Have
courage...have heart. How does one have courage when confronted with
the insurmountable challenges that leave ordinary men quaking in fear?
Obviously, it is not a commodity that is easily attained, yet it is not a commodity that is unavailable for many seem to possess it.
Perhaps the secret lies in the source of ones courage. The terrorist who detonates a bomb that kills others knows he, too, will be expedited to eternity, but he believes a reward awaits him there that will exceed any desirable thing he could attain on earth.
Obviously, it is not a commodity that is easily attained, yet it is not a commodity that is unavailable for many seem to possess it.
Perhaps the secret lies in the source of ones courage. The terrorist who detonates a bomb that kills others knows he, too, will be expedited to eternity, but he believes a reward awaits him there that will exceed any desirable thing he could attain on earth.
The promise the terrorist believes flies in the face of Christian
theology that counts mass murder as a sin punishable by eternal
separation from God...separation that entails either everlasting
darkness, at best, or burning in the fires of hell forever, at worst.
Yet believers in Jesus have faced death unafraid from the days of the Apostles. Their promise, "You shall be with Me in Paradise," motivates them, however, not to seek death but to promote life! Life that is secure in the hand of the Holy One who created life.
Death is the ultimate foe of everyone. Not only the brave will face life's final moment when all familiar things will end and eternity will begin. How can the weak among us be strong at that point? How can we be courageous? How can we have heart?
Perhaps of ourselves we cannot, but as with every perplexity of life that looms before us, we need not face this one alone. Whether we are terrorists who have slain hundreds or whether we be ordinary men with ordinary lives, we can behold the Savior who faced death for us. We can behold JESUS, who died and who rose and who lives eternally.
When we see HIM, we watch all else wash away in the cleansing flow of Calvary. We repent of everything that stands between us and HIM. We let Him make us new. We are free of guilt. We are free of fear. We have courage to face life or death for JESUS is with us.
Yet believers in Jesus have faced death unafraid from the days of the Apostles. Their promise, "You shall be with Me in Paradise," motivates them, however, not to seek death but to promote life! Life that is secure in the hand of the Holy One who created life.
Death is the ultimate foe of everyone. Not only the brave will face life's final moment when all familiar things will end and eternity will begin. How can the weak among us be strong at that point? How can we be courageous? How can we have heart?
Perhaps of ourselves we cannot, but as with every perplexity of life that looms before us, we need not face this one alone. Whether we are terrorists who have slain hundreds or whether we be ordinary men with ordinary lives, we can behold the Savior who faced death for us. We can behold JESUS, who died and who rose and who lives eternally.
When we see HIM, we watch all else wash away in the cleansing flow of Calvary. We repent of everything that stands between us and HIM. We let Him make us new. We are free of guilt. We are free of fear. We have courage to face life or death for JESUS is with us.
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