During the reign of Maximian in the third century(A.D. 286), repeated persecutions were brought against Christians. Yet the greater the persecutions, the more the early church grew.
One day Maximian ordered all his armies to assemble near the city of Gaul. Tens of thousands of soldiers were there. They stood at attention to give a loyalty oath which included the killing of Christians.
The captain of 6,ooo men, known as the Thebian Legion replied to this oath by saying, ”We will fight and die for Maximian in battle, but we will not kill Christians. We, ourselves, are all Christians.”
Maximian became infuriated. He ordered their ranks to be decimated. Every 10th man was killed by the sword. The remaining legion still refused! More men were killed until the entire legion was martyred for their faith!
The tens of thousands who watched saw men who had something worth dying for. Soon, thousands became converted, and in A.D. 313 the entire Roman empire adopted the Christian faith.
These men were strong in God’s Spirit.
Their faith was grounded in conviction, not preference.
We live in a time when our fear of God is at an all-time low and our love of the world and all it offers, is at an all-time high! God wants us mighty in spirit, “’To be strengthened with might by HIS SPIRIT in the inner man.’”
This means God’s Word is dwelling richly in us, we are sensing His presence and recognizing His promptings. We are alert to spiritual dangers that would draw us away from Him and His purpose in our life and we are discerning of wrong attitudes and ideas that would neutralize our ability to make decisions with godly convictions and His blessing.
If HE is worth dying for…
HE is worth living for…
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
