Death is Gain!

No matter what they do to us, the Lord can give us the grace when we do not deny His name. Remember, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, "death has no sting" for us. Jesus took the sting out of death.

Paul said, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He also said, "In nothing be terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." (Philippian 1:21, 28 & 29)

So, where are we at now? Let's take a look: IS or ISIS are beheading Christians. (Without a lot of graphics, let's just say, there is an unholy war going on. They're even referring to Christians as "Crusaders".) Well, we are crusaders for Christ but not in the flesh. Ours is a war of the Spirit that can only be fought with spiritual weapons.

Let's suit up. Let's get our armour on and sharpen our spiritual sword, which is the Word of God. God knew that we would need it and He has made it sharp and alive. It will come to life under pressure.

We need to believe that anything we are called to go through is ordained of God.

Can you believe the Lord for that much? Can you believe that your life has already been foreordained of God? Do you believe that the Devil cannot touch a hair of your head without God's permission? And, why would God give the Devi permission to touch us if He hadn't already provided us with the grace and anointing for it?

I'm not saying it will "feel" good. It may seem scary. But, remember, the Devil's whole power is in what? FEAR.

Have you ever seen someone suffer needlessly simply because fear had gotten a hold on them? I have.

One time, I knew a dedicated Christian couple who were arrested while they were entering Morocco because they had Christian literature with them. It looked bad. They were put into a Moroccan prison. Now, Christians in a Muslim country are not in a good position. What a test of faith. But, here's the result.

They got out in two days without a scratch on them!

BUT, because they had heard other prisoners being tortured and screaming in agony, the wife picked up a spirit of fear. To me, looking at that situation, I don't believe that was God's desired end result. I was asking the Lord what she should have done and I thought that if she had prayed for those poor prisoners, she would have been able to bring some good out of her situation. Instead, she allowed the devil to scare her to the point where she only worried about herself and her husband.

This is probably not an unusual reaction. I'm not saying I would have done better. But, what IF? What if you and I were prepared for just such a situation as that?

Armed with God's Word in our hearts and believing steadfastly that whatever happens to us, God is in control, NOT the Devil, we could go into a prison suited up for battle, ready to face the enemy. (Most of the time, our biggest enemy is fear. The second biggest is OURSELVES. Am I right?)

So, how do we prepare for this kind of situation?

• Get things from God! If you are not in the habit of asking God for stuff, now is a good time to start. It will blow your mind how generous and bountiful God is and how detailed He is in answering our requests. It will build your faith. 
• Converse with God! Tell Him everything. But, everything. Pour out your heart. Confess all your weaknesses and ask Him to point out more of them so you can work on them.
• Memorize Scripture! The Word is what has brought prisoners for Christ through the darkest times. We need the Bible. No other book will do. No other book IS God! Ask the Lord which verses you will need in your life.
• Pray for the Lost! Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to your friends and acquaintances who follow false religions. Remember, they will be the ones to suffer the most if they don't find Jesus! Pity them and warn them from falling into hell.

Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

One of the things that makes imprisonment difficult is not knowing how long you will be a prisoner. Jesus is saying here, "ye shall have tribulation ten days". Maybe we can take that literally and claim it or maybe we can just figure that it's not going to be a long time. At the very worst, if we are taken prisoner during the Great Tribulation, we know that it will ALL be over in 31/2 years or less.

Sharing the Gospel with other inmates is a great way to ease the discomfort and bring down the grace and Spirit of God.