PONDER THIS

When I was in college, I had a job as a construction worker—I was a carpenter’s helper. The people I worked with asked me, “What are you going to do, son?” And I said, “God’s called me to preach.” Well, I got it in the neck from that time on—all the preacher jokes, all the dirty language, and so forth. And then one man called me aside, and he looked at me seriously. He said, “Young man, if you’re going to be a preacher, let me tell you how to be a good one. I know a preacher. Everybody loves him. He never talks about politics or religion. If you’ll just be a preacher that never talks about politics and religion, you can be loved.”

Now if you’re a Christian, there is a way you can escape persecution—just fail to be salt and light, just compromise. Rub shoulders with this old world. You won’t get any persecution. Let me tell you something: in the Christian life, joy is the thermostat. You can set the thermostat and decide that you’re going to live with joy because joy is internal, and it doesn’t depend upon circumstances. But if joy is the thermostat, persecution is the thermometer. It shows whether you are living for the Lord Jesus Christ.

• How have you seen the truth that joy is the thermostat and persecution is the thermometer of Christian living?
• Where have you faced opposition as you’ve lived for Jesus? If you’ve never faced this, what might this imply about the way you are living?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask a trusted friend this week for an honest assessment of how much your life points to Jesus regularly.

How to Prepare for Persecution

Matthew 5:10-13

In this message, Adrian Rogers shares how we can prepare for persecution, so that we don’t conform to his world.

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Halfhearted Work Is Stealing

If you don’t fear God enough to give an honest day’s work, you have broken the commandment that says,“Thou shalt not steal.”

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