By John Stenen When my wife and I were young Christians, the church we attended, had a missionary speak one evening, that told us of one of his mission trips in Mexico. He believed the Lord desired him to go to a certain area and preach from village to village. They would visit approximately ten to fifteen villages on this particular trip, and preach the wonderful gospel, inviting the people to surrender their lives to Christ. However, when he and his team began, he was told by the leader of many bandits not to do it, or they would kill him and his team. They chose to obey God and went; if they lost their lives, so be it. Scripture tells us it is better to obey than to sacrifice. The team had a very fruitful experience and a good many were led to Christ. On their way back to their headquarters, they were walking along the road at night, and they came to a spot where the bandits were; they could see the moonlight reflecting from the rifle barrels, as the men were off the road among the boulders. They expected to get shot at any moment but they just prayed and rejoiced in the Lord. They returned home safely without incident. Many months later, the leader of the bandits received Christ, and the missionary asked him. We saw you up in the rocks that night, why didn’t you shoot us, as you said you would do. “Are you kidding me?” he replied, “With all those soldiers you had surrounding you. It would have been suicide for me and my men.” Psalm 34:7 says, “For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear Him.” The Bible has been preserved these many centuries for your benefit and mine. It is God’s instructions on how we are to live the life God has given to us. Read the Bible and obey it, and you will find life. The life He desires for us, is only found in Christ. Please, receive Him into your heart today. God bless.
