When reading through a book...
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When reading through a book like Foxe's Book of Martyrs or DC Talk's Jesus Freaks, you will often find stories of Christians who met extreme circumstances like imprisonment, torture, and execution with an extraordinary sense of peace and even tranquility. People were known to pray for their executioners while being burned at the stake. One man was even reported to have wrapped the chain binding him to the stake around himself. Our sense of self-preservation and survival is often so strong that to abandon it like these martyrs did is almost unimaginable.
However, whether the situation is martyrdom or perhaps even some form of mild discomfort for the sake of the gospel, we are able to withstand it, not because of our own inner strength, but because of the Holy Spirit in us. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (v. 7).
However, whether the situation is martyrdom or perhaps even some form of mild discomfort for the sake of the gospel, we are able to withstand it, not because of our own inner strength, but because of the Holy Spirit in us. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (v. 7).
