Persecution Comes In Many Forms
I read a statistic that 200 million followers of Jesus around the world suffer ‘persecution. Here, in my country, more and more of the freedom to speak of following Jesus is being prohibited. For myself, as a parent and grand-parent, I realize how important it has become to be extrememly proactive in my children’s and grand-children’s lives, teaching and modeling to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. No matter where we live, the ‘persecution against following Jesus is going to be present.
We all know that persecution comes in many different forms. It may come from punishment designed to cause death, injury, affliction or embarrassment, or discouragement from family and friends. We can be persecuted for our past life (before we became followers of Jesus). My experience is, this happens quite often. Have you ever heard someone say, “how can this person profess Jesus Christ after the things they have done”?
I know nothing about being physically persecuted for Jesus. I do know someone who is in prison for his belief. I have been with some who follow Jesus in secret. Although this does not give me the empathy to understand their daily struggle with persecution, I have witnessed their undying faith in Jesus and their heartfelt commitments to stand up for Him in the face of ever present danger.
Jesus said, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for living according to God’s standards and His judgement): for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Matthew 5:10 KJ
It’s not easy when we are labeled as ‘Jesus freaks’, or people say “don’t give me your religious preferences”, or we face opposition because we believe in God’s standards for marriage and parenting and not the world’s, or our children are being teased because of believing in Jesus and saying ‘no I can’t go there or do that’. What we have to be very careful of, is to not respond against accusations against our belief with accusations of our own. Do not respond in judgement. God is the only righteous judge. It’s very easy to try and take care of this for Him, isn’t it? Especially, when we are being judged or accused.
Nobody wants to be persecuted. As followers of Jesus, it’s inevitable. We are not of this world, and that’s a fact. As we study the Word and as it transforms our minds and hearts, we will be challenged by this world as to whether we really believe in the Jesus we profess.
Key #8 to spiritual blessedness is, be prepared to be persecuted for righteousness sake. The gift we receive is the kingdom of heaven.
Thoughts and Scripture to Ponder: 1 Peter 3:13-15 “Do the right thing” and Psalm 37:1-6 “…He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
In 1 Peter 3:13-15: What does Peter say we should do regarding persecution and suffering?
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In Psalm 37, verses 1, 3, 4 and 5, what does the psalmist tell us to do regarding ‘evil men?
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Delight In The Lord
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Bible Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
