Popular Post Coliseum Posted January 8, 2020 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 133 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 1,123 Content Per Day: 0.66 Reputation: 2,055 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/07/2019 Status: Offline Popular Post Share Posted January 8, 2020 Faith is a wonderful and precious devotion. Moses identified himself with God’s people, even renouncing the throne of the pharaohs to be numbered among those poor outcast Jewish slaves. Let me illustrate this from an experience in my own life. I was in Kharkov, a great city in Russia, where the Russians build their tanks and industrial complexes. The Soviet government often takes the church and places it out on the edge of town behind a wall in order to persecute it and hide it away. I wanted to visit the Baptist church in Kharkov on the edge of town. When we went through the door in the wall that hid the church, the pastor and his congregation walked toward us. Walking by my side was the tourist escort, the state–assigned guide of the Russian government. As we faced the approaching pastor and his people, the guide said to me, “Look at them! Look how poor they are; look how ignorant they are! Such trash!” He spoke in contempt of the people. I turned to him and said, “But these are my people. I am one of them, and I want to be numbered as one of them. Poor, ignorant trash? They are God’s people; they are my brothers and sisters. They belong to me, and I belong to them. My life is cast with them.” That is what it is to be a Christian, and that is saving faith. By faith Moses, turning down the allurements and pleasures of Egypt, chose rather to stand with the people of God. …..Pastor Criswell Exodus 2:11 (NIV) 11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 2 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeauJangles Posted January 8, 2020 Group: Royal Member Followers: 43 Topic Count: 229 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 10,900 Content Per Day: 2.92 Reputation: 12,145 Days Won: 68 Joined: 02/13/2014 Status: Offline Birthday: 08/14/1954 Share Posted January 8, 2020 5 minutes ago, Coliseum said: I turned to him and said, “But these are my people. I am one of them, and I want to be numbered as one of them. Poor, ignorant trash? They are God’s people; they are my brothers and sisters. They belong to me, and I belong to them. My life is cast with them.” That was a very bold step of faith in country where faith is so rare and precious to those who have it. What an experience that must have been. Thanks for sharing this. Yes, Moses took the same stand. I'm curious as to what the tour escort's response was to this when you told him of your faith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coliseum Posted January 8, 2020 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 133 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 1,123 Content Per Day: 0.66 Reputation: 2,055 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/07/2019 Status: Offline Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 1 minute ago, BeauJangles said: That was a very bold step of faith in country where faith is so rare and precious to those who have it. What an experience that must have been. Thanks for sharing this. Yes, Moses took the same stand. I'm curious as to what the tour escort's response was to this when you told him of your faith. It really is a question to each of us. The old question, "What's in your wallet" makes us stop and think. This was not me however, but the pastor at the end I gave credit to. I have thought many times what I would do in light of, and especially when I read in Heb 12:4: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood...." It's easy until we think about what Peter might have thought when he denied Christ three times. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christdiedforoursins Posted January 8, 2020 Group: Junior Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 11 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 121 Content Per Day: 0.08 Reputation: 136 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/17/2019 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/12/1986 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Thank you for sharing the story,I didn't know Russia was so extreme ,but I met a Russian man in the secular state that is not Israel but calls itself Israel who said Russia is worse than the secular Antichrist state.He was laughing ...Yes its easy to think we will stand for what we believe and who we believe in ,but far to often in my own experience I was silent .Jesus's question to Peter was" lovest thou me ?" often we want to keep ourselves safe instead of stand up for Jesus ,we love the approval of men more than God and fear what men might do to us in lack of faith we don't stand strong but Jesus knows our weakness and he can strengthen us after our failures his love and forgiveness makes us bold .I had the experience that if I say" yes I'm Jewish".I can enter Israel get the' special treatment 'as you know this is the question often asked more than once .. are you Jewish ????............"yes "I can be reunited to my family,or "No" I can proclaim Christ and my faith in him and be denied entry ,its better for me now to lose the world and to gain Christ. Phil 3:8yea doubtless and I count but all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my lord:for whom I have suffered the loss of all things ,and do but count them dung that I may win Christ. Far to often the world asks us to compromise. often its in the smaller choices those that seem insignificant the everyday choices we make. Often its in our behaviour ,speech and actions etc. Thank you for the story you shared..its a great encouragement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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