Pestilence Confronted: Discipline Is The Thing…

I want to wish all of you a very blessed and merry Christmas celebration. The Savior of all mankind has come. Rejoice!

After nearly a year of confronting and living with the Covid pestilence, people are ready for a new perspective. Indeed, many have begun to think and talk of the time beyond Covid when things will somehow return to “normal.” In my country, the number of new infections is rising leading to further business shutdowns and talk of further confinement. Although the talk of a vaccine is giving people some hope, one has the strong impression that tension is also rising and possibly to new heights. Normally at this time of year, the Christmas season and celebrations serve to encourage many, even if they do not know the Savior. However this year the travel and family gathering restrictions and fears are present in most conversations about the holiday, compounding the weariness of many.

Recently I spent three days in a prayer retreat in the Tucson desert. I try to do this every year because it helps me keep a Godly perspective in my service for and life with Jesus. This year I was led to the topic of discipline. (Read and meditate on Hebrews 12:1-17) “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons.” And again, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (12:7,11).

Now I cannot claim that Covid is from God directly, although He obviously has allowed it to carry on. However, I do know that as Christ-followers we are responsible for how we respond to it. This is precisely what the writer of Hebrews is telling us: the trials and troubles of life, which can vary greatly among individuals, are opportunities of discipline whether we like it or not. Mostly we do not like it, we prefer pleasurable and peaceful circumstances. But the great souls of faith who came before us, from Abraham to Jesus, the Messiah are examples of faith (trust in God), obedience and endurance. Lord, may my response to Covid yield “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Blessings,
Jim

Please Note: Pestilence confronted will be continued the first week in January.

Global Prayer Points

As we seek to see our marketplace transformed by the Gospel, join us in prayer this week for the following requests from our Global Leadership. 

Africa: Pray for greater Kingdom impact through CBMC in Kasoa, Ghana and for our CBMC Nigeria brothers and sisters during this difficult time of unrest. Pray for the translation teams working on translating Operation Timothy into Portuguese and Arabic.

Asia/Pacific: Pray for the translation of Operation Timothy to Khmer, the language of Cambodia.

Europe: Specific prayer requests can be sent to [email protected]

Latin America: Pray for good follow-up from the Transcende 2020 virtual conference hosted earlier by CBMC Mexico and the speakers from Latin America.
 
North America: Pray for establishing an e-CBMC (next generation) in North America Korean CBMC. Pray that Christian leaders would take the challenge to lead other leaders who need Jesus.

If you have a prayer request, please send an email to CBMC International.