THE TRUTH ABOUT PERSECUTION AND WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING.

10/23/2019

IT IS EASY TO BECOME DISTRESSED ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF THE WORLD TODAY. AS AN AMERICAN, I AM OFTEN DISCOURAGED ABOUT THE DIRECTION OUR COUNTRY AND CULTURE SEEMS TO BE MOVING IN. THE DIVISION AND HATRED THAT IS BEING MAGNIFIED IN OUR COUNTRY IS NOT SOMETHING THAT GOD HAS IN MIND FOR HIS PEOPLE, AND YET, THE PERSECUTION IN AMERICA IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT CHRISTIANS ARE FACING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. IN COUNTRIES WHERE COMMUNISM RULES, CHRISTIANS ARE PUT INTO CAMPS, OR FORCED TO HIDE IN AN UNDERGROUND CHURCH. IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES, CHRISTIANS ARE PUSHED TO CONVERT, PAY A TAX, OR EVEN KILLED. BEHEADED. BURNED. THERE IS NO OPEN PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IN MANY COUNTRIES. SECULAR GOVERNMENTS CRIMINALIZE, TAX, AND EVISCERATE THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE TO WORSHIP, AND IT HAS BEEN THIS WAY THROUGHOUT THE ANNALS OF TIME. MANKIND REBELLING AGAINST GOD. BUILDING MIGHTY CITIES LIKE BABYLON TO CHALLENGE HIS RULE. INDULGING IN ALL THINGS CONTRARY TO GOD, AND IMPOSING ALL SORTS OF LAWS TO STIFFLE AND DESTROY ALL EVIDENCE OF GOD…..AND YET, THEY SIMPLY FAIL. EVERY TIME. BECAUSE GOD IS GOD. HE IS THE ONE TRUE KING, HE IS HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS, AND HE IS OMNIPOTENT. HE IS THE CREATOR, RULER AND KING OF ALL…..AND YET STILL, WE DISOBEY AND DISHONOR HIM IN OUR OWN MINDS AND SELFISH WISDOM AND SINFUL DESIRES.

THE MIND GOVERNED BY THE FLESH IS DEATH, BUT THE MIND GOVERNED BY THE THE SPIRIT IS LIFE AND PEACE. Romans 8:6

THE MIND GOVERNED BY THE FLESH IS HOSTILE TO GOD; IT DOES NOT SUBMIT TO GOD’S LAW, NOR CAN IT DO SO. Romans 8:7

BUT THE NATURAL MAN RECEIVETH NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD; FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM; NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED. 1 Corinthians 2:14

JESUS KNOWS ALL TOO WELL ABOUT PERSECUTION. HE LIVED IT, AND WATCHED IT FROM ALL SIDES OF HIS TIME ON EARTH AS A MAN. ROMANS CRUSHING HIS JEWISH COMMUNITY, THE ARROGANCE OF THOSE WHO WOULD BE HIGH PRIESTS IN GOD’S VERY TEMPLE NOT LIVING IN THE TRUE MEANING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS. MEN ALWAYS SEEKING TO CONTROL OTHER MEN, AND WORKING TO STIFLE AND CHANGE THE WORD OR GOD INTO WHAT THEIR SMALL MINDS PERCEIVED AS RIGHT, OR TRUE, OR GOOD. MANKIND, CRUCIFYING THE VERY SON OF GOD THAT THEY MIGHT NOT SEE AND HEAR TRUTH AND RELATIONSHIP. IS IT ANY SURPRISE THAT AS WE MOVE FURTHER AWAY FROM GOD IN OUR CULTURE, OUR VALUES, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HIS WORD, AND OUR DESIRES TO KNOW HIM AND ABIDE IN HIM, THAT WE FIND OURSELVES LOST IN SELF SERVING FLESHLY DESIRES AND MISERY. I THINK NOT….. BUT WHAT ARE WE TO DO ? I THINK THE ANSWERS COME IN THE WORD OF GOD. IT TELLS ME THAT PERSECUTION WILL COME, BUT IT TRULY MATTERS VERY LITTLE IF WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS IN GOD, AND THAT WE REALIZE OUR LIFE IS ETERNAL, NOT JUST OUR CURRENT PLACE AND TIME IN THIS LIFE.

IN FACT, EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO LIVE A GODLY LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS WILL BE PERSECUTED. 2 Timothy 3:12

BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN PEOPLE INSULT YOU, PERSECUTE YOU AND FALSELY SAY ALL KINDS OF EVIL AGAINST YOU BECAUSE OF ME. Matthew 5:11

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Matthew 5:10

SO WE KNOW WE WILL BE PERSECUTED IF WE FOLLOW JESUS, BUT WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING ? I CAN ONLY SHARE WHAT GOD TELLS ME IN MY HEART AND WHERE HE HAS BROUGHT ME.. BE A LIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS. TAKE A STAND ON YOUR BELIEF. SHARE THE GOSPEL MESSAGE, AND MAKE DISCIPLES. MOVE PEOPLE AHEAD FROM THE SALVATION MOMENT INTO THEIR IDENTITY IN CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM BY SHARING HIS WORD, COMMANDMENTS, AND LOVE. ADMONISH AND TEACH IN WISDOM, SHARPEN EACH OTHER. LEARN THE TRUE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF GOD IN THE NAME OF JESUS, AND THE POWER OF HIS BLOOD. BE FIRM IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHILE LOVING IN HIS GRACE. TAKE CARE OF YOUR NEIGHBOR, PRAY FOR THOSE IN NEED, AND SEEK GOD’S KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS EVERY DAY. BE THE SPIRITUAL BEING THAT JESUS HAS REBORN YOU INTO, ABIDING IN HIM, AND BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT…..WANT IT, STRIVE FOR IT, HUNGER AND THIRST TO BE WHO AND WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE. GET QUIET…..AND THANK GOD ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES THAT HE LOVES YOU AND HAS SEPARATED YOU OUT OF THE WORLD TO BE HIS. PERSECUTION ? OR OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE AS A MAN OR WOMAN OF THE MOST HIGH GOD ? YES. START SHINING :)

FOR ALL WHO ARE BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THESE ARE SONS OF GOD. Romans 8:14

STAND AND KNOW GOD/JA