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“Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20-21)

John and Betty Stam were missionaries to China in the 1930s. China was a dangerous place to be. The Communist army did not want foreign people in the country, and they did not like Christians. One day the Communists captured the Chinese city where the Stams lived. They took John, Betty, and their baby girl, Helen, captive.

That night, John, Betty, and Helen were locked in a room together. Sometime during the night, Betty found a way to leave baby Helen some things she would need if they were separated. She tucked a clean nightdress, diapers, and two five-dollar-bills into the blankets where Helen slept.

The next morning, John and Betty Stam were led outside the city and killed by Communists. They became martyrs, people who lose their lives because of their faith in Christ. Baby Helen was left alone in that little room. But God had not forgotten the baby. A whole day and night passed. The next day, Christian friends of the Stams found Helen after she had been left alone for thirty hours! The money that her mother had hidden in her blankets was enough to provide for these Chinese Christians to carry her to safety.

God’s plan for John and Betty Stam was to glorify Himself through their death. The Stams went to be with Him. They joined the great chorus of praise around His throne. Through all eternity, they will keep praising Him. Many people have been awakened to the needs on the mission field by hearing their story. Thousands have carried God’s Word to the dark places of the earth because of the Stams’ sacrifice.

But God’s plan for Helen was to glorify Himself through keeping her alive. People all over the world heard about Helen’s rescue and praised God for His care for that helpless little baby.

God might lead you to a dangerous place someday in your service for Him. Are you willing to trust Him and follow Him so that He might be glorified—whether in your life or your death?

God chooses life or death for His children that He might receive glory.

My Response:
» Am I afraid to follow God? Can I trust that His choice—life or death—is best for me?
» Do I want His glory more than I want anything else?

“With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.” (Psalm 119:10)

If you were participating in a Bible trivia game and were asked to name the first three kings of Israel, you would probably have no trouble jumping up and shouting out “Saul, David, and Solomon!” You have heard the stories of how Saul became king while looking for his father’s donkeys (1 Samuel 9), how David killed Goliath with his slingshot (1 Samuel 17), and how Solomon asked God for wisdom instead of riches (2 Chronicles 1). But have you ever thought about what kind of heart each of these three kings had for their God? Did they follow God with their whole hearts, just parts of their hearts, or none of their hearts?

King David had a whole heart for God. The Bible describes him as a man “who followed [God] with all his heart,” (1 Kings 14:8). You can open your Bible to the book of Psalms and read many of King David’s prayers to the Lord. David had a desire to follow God with everything that he had.

King Solomon had half a heart for God. He started out wanting to serve God with all his heart, but as he grew older, he became distracted by the world. When comparing King Solomon with his father, King David, 1 Kings 11:4 says, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” King Solomon got sidetracked from following God. He lost his focus on God and wandered away from God’s commandments.

King Saul had no heart for God. God chose Saul to be the first king of Israel. But King Saul rejected the Lord, and the Lord rejected him. 1 Samuel 15:26, “And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.”

God wants you to seek Him and follow after Him with your whole heart! You must choose what kind of heart you are going to have for God. Will you be like King David, with a whole heart for God? Or will you be like King Saul and King Solomon, who both failed to follow God with their whole hearts?

The God of the Bible wants you to seek Him and follow after Him with your whole heart!

My Response:
» Does God want just part of my attention, or just some of my obedience?
» What kind of heart do I have for God?
» How can I change to have a whole heart for God?

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

God tells us in His Word exactly what we need to know about our sin. He tells us what we ought to hear about the hardness of living the Christian life. And God tells us what we should know about our need for Him.

God is there to help us. We should try to please and obey Him, but we do not have to rely on our own strength and wisdom to do it. In fact, He wants us to depend on Him for grace and help, rather than trying to do things on our own!

Have you ever seen a toddler try to carry around a gallon of milk? A two-year-old can hardly even lift a gallon of milk, let alone walk around with it! What would probably happen if that toddler was allowed to keep staggering and slogging around with that gallon of milk? Well, the milk would probably get dropped sooner or later, all over the floor. If that little child would like some milk, then an adult will probably have to come and help carry it to the table and pour it into a cup, or else there will probably be a huge mess.

Have you ever tried to please God in your own strength? If so, you have probably learned that you cannot do it! Our strength is too weak! We need God in our everyday lives, and we need God to help us please Him. Here are just a few examples of the thousands of ways we need God.

WE NEED HIS PRESENCE
“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5b)

WE NEED HIS STRENGTH
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

WE NEED HIS WISDOM
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5)

WE NEED HIS INSTRUCTION AND GUIDANCE
“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” (Psalm 32:8)

WE NEED TO TRUST AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM
i>”Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5)
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

WE NEED HIM IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5)
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

As you can tell, we need God! We can be glad that God tells us how it is. He does not smooth over the facts to make them easier or more pleasant for us to hear. He tells us the truth we need to know about our sin (and gives us the solution). He tells us the truth about what to expect in the Christian life (and what He expects from us). And He tells us the truth about how weak we are and how much we need Him (and promises to help). What a wonderful God we have!

God makes it very clear that we must depend upon Him for help, and that He is willing to help us when we do.

My Response:
» Am I trying to please God in my own way and in my own strength?
» What are some things I can rely on God to help me with?

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3)

What if you were sitting at your desk one day and your teacher said: “Class, tomorrow you will have a test. Be sure to study hard and be prepared for it.” That would be a good enough reason for you to start some serious thinking. But what if the teacher stopped her announcement right there? What if she would not tell you what subject your test would be in? How would you know whether to study Math, English, Science, History, or Geography? How would you know what books to take home or what chapters to review?

If your teacher announced only that you needed to prepare for a test, but she did not tell you important things about that test, her announcement would not really be very helpful to you, would it? In fact, it might be scary and frustrating!

I’m so glad that God tells us exactly what is expected of us as His children. First, He honestly tells us that the Christian life isn’t easy. In James 1:2 it says to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” It doesn’t say IF, it says WHEN. That tells us that we should expect difficult times. But praise God that in verse 5 He says that if we lack wisdom, we can ask Him for it and He will give it to us! He doesn’t just tell us what to expect: He also helps us to be prepared for what comes!

The apostle Paul often used illustrations to help us picture what the Christian life is like. He gives at least two examples: the soldier (who must fight in battles) and the athlete (who must work and train very hard for competitions).

Here are a couple verses that show us that the Christian life is not for lazy or goofy people, but that it requires us to be consistent and focused, like an ATHLETE:

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1c)

“If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” (2 Timothy 2:5)

In modern terms, 2 Timothy 2:5 basically means this: If someone wants to compete in athletic games, he cannot win unless he plays by the rules. An athlete who wants to win a race in the Olympics has to train every day for months and even years. He usually also has to give up some things. He might go without things like soda pop, pizza, and cake. He might give up his favorite TV shows and time with his friends. He follows the instructions of his coach or trainer very carefully, so that someday he might win that gold medal.

And here are verses that show us that the Christian life is not for weak or cowardly people, but that it is full of hardship and danger, like the life of a SOLDIER:

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3)

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

We can understand these examples. A soldier’s life is hard. An athlete’s life is hard. When God describes the Christian life in the Bible, He does not just say, “Oh, you’ll have to take a test, so be prepared.” No. He tells it to us straight. He explains that living for Christ is a fight and that to win, we have to be disciplined and faithful.

Once again, God tells us what we need to hear about the hardship we can expect in living for Christ. But He also helps us to be prepared. He equips us with what we need to fight sin and to endure hard things with patience and faith. At least if the Christian life is going to be hard, it is comforting to know that God is on our side and ready to help. If you keep reading in Ephesians 6, you will read all about the “armor” God provides to protect us and help us fight. If you keep reading in Hebrews 12, you will see very clear instructions from God about how to run a race–laying aside sins and weights, and looking to Jesus as our best example. If you keep reading in 2 Timothy, you will see that God calls us to keep from getting tangled up with distractions and to live before Him in trust and obedience. In fact, we find in all these verses that God expects us to read His Word, to trust Him, to pray, and to stay away from worldly things. Those are some very clear and encouraging guidelines to help us prepare for the hard tests in the Christian life!

God explains what He expects of us, and tells us what we ought to expect in our lives as Christians.

My Response:
» What does God expect of me?
» How can I show that I trust God and want to obey Him, in spite of hard things in my life?

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Have you ever been told: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it!”? If you have, it was probably your parents stopping you from saying something mean to your brother or sister!

Sometimes the things God says to us in His Word do not seem very nice. In fact, sometimes God says very honest and serious words that can be hard to hear. Have you ever wondered why sometimes it seems like God says mean things about people in His Word? Here are some of God’s words to us about ourselves:

“The heart [of man] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)
“For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
“There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:3)

These are very hard things to hear, but God says them. People often say, “The truth hurts.” But sometimes the truth is the best possible thing for you.

What if you had a dentist appointment, but the dentist who examined your teeth would not tell you what he was seeing? Imagine that he looks into your mouth and says, “Hmmm.” You would not want to be left in the dark if he sees something wrong. You might say, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Now, what if the dentist sees that you have a very bad cavity. He would know that your cavity needs to be fixed before it causes you lots of pain and trouble. But what if he were afraid to upset you with the bad news, so he just says: “Well, everything looks great! I’ve never seen someone with such great teeth! See you next year at your checkup!”

Later on, if your teeth started hurting, you probably would not be very happy with your dentist! In fact, you would probably go find another one! After all, your dentist was the expert. He was the one who was supposed to examine your teeth and help you. He was not honest with you when you most needed him to be honest with you. And now you have a terrible toothache!

Sometimes we need to hear things that are not very easy or pleasant to take. But we still need to hear them! We never have to worry about God not being honest with us. In His Word, He tells us exactly the bad news that we need to hear. The bad news is that we are all sinners and the wages of our sin is death. Our sin separates us from God! Now that does not sound very nice, but it is the truth!

We can be thankful, though, that God does not just leave us with the “bad news.” He tells us the bad news so we can realize that we need the Good News (the Gospel). He has the solution to our problem! Look at the last part of Romans 6:23–“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And God also tells us in I John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Even though the truth can be hard to hear, it is the best thing possible. Your dentist might tell you that you need a root canal or a couple of your teeth pulled out. But afterwards, you would not get a toothache! After the bad news, we are able to enjoy the good news. We can be glad that God is honest with us about the bad news so that we can understand and trust in the Gospel.

God tells us the truth, even when it hurts.

My Response:
» Since God has been honest with me about my sin, what do I need to do about it?
» Am I willing to trust and obey whatever God says, even if it is not what I wanted to hear?