Locked Down Before Men but Free in the Lord

Scripture reading: Daniel 3:19-30
Focus verse: Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light so many terms that though they existed, but they had not dominated our minds or daily lives. Today it is so hard to hear news from any media without them mentioning words like sanitize, lockdown, quarantine, isolation, pandemic, stay at home, masks, social distance among others. All these are attempts to solve the Covid-19 problem.

The three Jewish men after they refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s’ gold image, the king ordered that they be tied up and thrown into the blazing furnace which was heated seven times hotter than usual. So wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the furnace. But to the king’s amazement, the men who were tied and thrown into the hot furnace were in no way getting burned with their lives. The men were indeed free inside the fire and every rope that was tying them couldn’t hold their hand any more. Instead of them burning they were walking and praising God in that lockdown. They were getting better and better in their faith until the king ordered that the lockdown be lifted and the three solders of God’s Kingdom be freed for they seemed fireproof. By the end of the lockdown they did not just convince the people around them that their God is an Almighty God but also they made the king see Him and made the people bow before Him and worship Him.

The world is today going through a state of lockdown of many things and we are very restricted on what to do given the Covid-19 pandemic. Yes, it may seem a physical lockdown but for those who know the Lord as their Savior they can get better and better in their spiritual lives. We know that the lockdown cannot hold the Gospel of Jesus Christ since even the grave couldn’t hold Him. Though the Jewish leaders thought that by putting Him on the grave, they had finished the gospel but three days later it sprung with power like never before and made those who had believed in Him be more radical than before. No chains can hold the gospel hostage.  No government can completely wipe the word of God. Indeed believers should get more refined than before and should expect to see God bring to their knees many souls and governments that had disregarded Him. 

Pastor Eliazar Wambo
Bethesda Faith Ministries (partner of Interlocking Ministries)

The Persecuted Church

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 5:1-16

Focus Verse:  Matthew 5:11  “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.”

If there was one group of people that is persecuted in the world more than any other group, I would say it is Christians. Jesus said in John 15:18  “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”   Today Christians are discriminated against in many areas around the world. They are verbally assaulted, physically attacked or arrested.  These things happen simply because of our belief in Jesus Christ.  I have never been physically attacked but I have been mocked verbally for telling others about Jesus.  Many people around the world are even killed for their faith in God.  The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:12  “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”   Maybe you have been passed over for a promotion at work because you did the right thing.  That is a form of persecution.  

Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12,  “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”   If you are being persecuted for you faith, take heart, because one day God will make all things right.  The Bible says, “we don’t need to be overcome by evil, but we can overcome evil with good.  As Christ’s Church, let us not be discouraged when we are persecuted, because God has a blessing waiting for us in heaven.

 

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Never Alone

Read John 14:15-30
Focus Verse "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6

Do the days of the Coronavirus pandemic make you feel alone?  Confused? Afraid? Can our fear and weakness make us to have no hope or will we turn to God?  Jesus said, "No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you."

Billy Graham teaches that, "Loneliness is no respecter of persons. It invades the palace as well as the hut. Many turn to drink because of loneliness. Others lose their sanity becasue of loneliness. Many commit suicide because of the despair of loneliness. Thousands have found Christ to be the answer for their loneliness. The Hebrew children were not alone when they were hurled into the fiery furnace of persecution. There was One with them like unto the Son of God. Moses wasn’t alone in the Midian Desert when God came to comfort him and call him to a wider ministry. Elijah wasn’t alone at the cave when God came near and spoke with the still, small voice. Paul and Silas were not alone in the Philippian jail when God came down and gave them a song at midnight. Whoever you are, Christ can give you comfort and companionship."

Maybe you are in a very difficult place in your life.  Maybe you are sick or troubled.  You can know that you can have Jesus with you!  When you have Jesus, you have everything you need.

Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Comfort During Times of Loss

Comfort During Times of Loss

Scripture Reading:  2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Focus Verses:  2 Corinthians 1:3-4  “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

Loss is a hard reality.  Severe loss can crush someone's will to keep going and can even drive them away from faith in God.  Over the last two months nearly the whole world has experienced great loss:  loss of jobs, loss of food, loss of housing as some can’t pay rent,  loss of loved ones to death, loss of investments and retirement income, loss of education with schools closed.  The list goes on and on.  The virus pandemic has brought great loss on nearly everyone. It seems like everything we thought to be normal in our lives has been taken away.  We have heard new phrases like face-masks, social distancing and sheltering in place.   

We need to remember that even if everything is taken away (just like it happened to Job) we still serve a God who comforts.  Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”  Jesus is with us in our best of times and with us during our deepest sorrows.  In our focus verses, Paul instructs us to show others the same comfort that God has shown us.   You may have heard the idiom “misery loves company”.  Meaning, people who are unhappy may be glad for others to join them in their sorrow.  Let’s turn that around and show others comfort as we are comforted by the Lord.  Even if you have lost so much, you can still help others that are in need of help.

Praying for you all,
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Growth Amidst Challenges

Scripture reading: Exodus 1:8-22
Focus verse: Exodus 1:12-13 – But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites, and worked them ruthlessly.

Joseph had died leaving behind the Israelites in a foreign land of Egypt. A new Pharaoh, who did not recognize the good work that Joseph had done for the land of Egypt when he was one of their leaders, began to oppress the Israelites. He feared that the Israelites were multiplying so fast that if left without being oppressed or decreased, they would increase so fast and may one day join the Egyptian enemy and fight against them. So they planned evil things against them. They introduced them to excessive forced labor and had ruthless slave masters over them. They organized to kill each new born baby boy using the midwives at the time of birth. All these were meant to stop them from multiplying and finish their strength and ensure there was no continuation of their generation. But look, all these worked for their good, the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied and spread.

Life, at times, can have a lot of oppressions, discouragements, dangers, doubts, worries, anxieties, pain and even tears. Sometimes the circumstances around us may seem so huge for us carry. We can look ourselves against the waves of life and fail to understand if we will live to see the next day. The Bible is encouraging us that we can still grow stronger no matter what life brings our way. God did not promise us a life free of oppressions but he promised to be with us and walk with us when life oppresses us. He understands everything that His children go through and He will never leave nor forsake them. There is the will of God in every challenge and He will ensure that we come out stronger than we came in.

Pastor Eliazar Wambo
Director Bethesda Faith Ministries

Additional scriptures:
Jesus had a life of difficulties, Isaiah 53:3 – He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 – We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. Philippians 1:12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.