‘Be strong and be courageous’

Sat, 10 Feb 2018 13:29:09 +0000

By Rackson Chitanda

YOU are welcome to to-day’s discussion.  This is an encouragement to those who continue to preach the Word of God, under very trying circumstances. 

Our quotation reads as follows:- “But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”  We are quite aware that some people have met their death, on their way to preach the Word of God.

We have heard of people drowning in the water or dying in a plane crash on their way to preach the Word of God.  Our quotation is an inspiration to those who continue to preach the Word of God, while experiencing various challenges.

The quotation is meant for those who serve God in various manner, those who serve Him, in truth and sincerity.  Those who suffer because of His name.  That they will receive a reward for their hard work.

Recognition for hard work done, and the reward to follow, should be great motivation from all of us, and can inspire us even to work harder.  It can certainly inspire us to put in extra effort in our activity.  This is the kind of workmanship that fills the Lord God Almighty with great joy.

It is not always that an individual will work for a reward.  People should not feel discouraged if they start feeling their faithful service to the Lord is going without a reward, here on earth.  After all, the best reward a person may receive from God is eternal life.  This is the best reward an individual can receive from God.  We are all for eternal life.  Every believer in our true God, is for eternal life, that is our aim.

A person may have riches here on earth, but without eternal life, he is nothing.  It is written in the book of Mark 8:36, thus: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’’

Some people who serve God are very rich.  But we cannot be sure if those riches are gained through rightful methods.  They can be due to worldly manipulation.  And for such, they have already received their reward.  In other words, they have paid themselves.  We must learn to do what is right before God’s sight.

In the book of 1st Timothy 6:12, the Holy Bible says: “Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.”

St Paul says very clearly that those God has chosen to work for Him, will receive only one reward, eternal life.  But God will not leave them on their own without resources to sustain their present life.  They will have adequate resources to keep them going, for as long as they have to go.

During our service to our Lord God Almighty, we should fight and hold tightly to the faith.  We must have active faith.  This calls for training, working hard, sacrificing, as well as doing what is right before the sight of the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah Jireh.

We must be of good discipline, defining our right position in society.  If by any chance we are rich, then we must be carrying great responsibility.  If we have been blessed with wealth, then we must thank the Lord.

We should not be proud, and never to put our trust in our money.  But in the Lord God the Most High.  Our money must be used to do good.  We must be rich in doing good works of the Lord, generous and always ready to share with other people.

No matter how much money we have, we must demonstrate that God controls the wealth that He has placed under our care.  If God rewards us with wealth, then care must be taken to ensure that we are not the only beneficiaries of such wealth, leave space for the needy, if our motive for serving God is wrong, it is high time we corrected the situation.

Preaching the Word of God with a wrong motive, will cause the Word of God to be tampered with human element, instead of spiritual element.  The preaching is never inspiring, convincing and catching.  It simply means that God did not call you to his service.

But you can still make amends, you can change your motive for preaching to that of obeying his command as it appears in (Matthew 28:19 or Mark 16:15).  You can also ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide as you prepare your sermons.

You must preach the Word of God, because you love God.  It should not be out of coercion, but rather willingness to serve our true God.  Then we shall enjoy His promises for those who serve Him (Isaiah 65:8-9).

In the book of Deut. 7:9, the Bible reads: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, He is the faithful God keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.”  To love God is to serve Him the Most High, the source of life.

To serve God with the right motive can bring blessings, not only for ourselves, but also for our children and children to come after us.  What a great blessing, what an honour and what grace.  This is to happen after our death.

We have to trust God for He is faithful.  It is written in the book of Genesis 50:24: “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers.  But God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.”  We must have the faith of Joseph.

What God promised Abraham, Joseph remembered.  And he was sure that, even though he was dying, the Lord would one day visit the people of Israel in Egypt and take them to the promised land Canaan, the land of milk and honey.

We should also believe that if we serve God honestly, a thousand of our generations will be blessed forever by our Lord God Almighty.  No one would want to miss such a blessing.

Joseph did not experience the Exodus.  But believed it will one day occur.  Just like Joseph, we should rely heavily on God’s promises that God never misses on his promises.

If we love God, we shall love the Good News, which is the gospel, which is the Word of God, and the Word of God is Jesus Christ, who was born human. (John1:1-3 and 14).

If we love the gospel, then we shall preach with great passion.  That is preaching about Jesus Christ (Acts 9:20).  We must always remember that the Good News or the gospel is whatever Jesus said while on earth.

This is what we preach.  We preach the light of the world (John 8:12)

Suffering as we preach the Word of God should not cause us to stop preaching the Word.  It is written in the book of Romans 8:17, thus; “And since we are his children, we are his heirs.  In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”  We should remain strong as we preach the Word of God, but we should not stop praying for our needs.  And whatever we ask in the name of our Lord Christ Jesus shall be given.  (Matthew 21:22).

Despite suffering, we should continue to preach Christ to every corner of the earth.  We are anointed to preach, and so we should continue to preach (Isaiah 61:1).

We should always seek to increase on the knowledge of God (Colossians1:10).  To understand what is the kingdom of God.  To have knowledge how salvation comes about and how a person can please God, through faith.  And to preach Jesus Christ as our Messiah, Saviour and the reason why he came on earth, as the Son of God.

By his power, the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the Good News was being preached to the poor. (Matthew 11:5). Jesus Christ is the reason for our preaching.

When we believe in Jesus Christ, we also accept Jesus’s offer of salvation.  There must be evidence in our lives and the presence of God’s spirit in ourselves to show that we have been accepted by God of Israel that we are now His children.

This evidence must be in terms of our character which must be Christ-like.  It must show that, we were once in darkness, but now, we are in the light.  Our lifestyle must show.

We may suffer disease or experience turmoil in our marriages, this is because, the devil does not want us to succeed in our duty to preach Christ.  But Jesus is aware of our suffering and He is on our side.

It is written in the Book of Rev 2:9-10 as follows: “I know about your suffering and your poverty, but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you.  They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue, belongs to Satan.  Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer.”

Pain should be accepted as a fact of our life,  and yet we know it is not easy to suffer.  Our consolation should be that, our Lord God Almighty, will always be on our side.  If God is for us who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).   Nothing can be against us if our Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is on our side.

Tribulations follow every man.  Including the preacher man or woman.  We should then not get surprised when suffering comes to us in multiples.  It is written in the Book of Romans 5:3, thus: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop.  And endurance develops strength of character and character strengthens our confidence, hope of salvation.

This means we will experience difficulties that help us grow in our beliefs in Christ Jesus.  The problems that we run into, will develop our perseverance, which in turn will strengthen our character, deepen our trust in God and give us greater confidence about the future.

We should therefore remain strong and courageous when we endure several problems as we preach the Word of God.  Worse things may happen to us than to any anybody else.  It is the works of Satan.  We should soldier on and preach the word of God to the end.

We were born into Adam’s physical family, but the birth of Christ Jesus meant that we were rescued from instant death to eternal life.  Our preaching the Word remains testimony to that fact.

It is written in Romans 15:13 thus: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him.”  Then you will overflow with confidence hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

May the Lord God Almighty protect the Republican President and continue to bless our nation Zambia with love and peace. Amen.