Guest Blog
by John Doyle
Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your works that you STAND fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel.”
I am sure you may remember this saying “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything”

How true it is. If a person doesn’t have firm convictions, more than likely they will fall into traps set up by the things of this World and sometimes by the Devil. How many people are not standing on a firm foundation, but they seem to believe just about everything the TV or the Media Posts put on Social Media around the World.
In these difficult times of Lockdown we Christians need to keep standing strong in the Lord and in His Word. We don’t want to be people who fall for anything because we are not standing on a Firm foundation given to us in the Lord Jesus.
Standing for Jesus means standing up for the Gospel. The Gospel (Good News) tells us that what we couldn’t do for ourselves, namely, earn our own Salvation and a place in Heaven, Jesus has already sacrificially done this for us.
There were two important things Jesus did to secure our salvation. Firstly He led a perfect life on this Earth so that we could get the eternal reward through our Faith in Him, all because of His sinless life on earth (Rom 5:19). Secondly He put Himself on the cross to remove our guilt, once and for all – Please read Isaiah 53:5-6.
He did this for all people of all Nations (No one was excluded). With God given Faith we grab hold of Jesus’ sinless life and sacrificial atonement, make it our own, and claim Heaven because of our Faith in Christ alone. The Gospel of Christ declares: HE DID IT FOR US! The Bible promises that He and His Word is at work inside us, giving us power to live for God and deal with life in a fallen world Please read 2 Cor 5:14-17.
Standing up for Jesus also means standing up for the entirety of God’s Word. Standing for Scripture means that we regard every word in the Bible as God’s Word and not the word of men – 2 Thess. 2:13.
Standing for Christ means that we will gladly be guided by what Scripture tells us, trusting that it will lead us into all Truth and Righteousness – Ps 119:105.
Standing for Christ means letting His Holy Word speak into our lives and allowing it to become our guide and not allowing the things of this World to distract us from the eternal truths that we have been given through His Word – 2 Cor 10:5.
Standing up for Jesus and His Word cannot be done in ourselves. We need the Lord Jesus Who says, “I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit, for Without Me, You can do nothing” John 15:5. He also says, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even unto the end of the World” Matthew 28:20
With Jesus by our side day by day, we can STAND UP and join the hymn writer and sing:
Stand up, Stand up for Jesus! Ye Soldiers of the Cross,
Lift high your royal banner, it will not suffer loss,
From Victory unto Victory His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you; ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armour, each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.
In the Love of the Lord Jesus,
John and Barbara

Thank you for sharing this devotional. May the Lord bless NHCF and its precious Family of God.