Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Today's Passage

Acts 5:40-42

His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Unlike the church today, the early church faced much persecution. Yet, they had joy in the midst of the persecution. The early church considered it a privilege to be persecuted for Christ, and suffering for the Lord was a great honor. In fact, not having to suffer for the Lord would be considered somewhat humiliating. In contrast, the church today considers being mocked at a humiliation. In fact, we do not understand that Jesus suffered the greatest humiliation on our behalf. He was mocked, whipped, and hanged naked on the cross, so that we can receive His grace and blessing today, and experience His glory. However, those of us who get to experience his glory today tend to forget how the Lord had suffered for us on the cross. We find it difficult to understand how the early church could view suffering for the Lord as a glorious thing. It is a completely different mentality that the early church had - one that embraced suffering for the Lord as a great privilege.

We hear many testimonies of the leaders of the underground church in China. I discovered, after speaking to some of the church leaders, that every time they go out preaching the Gospel, they are prepared not to return home, because there is always the danger of being arrested. One time, when I was talking to a church leader, I said to him, "I have heard that the authorities are coming down very hard on Christians. Don't preach the gospel at this time. Wait until after the authorities have loosened up their watch a bit before you go preach again!" To my surprise, he said to me, this is nothing. He told me that each time he leaves home; he is prepared not to return. He is ready to die a martyr for Christ. This mentality is difficult for us in the Western world to understand. Yet this is the way of life of the Christians in China. Today's Christians often live their lives without much power. They complain over every little suffering and injustice they may face. This is because they do not have a proper understanding of the Lord's suffering, so they do not know how to face suffering. May God once again help us daily, to prepare our hearts to suffer for Him and be able to resist any evil.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, we thank you for suffering on my behalf. You took my shame on the cross so that I may share in your glory. We pray Lord that you would prepare our heart and mind, to always be ready to suffer for you. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!