No Matter What

Psalm 10

16 The Lord is king forever and ever!
The godless nations will vanish from the land.

Tucked away in the Psalms is this warning. As America continues her descent into pure godlessness, those of us who follow Christ and who live in this land should not be surprised, nor even alarmed if our nation disappears into the ash heap of human history. May we remain faithful to the Lord Jesus no matter what.

No Matter What

Hebrews 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

How could I ever grow weary in living for my Lord? I haven’t had to face anything in comparison to the Old Testament prophets, much less the Apostles and other leaders of the 1st century church, or even anything remotely resembling what modern day martyrs face! May I keep my eyes fixed on Christ, remembering that no matter what I may go through in this life for the cause of Christ, it is worth it. No matter what!

No Matter What

Psalm 52

9 I will praise you forever, O God,

for what you have done.

I will trust in your good name

in the presence of your faithful people.

No matter what! Psalm 52 is filled with lots of stuff that isn’t exactly of the praise variety, but it ends with verse 9 doing just that: praising God. I will praise God no matter what. It doesn’t matter what circumstances I may find myself in. It doesn’t matter who the people I am with, what matters is that my life is lived out in such a manner as to give God praise always. There are plenty of good times, and not-so-good times in this life, but God is good. All the time. He is worthy of my praise both with my lips and with my life!

No Matter What

John 6

60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

When the teaching gets tough, those who are true followers fall away. Those who are true followers know that there is no place else to go except where Jesus leads. It really is as simple as that. Lord, help me to be a true follower of Christ every day, no matter where that leads, no matter how difficult the teaching, no matter what anyone else is doing, no matter what!