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Against the Grain

     Peter and the apostles were before the Sanhedrin once again. They were warned to stop preaching Jesus as the Christ. They said, “…And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (Acts 5:28).  Peter responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (vs. 29)

Peter and the apostles were bold in the face of adversity. They refused to surrender the truth of the gospel for the whims of the people. Instead, their focus was right where it needed to be, upon pleasing God.

Today, there are still many enemies of the cross. They reject the teaching of Jesus and would like for it to be stopped. However, we too must be like Peter and the others who refused to bow to the will of the people and keep our focus upon pleasing our God.

When it comes to pleasing God above pleasing man, we must be willing to go against the grain. Our society has drifted far away from the biblical standard. The word of God has been rejected from our schools and from our government. Despite this, the word of God must never be rejected from our hearts or from the way we conduct our lives as Christians.

In this social climate, the more we cling to the biblical standard, the more those of the worldly mindset will reject us. However, we must not become discouraged by this, but rather stay the course. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)

Whether the world admits it or not, it needs Christians. Christians who are willing to stand up like Peter did and openly declare our allegiance to God first and foremost. Jesus stated that we are the salt and the light of this world (Matthew 5:13-16). It is for this reason we must continue to let our light shine before men. We not only accomplish this with words, but with the way we live.

It is tempting to view the world climate as being beyond our circle of influence. While there may be some truth to this, there is still much within our circle of influence that we can change for good. When those around us see our good conduct and our steadfastness in the faith, seeds for the kingdom are planted within their hearts.

As Christians we are in the world but not of the world. God has placed us here upon the earth to be that influence for good. So, when we see how dark and far off from the mark this world can become, let us not become discouraged, but rather let us keep the faith and make a bold stand for our God.

God Bless each of you,

Eric Hicks

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