For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.–1 John 5:4

As a new Christian one of the first, most enjoyable, and profitable things I did was to read the biographies of famous preachers. My favorite was “To The Golden Shore”, the story of Adoniram Judson, pioneer missionary to Burma. I recommend that every Christian get a copy and read it as soon as possible. Here is a brief account of some of his hardships as written by Stephen Davey:

“Sometimes it takes more faith to believe that God is in control of your own personal life than it takes to believe that He is in control of the whole world.

On one occasion Judson was falsely accused of being an English spy. As a result, he endured a cruel imprisonment by the Burmese government. His wife, Anne, faithfully and courageously attempted to have him released through every possible channel, but to no avail.

His prison cell was so tiny that he was forced to stand, while the cells of others allowed room to lie down to sleep. The sun was unbearably hot at times; prisoners were never allowed to bathe; pain filled every fiber of his body as he was tortured day after day. His only respite from the agony of his incarceration was a visit from Anne. In those brief but wonderful moments, she would encourage him with the same message, “Hang on, Adoniram, God will give us the victory.”

Week after tortuous week, Anne came and encouraged him, delivering the same words, “God will give us the victory.” After many months, Adoniram was unexpectedly released and assigned the task of interpreter for affairs between the English and Burmese. Because of this new duty, he was still separated from Anne. Sadly, during his time of absence, Anne became deathly ill.

Months passed and Judson was finally allowed to return home a free man. Body broken and weak, he approached the place he once called home. As he slowly limped toward the door, he saw a child sitting in the dirt. The little girl was so covered with filth that he failed, at first, to recognize her as his own daughter. He went into their simple hut, squinting in the darkness, and gasped as he saw the emaciated form of his wife lying on a cot, weakened by disease. Tears coursing down his cheeks, he hugged his daughter close to him and knelt beside the cot.  Anne looked up at him and with her last breath, smiled and whispered the words, “Adoniram, God will give us the victory.”

If you were to be able somehow to interview the Judsons today, they would no longer be saying, “God will give us the victory”; instead, they would joyfully deliver the news, “God has given us the victory!”

Be encouraged, my friend. No matter what you’re going through right now, your life is in God’s hands. Hold fast to your faith as Anne and Adoniram did, even in the face of squalor and disease, deprivation and disappointment, heartache and loss.

Your reward in the end is everlasting, and the celebration of final victory is . . . just ahead!

…..Pray right now that God will give you the kind of faith that Adoniram and Anne Judson exercised, even in the face of persecution. Then, thank God for giving you victory over sin, death, and the world, through Christ’s perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection.”

I was recently thumbing through one of my old sermon outline books when I ran across a message entitled “Realizing the Importance of Joy”. Since most of us don’t, I thought this might be a good time to give this some thought. In my notes I listed seven things that joy will do. Here’s the list: Joy excites us, energizes for service, encourages others, exemplifies Christ, exalts Christ, enhances our testimony, and edifies the church.

Now, I’m sure you can think of other benefits, but this serves to remind us of how important joy is. Yet, although we are commanded to “Rejoice in the Lord alway” (Phil. 4:4), most people fail to consider the lack of it as a serious problem. Think about it. We often judge people by a lot of things–but seldom do we judge them by joy. Why? We judge others for numerous acts of disobedience, so why don’t we do the same when it comes to the absence of joy in their lives? Since the Bible commands us to be joyful we ought to see it as a serious problem if we aren’t joyful. We might not see it as a big deal, but God does.

Since joy is one of the graces the make up the fruit of the Spirit, its absence should be viewed as a problem in our life. It is an evidence that we aren’t filled with the Spirit, and that is absolutely tragic! If we aren’t controlled by the Spirit we’re out of control. Why would anyone willingly deprive themselves of all that the Spirit-filled life affords? God wants the very best for His children and the Holy Spirit provides what He offers. To refuse Him just doesn’t make sense.

Please don’t short change yourself. Don’t live beneath your privileges. Yield yourself to the Spirit’s control and He will produce all that God has promised. Under His control the impossible becomes possible. He does for us what we could never do for ourselves. The Holy Spirit transforms us and enables us to reflect the likeness of Christ. Consider the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and think about the difference it would make in your life, in your family, in your relationships, and in the church. It could happen! You are the only person standing in the way. Let go, give up, give in, surrender to Him and be filled. Joy will follow.

In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.– Colossians 1:14

Some theologians limit the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross to being an example of sacrificial love, an illustration of His words in John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus proved that such costly love was possible when He illustrated it by His own sacrificial action.

Jesus certainly was an example of love and other godly attributes as well–imitated by the apostles (1 Corinthians 11:1). But something more profound than an example happened on the cross: Jesus Christ paid a ransom price to redeem mankind out of the marketplace of slavery to sin (Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:6). The most important transaction in history took place: Jesus exchanged His innocent life for our sin-stained life, dying the death we deserved that we might, by God’s mercy, be spared the judgment we richly deserved. Because God was pleased with Christ in every way, the Cross turned away the wrath of God (Romans 5:9).

Take a moment today to thank God for the Day of the Cross and your redemption from sin.( Turning Point)

The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.
C. H. Spurgeon