Matthew 8:18–22 (ASV)
18Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. 19And there came a scribe, and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 21And another of the disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22But Jesus saith unto him, Follow me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead.
Matthew 16:21–28 (ASV)
21From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. 22And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. 23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.
24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 Luke 9:57–62 (ASV)
57And as they went on the way, a certain man said unto him, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60But he said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God. 61And another also said, I will follow thee, Lord; but first suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my ...
Luke 14:25–35 (ASV)
25Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them, 26If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? 29Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not abl...
Dr. Baedeker delighted in his missionary journeys in the Ararat vicinity, in spite of the difficulty of travel and tremendous risk to his life. All that mattered to him were the downtrodden in need of cheer, and the Christians to be nourished with the word of God.
Encouraged by the testimony of Rev. Hunter Corbett, Rosalind Goforth vowed to remain in China to serve God notwithstanding the illness she battled. In making the decision to remain in China, she left her life entirely in Gods hands. Just like Rev. Corbin, from the day of that choice, Rosalind struggled little with the disease.
With a pistol to his head, Kazim still wouldn't recant his faith in Jesus; he was happy to die if God wills so. When his persecutors could not kill him, false charges were brought against him and used to torture and imprison him. But through it all, Kazim's only sadness was his inability to read the Bible due to his swollen eyes.
Pastor Benham was arrested for his belief in Christ and sentenced to prison. Though he would be set free if he denied Christ, he refused, because his life was no longer his; he had been crucified along with Christ.
Rev. T. E. Riddle who translated Sadhu Sundar Singh's books writes powerfully about the Sadhu's many struggles with health-related problems and of his joy and undiminished sense of duty to His Lord through it all.
In the river near Canton, there are people who live alongside their entire families on boats. And as can be imagined, their state of living is deplorable, but yet, there are missionaries who have chosen to live like these people, just so they can reach the idol worshipping peasants with the good news of salvation.
Sundar Singh was threatened with jail time by an officer he preached the gospel to. But rather than chicken out, Sundar made it clear that so long as he was alive, he would continue to preach Jesus, and not prison or even death will stand in his way!
During the Turkey-led Armenian genocide which began in 1914 and claimed over a million lives, some Christians were given an opportunity to renounce Jesus and have their lives spared, but time and again, God's people chose death over a life without Jesus as their Savior.
Watchman Nee was battling tuberculosis but even that was not enough to deter him from doing God's work. For him, Jesus was worth dying for and if he was to die doing God's work, then so be it.
Even the knowledge of the fact that Muslim fanatics were after her and monitoring her movement did not stop Dina from courageously witnessing about Jesus to other women. Not even the possibility of death could deter her, there were souls to be won and she was committed to winning them!
