Day: 22

Shaking the Faith

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

Acts 4:31 (ESV)

Years ago, while visiting persecuted believers in Morocco, I learned about an incredibly brave believer who was recently sentenced to prison for the second time for sharing his faith.

The Moroccan judge gave him a fifteen-year sentence under the pretense of “property damage.”

Jamaa found the Lord while studying abroad in Europe. When he returned to Morocco, he persisted in practicing his beliefs and was arrested for the first time in 1995. Authorities transferred him to a mental hospital the next year to undergo “treatment” for his radical Christian beliefs. The treatment was so harsh that he temporarily lost the use of his arms and legs. The judge charged Jamaa with proselytizing; under Article 220 of Moroccan Criminal Law it is illegal to “Shake the faith of a Muslim.” He told Jamaa that if he ever saw him again, he would throw a book at him.

And shake the Muslims’ faith, he did. Jamaa was relentless for the gospel. He didn’t care that he was still on the government’s watch list, still living in a fundamentalist culture. He painted Bible verses on his business for all to see. He hosted French language classes, where he spoke openly for his faith. Jamaa was not going to be ashamed of his Savior.

Ten years later, Jamaa burned down two unused wooden posts that were blocking access to his house. The government seized the opportunity to arrest him for “destroying the goods of others.”

When he arrived at court for the second time, the judge asked him, “Are you crazy? Don’t you remember that I told you I was going to send you to prison for a long time if I ever saw you again?”

Jamaa looked at the judge squarely and said, “Your Honor, I have found the answer to life. I cannot keep silent, for everyone is going to hell and must be rescued. Even you, Your Honor, are going to hell – but you two can turn to Jesus.”

You can imagine how the judge responded. Jamaa, would spend the next fifteen years in prison for “destroying property.” The judge later amended the statement to include a charge of proselytization in Jamaa’s sentence.

During the course of his imprisonment, I inquired several times in Morocco if we could use our connections with Senators and Congressmen to push for his release. Given the close connection between Washington D.C. and Morocco, we stood a pretty good chance of securing his release. But, the answer always came back negative.

I was told Jamaa sensed that his imprisonment was an assignment from the Lord, and was determined to make the most of it by continuing to share his faith in prison.  and he would see it out.

Stunning, right?

Radical Obedience

I’ve seen this attitude, this humble obedience, many times among the persecuted. They know that prisons are full of spiritually desperate people, rejected and cut off from society. They recognize that these people are their new assignments from God.

The Lord calls us to obedience over and over in the Word and in fact, he says obedience is a marker of the real state of our love for Him.

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.’”

John 14:23 (NIV)

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

1 John 2:17 (NIV)

“You are my friends if you do what I command.”

John 15:14 (NIV)

Our own understanding of obedience is way too small in the Free Church. Rather than making choices based on God’s will, we often make decisions based on what brings us the most comfort, pleasure, or safety.

Jamaa embraced his time in prison as a ministry, a mission from God. He didn’t try to blend in with his culture; he did not live for comfort, pleasure, or safety. Boldly manifesting the cross through his actions in Morocco, he openly shared the Gospel even when it was illegal to “shake the faith of a Muslim” in his country. He saw his ministry through God’s eyes, rather than his own. It led to a massive cost in his own life, but it furthered the Kingdom.

Many believers in the persecuted church have responded in this way. Despite the risk, they can’t seem to take their eyes off of Jesus Christ or his commandments because they knew that true life dwells in Him. They considered the meaning of life as intimately bound in their Savior, in abiding in his love and revealing it to others.

Their examples teach us the true meaning of devotion and obedience in the midst of trials and tribulations.

Are you struggling with obedience in your life right now? If so, pause, put this book down, and spend time with God – seek out his will for your life.

Anything He is asking you to do or is saying “no” to is the path you need to walk on. You need to trust His path–it’s the best course for your life. It may mean dying to self, but, in the end, you will find true, meaningful life.

For Further Reading

“So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

Hebrews 13:6 (ESV)

“Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this, we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

1 John 3:24 (ESV)

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

Romans 8:15 (ESV)

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Ephesians 6:18-20 (ESV)

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

James 1:22-25 (ESV)

“And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.’”

Acts 13:46 (ESV)

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