Daily Scripture Threshing for Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Today’s Text: Hebrews 13:3-6
Key Verse: Hebrews 13:6 (ESV): “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
One of the shreds of evidence that a nan knows God is that he fears God rather than man. Fear of man rather than God, in any life, is a clear indication that such man has not found God. John Chrysostom was a man who sought to know God. His desire made him become a hermit in the mountains near Antioch in A.D. 373. Although his time of isolation was cut short by illness, he learned that anyone with God on his side could stand alone against anyone or anything. That lesson helped him to stand for truth when he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople. With a notable zeal, he stood for reform, antagonizing the Empress Eudoxia, and was exiled. Allowed to return after a short time, Chrysostom again infuriated Eudoxia, who sent him away again. How did Chrysostom respond to such persecution? With these words: "What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness are the Lord's. Poverty I do not fear; riches I do not sigh for, and from death, I do not shrink."
The only one to fear is God, who gives life, gives to all life, kills and makes all life alive; God who breathes into all things. In whom we live, and move, and have our being. It is He alone that, if He withdraws His hand that bears us, we shall be plunged into the abyss of nothingness. It is only Him that helps. The men you look up to, or who look down on you, will fall off by their own weights like an object in the space in the very moment God's hands cease to hold them. The design of Christ in giving himself for us, is, that we may become peculiar people to Him, zealous for good works, delivered from the spirit of fear, and given soundness of mind and sonship. Therefore, it is inconsistent with faith in Christ to fear a thing when He, our true help, is on our side. Man can do no more to us than He permits. Man can do no more than will work for our good.
Therefore nothing should be fearful enough to separate us from what Christ loves us to be or do. “What shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us, whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake, we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” (Romans 8:31-37)
Quote for the Day: “If it pleases God, He puts our help in the mind and hands of a human helper. But we must never lose sight of Him as our true and great Helper.” (Simon Olatunji)
Prayer: Dear Lord, there are times I have doubted your help and feared for my life. But I know that you are with me. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Strengthen my heart to fear nothing but you, in Jesus' name. Amen.
With all my love and prayers,
Rev Simon Wale Olatunji, Ph.D.
The Darling Bishop (DaBishop)
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