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“We must seize every opportunity we can to speak the truth and proclaim peace. Especially now. There’s so little time for so many.”
when one did not serve the Lord, they unwittingly served the evil one instead.
“Remember the Lord, Rebekkah,” he had said solemnly. “We are together in him.”
God uses all things for good to those who love him, to those who are called according to his purpose,”
“Hatred is the enemy, Hadassah. Not the people.”
‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’
“Stand firm in the Lord, Hadassah. Stand firm and let him fight your battles. Do not try to fight alone.”
Have faith. Have faith. When you have nothing else, have faith.
Jesus forgave the thief, but he didn’t take him down off the cross.”
“What hope, Mark? What hope is there?” “God always leaves a remnant.”
“God always leaves a remnant,”
For all his father’s speeches and posturing, Marcus was sure it wasn’t honor that ran Rome and the world. It was gold and coin. Money bought alliances and trade agreements; money paid for the soldiers and war machines that expanded the boundaries of the Empire.
“At least they are more interesting than those cowardly Christians. Pit a Jew against anyone and you will see how fiercely he fights, but put a Christian in the arena and he’ll kneel and sing to his unseen god, dying without raising a finger to defend himself.” He took another delicacy from the silver platter.
A coward would run before a charging lion, not stand firm in facing it.
Her father had said suffering brought endurance in order that one might be strengthened for whatever lay ahead.
God was all-seeing, all-powerful, all-present, and her father had always assured her that all things worked toward God’s good purpose.
He told the disciples he would come like a thief in the night. For that reason, I don’t think he’ll be expected. We only know he will come. It’s not for us to know when.”
For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.’”
Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.’”
“Why is it only in darkness that we remember what sustained us even in the light?
“If God wills that I die, then I die. No power on earth can change that.”
“I don’t believe the purpose of life is to be happy. It’s to serve. It’s to be useful.”
She prayed for each of them unceasingly.
It wasn’t what she put in her mouth that would defile her, but what proceeded from her mouth, be the words unkind, slanderous, gossipful, boastful or blasphemous.
How could Julia choose the truth if she had not the ears to hear it? How could she seek Christ if she felt no need for a Savior?
Hadassah saw the wealth and comfort the Valerians enjoyed as a curse on them. Because of those things, they felt no need for God.
How do you reach people who feel no need or desire for a Savior? she wondered. God, what do I do to make them see that you are here in their garden, that you dwell in their house, if not in their hearts? I am helpless. I am a coward. I am failing Julia, Lord. I am failing them all. Beneath the smiles and laughter, they are lost. Oh, God, how great thou art. Not all the gods and goddesses of Rome can raise one soul from the dead as you have done. And yet they will not believe.
“She’ll find her own way.” “But will her way bring her peace?” “Peace?” Sejanus said with a laugh. “That’s the last thing Julia wants.
“Romans own the world, but they envy Greeks. Romans only know how to make war. They know nothing of beauty and philosophy and religion. What they don’t steal, they imitate. Our gods and goddesses, our temples, our art and literature. They study our philosophers. They may have conquered us, but we’ve remolded them.”
“God is not like the idols men create and credit with their own actions and passions. God doesn’t think and act as men do.” She took a step toward him as though being closer would make him understand. “We’re each single threads woven together in a tapestry God has created. Only he sees the full picture, but not even a sparrow falls without his knowing.” She spoke not as a slave, but as a woman who believed every word she said. “All those hours you spent talking with Claudius in the privacy of his library have loosened your tongue,” he remarked. She lowered her head, and he reached out to tip
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For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. . . . My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them . . .’”
“Jesus, Jesus, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
“You think because you don’t believe, he doesn’t exist. You worship gods you create with your hands and imagination, and deny the Most High God who created you from dust and gave you life. In the end, it won’t matter whether you believe or not, Marcus. A higher law than man’s does exist, and not your emperor nor all your legions nor all your worldly knowledge can stand against—”
“Can you see air you breathe? Can you see the force that moves the tides or changes the seasons or sends the birds to a winter haven?” Her eyes welled. “Can Rome with all its knowledge be so foolish? Oh, Marcus, you can’t carve God in stone. You can’t limit him to a temple. You can’t imprison him on a mountaintop. Heaven is his throne; earth, his footstool. Everything you see is his. Empires will rise and empires will fall. Only God prevails.”
“Calamity is blessing when it brings one to God.”
“I would guess the older son to be a righteous Jew who obeys the law.” “Then the younger is the Jew who has turned away from his religion,” Phoebe said. She glanced at Hadassah for confirmation.
“Mankind was created in God’s image, my lady. Not only the Jew.” Hadassah looked at Decimus. “We are all God’s children. He loves us equally, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free. We cannot earn his love; we can only accept it as a gift—a gift that he will give to each one of us.”
Her words broke down the walls of bloodline and tradition. Every man a child of God, all equal in his sight. No righteous Jew would agree with—nor Roman emperor tolerate—such a claim, for it broke the pride of one and the power of the other.
“Ours is a struggle to live a godly life in a fleshly world. We must remember we are not called upon by God to make society a better place to live. We are not called upon to gain political influence, nor to preserve the Roman way of life. God has called us to a higher mission, that of bringing to all mankind the Good News that our Redeemer has come . . .”
She pressed her fist against her chest over and over again, wanting ease from the pain she felt. God had placed her in their household for a purpose, and she was failing to fulfill it.
What did it matter whether Rome fell? What did any nation matter when measured against the eternity of a single human soul?
How could she begin to explain to the Valerians about a Savior when none of them felt a need for one? How could she explain they belonged to God, who created them, when they believed in ridiculous stone idols and not in an almighty Creator? How could she begin to tell them who God is or prove to them God existed, other than by her own faith, the meager faith of a slave? And what was faith but the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen?
She sensed the hunger in them and knew she had the Bread that would fill them for eternity. They never needed to hunger again . . . but how could she get them to eat of it?
John was among the first chosen by the Lord. He had been present at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine. He had seen Jesus raise Jairus’ daughter. He was on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured and Elijah and Moses came to speak with the Lord. John was nearest Jesus during his agony in the Garden. It was John who had occupied the place of intimacy at the Lord’s last supper. John overheard the trial. He stood at the cross with Mary. He had been at the tomb and saw the empty grave clothes, and he had been one of the first who believed.
Sometimes I even wonder if I am a true believer. If I were, wouldn’t I be willing to risk my life to speak the truth? Would suffering a painful death matter?” Her eyes glistened with tears. Most of all, she was afraid of the feelings Marcus roused in her. They grew more and more powerful.
“Was Elijah brave in the face of Jezebel’s threat?” Trophimus said. “No. He had just destroyed two hundred priests of Baal, but he ran from a woman and hid in a cave. Was Peter brave when our Lord was taken by the guards? Fear made him deny three times that he knew the Lord. Hadassah, Jesus himself sweated blood in the Garden and prayed the cup would pass from him.” He gave her a gentle smile. “God will give you courage when you need it.”
“You have the Lord. He sustains the soul.”
“We are part of the same body, little sister. Nothing can separate us from the Lord, and in him we are all one.”
God, protect her. Put angels around her. She will come against all the powers of evil in that city. Guard her from the evil one. Hedge her in and empower her with your Spirit. Make her a light on a hilltop.
“Peter was such as these. And James and John. Sons of Thunder, the Lord called them. They were sometimes profane and often full of pride.”
