JAN 6

Isaiah 59:19
Memorise Isaiah 59:19
“…in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.”

The prophet Isaiah testifies that the work of redemption will be so marvellous that all will fear God and glorify Him, from the west all the way to the east where the sun rises. The enemy can be so numerous that it appears to “come in like a flood”, and anyone of us who have experienced floods before will know how difficult it is to withstand it. However, no matter how unstoppable the enemy seems, God will raise banners of truth that will always stand against it!

Martin Luther was a prominent leader of the Reformation. We remember 31st October as Reformation Sunday because on that day, in the year 1517, he nailed his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle. These theses set forth the truth concerning the pardon of sins through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not through works. This lit the fire of revival in Germany which later spread throughout Europe. In England, William Tyndale was one of the foremost reformers of the 16th century. He loved the Word of God. He wanted to make it available to his countrymen in their own language, and so he dedicated his life to translate the Bible into English from the original languages, which was forbidden by the Catholic Church at that point of time. It cost him much suffering and even his death as he was hounded and finally executed. In Scotland, God raised John Knox to win a thorough and decisive victory for the Protestant Faith and delivered a whole nation from the fetters of Rome. These great men were raised to be the banner of God’s truth in a dark and evil age. To God be the glory for giving us these great Reformers.

Dear teen, God is mighty to bring down strongholds of evil. In His perfect time, His enemies will be defeated. Learn to be strong in the Lord. As you stand up for your faith, know that God’s grace and strength will be sufficient for you to overcome your fears and your detractors. What can possibly be mightier than God? Yet the mightier the enemy, the more glory to God for deliverance! After much prayer and reliance on God, a teen approached his teacher privately to ask him to stop attacking Christianity in his class. That teacher had a reputation for not being easy to deal with, and his verbal attacks on Christianity were particularly vehement, and the teen risked being “marked” by the teacher for daring to speak out against him. Praise God that the teacher agreed with the teen; all glory to God!

Thought: God is the true worker of the Reformation.

Prayer: Gracious heavenly Father, may I appreciate my Protestant heritage more and more.