Encouragement

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Christian Or Not
© 2008

by

Stephen A. Peterson


The simple fact is: many people who call themselves Christians do not know Christ, do not live a Christian life nor do they have the slightest idea as to what it means to live a life of faith in Christ. Navy Chaplain Robert DesJean discovered this as he and his crew set sail from Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia to serve in the Persian Gulf area.

On the way to his first duty at sea, Chaplain DesJean’s ship encountered heavy, turbulent seas. Chaplain DesJean was filled with fear which he expressed to the ship’s Executive Officer. The young officer stood straight and seemed oblivious to the ship’s up and down, side to side movements to the stormy weather.

“Aren’t you afraid,” Chaplain DesJean asked her.

“No, I know the Lord Jesus Christ. He promised He’d be with me always no matter the circumstance or situation. Do you know Him?”

For the first time in his twenty-two years as a Christian minister, Chaplain DesJean realized he did not really know Christ as his personal Savior.

Many people have posed as an intimate friend of Christ and nothing refute their claim until their life was challenged with a troubling situation. That is when their true relationship with God is verified or denied—when dark clouds and uncertainty are present and our life threatened.

Throughout the two thousand years plus of the Christian era, countless stories of children, men and women are told of those who faced spiritual threatening challenges to their faith. We also more often told of the bravery of those who gave their lives as witnesses (martyrs) to their faith. Seldom are we told of those whose weakness caused them to deny Christ and a relationship with Him. However, for every martyr who died in faith, it is estimated that two to three persons denied knowing Christ in order to live and walk away from their faith because of the challenges they faced.

One of the most memorable incidents in the Bible occurred when the Israelites stood on the plain of Moab as they were about to enter the land promised them by God. Moses realized the majority of the people still questioned his leadership and God’s promise in spite of what they had been through and witnessed said: “Behold, the Lord your God has set the land before you: go possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has said to you, fear not nor be discouraged.” (Deut. 1:21)

When you feel fearful or overwhelmed by circumstances that are outside your ability to control, call on the God of your Christian faith. He will always respond—of that you can be absolutely sure of!

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