domain)