At what point does a person decide to stand on something they believe in, even if it costs them everything? 

That is not an easy question to answer. Most of us, if not all of us, have stood up for something we believe in, but we have also chosen not to stand up for other convictions. Some issues are just more important than others, and it will always be that way. Let's look at a very special person, John the Baptist.

John was Jesus' cousin, and served Jesus faithfully. He stood steadfast for the truth, even when his life depended on it. He didn't have to choose between following Jesus or dying, like most martyrs we read about. No, he didn't even have a chance for that, because he stood up to Herod who broke God's law.

Herod married his brother's wife, Herodias, which was against God's law. Standing for this truth cost John his life when Herodias' daughter charmed Herod into beheading him. He could have kept silent, but he wasn't intimidated by Herod's authority. We'll consider this in light of our daily life in these turbulent times, so you can consider how you might like to stay strong, and be prepared to handle whatever this world dishes out.

The Bible has thousands of prophecies, and we often think of those as having been made in the past, and only some of them being fulfilled so far. But some were fulfilled very soon, and also written about. Some actually took very little time to come to fruition, such as one made by Jesus himself. Not only did he predict his own death and resurrection, he made statements about what it would be like to follow him, and it took very little time at all for this to reveal just how true his words actually were.

No prediction of Jesus was more “strikingly fulfilled” than that of persecution and sufferings- of his people.

He blessed them ahead of time, for being willing to be identified as his followers.

Jesus made the disciples aware ahead of time, to prepare them

He encouraged them, “don’t be disheartened”

He promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be with his people.

So, this peaceable faith, to live well with others, was hated. 

His doctrines setup the only True God as the single one who is adorable, through his son Jesus.

This garnered the wrath and rage of both heathens and Jews alike, even before he was crucified.

There was a small break from the persecution, beginning the day after he was crucified.

But this would not last long, since 50 days later, which is called the Pentecost- literally meaning 50 days- his apostles gathered together in worship.

We see the beginning of the gospel being spread on that day, when his apostles began speaking with a newfound boldness. That one day we now call the Pentecost, changed the world, by launching what would later be called the Way, then the Church.

The first person apparently killed for his faith in Jesus was Stephen of the Bible, who was one of the 70 disciples of Jesus.

Disciples were followers of Jesus, but this included much more than the 12 who were the closest with him. Stephen, known for his zeal and his faith, was chosen, along with 6 others, as deacons in the Church of Jerusalem.

Looking back, we might not find it surprising that Stephen would suffer a similar fate as Jesus, but at the time, it must have been shocking.

When the religious leaders attacked Jesus’ claims and beliefs, trying to destroy the Church, which was now enjoying incredible growth, and amassing numbers daily, Stephen was strong as steel. They could not reason against him, and their hatred grew even more intense.

The only way they could conquer Stephen, and therefore maybe the Church, was to bring up false accusations against him, echoing the same tone as they used to kill his Savior. They accused him of the same ultimate crime, blasphemy. 

So it turns out, when we step back and look at what happened, Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was exactly what Stephen and the other apostles needed. It was so fresh in their minds, still grieving for Jesus, and also celebrating his resurrection. 

Also, on that day of Pentecost, imagine the raw power of the moment, as Holy Spirit fell upon an entire gathering of his people. Undeniable power was at work, and tangibly demonstrating God’s undeniable blessing of his followers. This power could not be ignored, but it meant one of two paths:

One path would be to acknowledge that these followers latched onto something uncontainable and true, that could only come from the Creator himself. This path implies we should submit ourselves to this unshakable reality.

The other path, though, is not to believe what has been proven beyond doubt. This dark path leaves only one option- destroy the messengers so the message dies with them.

These are the same two paths before mankind, since Adam and Eve faced the choice of the fruit. But the more God demonstrates his nature, the more that disbelief reveals its own true nature. 

You see, some people who do not follow the truth do not know it. But, there are others who do know, and they fight it, because they will not allow their will to submit to that which is greater than themselves. They come up with many reasons, but this is at the heart of it. Truth is greater than our preferences, and that brings us either to stubbornness or to submission.

Now, when we talk about submission, we can sound like bigots, right? After all, who is anyone to think they can tell others to follow them or their beliefs? Well, we see religion become very bigoted, whether we speak of Christianity or any other religion. This will always be the case, because religion draws tyrannical dictators who leverage rules to enforce their will and enslave others.

But Christianity does not preach domination. It is the Lord who judges everyone. His people point the way to the truth, but we do not enforce obedience through laws. We do, however, say that some things are more Godly and other ways are ungodly. And, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, that is all it takes to evoke wrath and anger from people.

Back to Stephen, when the council brought their unjust accusations against this innocent man, it appeared he was stuck. But God is not a God of dilemmas. Stephen was about to find strength that did not come from within. 

Just as they were about to pass their death sentence onto him, Stephen saw a vision. He saw Jesus in his glorified state. 

In Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, it says this:

He exclaimed in rapture, " Behold I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Still more enraged at this, they immediately passed sentence upon him, and dragged him out and stoned him to death. He died like his divine Master, imploring mercy for his murderers ; saying, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." On the place where he was martyred, the Empress Eudocia afterward caused a magnificent church to be erected to his memory. Being put to death, on the 26th day of December, it is consequently observed in commemoration of this event.

When you face trials, whether of persecution, of your own failures or internal fears, where do you turn? 

Maybe it’s time we bring our faith to a new level, having the zeal that Stephen had. He didn’t just acknowledge that Jesus was a good man, with good teachings, and so tried to live a good life. No.

Stephen, along with many others, had a faith that we don’t see around us much, if at all. It’s the kind of faith that won’t make the headlines, because it’s greater than the kind of greatness the world will celebrate. It leads us to a path that is narrow, where few others walk. Not because they can’t, but because this is a fallen world. Don’t look all around you for examples to follow, because you might not find them. Be the example. If God has already placed the desire on your heart to follow him, you can no longer be content by any other path. It is how you have been created.

The world will find any argument to bring you down, to make you feel crazy, delusional. Let the world be wrong, and Lord be right. We do have examples, we have many. I want to keep bringing you examples of great faith, and yes, this often means great persecution. Because we don’t find true peace by anything this world offers. So we must look beyond the world’s empty, hollow promises. They will tell us our efforts are futile, they’ll say you’re just overly religious. 

They won’t bother saying you’re blasphemous, like they did with Jesus and Stephen, in so many words. Because now, we are told to follow whoever the current “leaders” are. They don’t even believe in God, so instead of calling you a blasphemer, they will say you’ve broken their own laws, which is today’s “unpardonable sin” in their eyes. 

When they say these things, look to heaven. Jesus, even on the cross, chose when to die. He released his spirit after praying for the Father to forgive his persecutors and then saying “It is finished”. Stephen saw heaven unfold before him, and also prayed similarly for his persecutors. Why? Because they saw past the veil of this physical world, into the reality before all of us. We live here shortly, then we pass beyond the veil. The things here are on a lower order than that which will come.

So don’t be distraught, don’t live in torment. This world cannot do anything to prevent our stepping into the part of eternity God has waiting for us. Look past the veil into heaven, daily, even moment by moment. Invite the companionship of the Holy Spirit to dwell within you, which no man can take away from you. If we do anything other than this, then the conflict and torment of this world will become traumatic. But the more his healing presence consumes us, the less space is available for the needless suffering. Turn your suffering toward serving him, because he alone holds true healing. This is how we become zealous like Stephen, by relentlessly and unswervingly committing to this narrow path. It wasn’t just because Stephen had great faith. He applied his attention and energy fully toward that which built his faith, that is why he grew in strength. Look past the veil, and await the moment in which we will step into eternity, and let the cares and traumas of this world fade in comparison to the richness and glory of God’s presence, not just after this life, but in every moment between now and that precious time.

As amazing as this world is, filled with God’s magnificent creation and splendor, it can still feel empty. One moment, we might be captivated with a sunset, a mountainscape, or the sound of a sea shore. Another moment we might feel unloved, lonely, or afraid. It takes more than whatever we find here to fulfill us, so we continue to find ourselves experiencing discontentment, longingness, and strife. Yes, there are many distractions and diversions, so maybe we don’t always feel these things. There is much to enjoy here, but we might also discover that between the moments of happiness or pleasure, a variety of other experiences and emotions lurk, which stick with us more deeply than the feelings and emotions we so often chase.

We might say that there are two approaches to easing our pain and desires. One way is by seeking the ways of the world, and the other is to seek God’s way. We could jump to the conclusion that one way is better than the other, but let’s look at what each has to offer, so we can make an informed decision. You might have guessed that we’ll be biased in this article, and you’d be right. My hope is that you will find this bias healthy and reasonable.

Our goal at One Day Wiser is to point ourselves toward wise living. A major principle we operate from is that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Proverbs 9:10. There’s another phrase in that verse, which we often omit. It says, “and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. This is essential to keep in mind as we grow through our spiritual journey, over the course of our lives on this earth. Wisdom and knowledge belong together, and if separated they lose their powerful essence. Even very smart or brilliant people can do foolish things, because being smart does not guarantee we’re wise. Similarly, we don’t have to be sophisticated or highly educated to be wise, we just need to be willing to acknowledge and follow wisdom as we find it. The wisdom of this world is different from God’s wisdom, so it’s important to understand this and respond accordingly. Let’s look at a little knowledge of a worldly promise and a biblical one, and consider what wisdom we might gather from them.

Do you ever just want today to go well, but having that happen feels like a distant dream? It might not be as far off as you think. You can improve the quality of this day, and you don’t have to change everything and everyone around you to do it. It really comes down to three things you can probably improve right now, even as you read this: your intention, your attention and your attitude.

It’s essential that we learn to have hope, and not be too discouraged by what life brings into our path. We endure hardship, adversity and trauma. But not only can we endure them, we can progress forward with our lives, having meaning to our existence, and peace that is beyond belief. We are called to engage with this world we live in, not to retreat from it. Even for things we cannot change, we still exist in this world, for the moment, then soon we will be in eternity. So let’s consider some tools to help us break free from the trap of fear, anger, shame and trauma, and set our expectations on our healing journey: intention, attention and attitude.

More and more people are learning about the value of setting limits around what they tolerate from the people in their lives, and what kinds of things they are willing to commit to, and when to say no. These are called boundaries. This can be very healthy, but for many of us, setting boundaries is not nearly as easy as it sounds. Other people often don’t like our boundaries much, and they don’t honor them. Sometimes, we don’t even like our own boundaries, or don’t feel strong enough to enforce them, so we let them go. Still at other times, we might follow through, and they don’t really get us where we wanted to go, leaving us to feel like a jerk, or insecure about trying to make any new ones. While boundaries can be great, and setting them can be very helpful, we should use them carefully. Doing this means we need to understand some things about them.

Part of what it means to be human is to have ideas, goals and dreams. From the time we are young children, through our whole lives, we have ways we think things should be, and we try to get things to be that way. We have needs to meet, such as eating and drinking, staying warm and being loved. We try to avoid unpleasant things like being too cold or getting injured or sick. We get ideas about how the world works, what families are about, how to succeed in relationships, and opinions about ourselves. These ideas shape us deeply, and can take us in many different directions in our lives. And as we take these different directions, we try out the different ideas and rules we come up with, and see how they work, or how they don’t. These form our values, our principles and our boundaries. These three things play pinball with each other our whole lives, bouncing off one another, and have a huge influence on how successful we become in many of our efforts. Let’s look at these three things for a moment and see how important they are to our survival.

Here are three topics we discuss in this episode:

Believe it or not, there are times and places where negativity is actually essential. In this episode, we explore some meanings of the word negative, and how it can actually help us survive. Maybe you find yourself being negative. If so, this episode may help. But also, packed into this episode is an often overlooked and forgotten power contained in what is called via negativa. This foundational approach to living a life of faith is built on negation, which is learning who we are, and who God is, by observing what is NOT us or God. This will make more sense in the episode. Stay encouraged, and stay challenged.

We have many emotions we love, and many we hate.
One that we hate is feeling like a failure. Why do we hate failing so much?

But like other emotions, it is great information for us.

In fact, failure is required for us to live well. Children don't learn to walk without falling - how do we treat them when they do fall?

So maybe it's time to give yourself the same compassion you would a child!

Here are some ways you can embrace failure, and use it to your advantage:
- Remind yourself "I'm learning to walk"
- Think upon what you will be capable of AFTER you learn to walk
- The righteous person gets up 7 times!
- Sometimes, the wise person quits! Check your path.
- If you have learned to fail less, you win! Keep going!
- Thank the failure, for what it revealed.

Words can build, and they can destroy.

If there is one thing we can do today that holds the power to change our lives forever, it is to harness the power of our words. God used them to speak the world into existence, with all its majesty and wonder. And he made us in his image, so a good question to ask is, What are my words creating?

The books Genesis and John mention the beginning of time. Each reminds us of the power of the Word - in Genesis, it is the spoken word. In John, we see the Word of God, which is Jesus. He is the Word, or Logos. 

Your words have creative power, and the best way to use them is to align them with God's design. If we want to create a life filled with peace and joy, but instead experience dis-ease and strife, let's consider how we might change our words to bring them into alignment with God's heart. 

Words form chapters. Chapters build stories.

When you put stories together, what do you get... a book? How about... a BUILDING. Yes, your words are stacking stories you tell yourself, and those stories form the building in which you live! I encourage you to speak the truth to yourself. You see, you don't just speak to others, you speak to yourself. So don't build the Tower of Babel, that will be condemned by God, but instead build upon the Rock, the Cornerstone. Speak his truth, and invest in an eternal dwelling in the place Jesus is preparing for his brothers and sisters.

Memorize Scriptures and repeat them. Let the sign on your building light up with Jesus' address, pointing the way to him. Corporations in this world design logos to remind you of them. May your brand point to the true Logos, the Lord himself. Then you will have the emotional and spiritual rest you desire.

Welcome to Episode 1 of Off the Cup, with Jeff and Julie!

Unscripted. Christ-centered. Caffeinated.

Join us as we start our day together, processing regular life from a Christian perspective, over a little caffeine.

This recording is rough and unedited, on purpose. We just turned on a mic, and started talking, so thanks for enduring the unpolished audio; it's imperfect but heartfelt, just like us.