by Moody Bible Institute

Read: Luke 14

In one of the persecutions of Christians in the days of the Roman empire, a young believer named Procopius of Palestine gave his life for the sake of the gospel. He was brought before a magistrate in Caesarea and ordered to sacrifice to the gods, but he refused, saying, “There is no God but one only, the Maker and Creator of all things.” Then they told him to sacrifice to four Roman emperors, but again he stood firm and refused. For his faithfulness, he was beheaded on July 7, A.D. 303.

As Jesus said, true disciples must give up everything to follow Him (v. 33). In essence, discipleship is what needs to happen after we walk through the “narrow door” of faith in Christ (vv. 25-35).

by Moody Bible Institute

Read Ezra 8

The three young men had every advantage—they were from elite families, handsome, smart, well-educated, cultured, and well-liked. No wonder they were fast-tracked into leadership positions, where they seemed destined for success. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were also hard-working, but they drew the line at one order: they would not bow down and worship the statue of the king. They placed their trust in God above loyalty to the king, and God rewarded the three—better known by their Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—with a dramatic rescue from Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace (see Daniel 1; 3).

by Moody Bible Institute

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

   “‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. ⁴ And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

by Moody Bible Institute

Hebrews 10:26-39 ²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.