Daily Encouragement: Day 255

From Handbook to Wisdom, Day 255

THE REALITY OF THE RISEN CHRIST

I will be strong and courageous, and act.
I will not be afraid or discouraged,
for the Lord God is with me.
He will not fail me or forsake me.
(1 Chronicles 28:20)

I will rejoice in hope, persevere in affliction,
and continue steadfastly in prayer.
(Romans 12:12)

Who is going to harm me if I am eager to do good?
But even if I should suffer for what is right,
I am blessed, and I will not fear
what they fear or be intimidated.
(1 Peter 3:13–14)

In 20 Compelling Evidences That God Exists, Rob Bowman and I include a chapter on “The Evidence of Those Who Died for Christ.” The words of the martyrs (a word that means “witnesses”) bear eloquent witness to the reality of the risen Christ in their lives:

“Eighty and six years have I now served Christ, and he has never done me the least wrong: How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?”
—Polycarp (AD 70–156), bishop of Smyrna

“You can kill us, but you cannot do us any real harm.”
—Justin Martyr (ca. 100–165), Christian apologist

“That which I have taught with my lips, I will now seal with my blood.”
—Jan Hus (1369–1415), Czech reformer, martyred for his pre-Reformation views

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), German Lutheran pastor, imprisoned and then executed for his resistance to Hitler

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
—Jim Elliot (1927–1956), missionary to the Huaorani in Ecuador