*My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love. Colossians 2:2<\/b>*<\/p>\n
*\u201cTell him, Timothy, please!\u201d shouted Maura, pleading with her husband. \u201cTell the governor where the Scriptures are hidden and be free! I cannot bear to watch any more of this.\u201d Timothy and Maura, residents of the Roman province of Mauritania, had been married only a few short weeks before their arrest.<\/b>*<\/p>\n
Maura had watched in horror as soldiers put out her husband\u2019s eyes with hot irons, trying to break his will. Now, hanging upside down with a weight around his neck on the orders of Roman governor Arrianus, Timothy waited for his gag to be removed. The fear he initially felt at his arrest had been replaced with a sense of divine calm.<\/p>\n
Instead of renouncing his faith and disclosing the location of his church\u2019s copies of the Scriptures, as the soldiers expected, Timothy scolded his young wife. \u201cDo not let your love for me come before your love for Christ,\u201d he urged Maura, affirming his willingness and determination to die for his Savior. Seeing her husband\u2019s courage, Maura\u2019s own resolve was strengthened.<\/p>\n
Arrianus, already in a rage at Timothy\u2019s refusal, set out to break Maura\u2019s newfound courage. He sentenced her to the harshest tortures of the Roman world. Yet she would not break. She refused to deny Christ. After each had endured unspeakable suffering, Timothy and Maura were crucified, side by side.<\/p>\n
_Jesus did not entrust his ministry to independent believers\u2014he established a spiritual family. He used words like \u201cbrother\u201d and \u201csister\u201d to convey the idea that he did not expect his disciples to be in this alone. Paul continued Christ\u2019s mission by instructing new believers to gather together in churches for fellowship and corporate worship. Christians need each other\u2014especially in times of trial. When one believer falters, fellow believers rally in support and encouragement. This is why the New Testament regards the duty of living by example as a necessity in the Christian faith. One person\u2019s example of faith and courage can inspire and unite others to follow suit. Conversely, when one believer cracks under the pressure of persecution, it is easier for others to give in as well. History holds high the camaraderie of Christian community\u2014especially during persecution.<\/i>_<\/p>\n
\u25aa\ufe0e By\u00a0 The Voice of the Martyrs\u2019<\/strong>, which app id available on iTunes (https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/prayer-calendar\/id432550884?mt=8) or Google Play (https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.persecution.prayercalendarhd)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" *My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love. Colossians 2:2* *\u201cTell him, Timothy, please!\u201d shouted Maura, pleading with her husband. \u201cTell the governor where the Scriptures are hidden and be free! I cannot bear to watch any more of this.\u201d Timothy and Maura, residents of the Roman province of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":61391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}