Persecution in the world
Sometimes I get online and go check my Yahoo! mail just to stumble on a story on their news page that is almost always offensive toward Christians. It is more than obvious that it is not a coincidence. Sometimes I read the heading and get upset by it but then I have to step back and realize that it is suppose to be this way. In fact Jesus told us it would be this way on several occasions. He even explained why it would be this way. In John 15:20 Jesus says…
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
It would not be logical for me or any other Christian to expect the world to be accepting because the devil controls things right now in the world. Yes that is right. You cannot believe in Jesus without believing in the devil. In fact in 1 Peter 5:8 it says…
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Human nature assures that you will be offended when you hear someone putting down something that is important to you. Anyone would and that is easily proven. Just let your kids know you don’t approve of something they do and watch their response. I know the temptation to get offended when someone puts our Lord down but if we remember we use to do the same thing before we had come to know Jesus ourselves. Now we see things differently. We know that Jesus’ death on the cross was payment for our sins.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God
Maybe the next time you hear someone putting Jesus down, maybe you could explain to them the truth. You can reason with one person but not with a mob. Maybe that person has never heard the truth of the gospel and doesn’t understand. Before 1986 when I made that decision I didn’t understand either. Jesus tells a parable of the lost sheep.
Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Even though they are not a follower you can easily see that God loves them too. I only hope that I can be used this way as well. You know, the Bible says by their fruits ye will know them. I would like to have the fruits that are glorifying to Jesus. I know this kind of message against the world and I can tell by the fruits. Before I started talking about Jesus, I had many blogs linked to this one on Technorati but as of late it is down to 7. While sad, if you let things like this keep you quiet the devil wins every time. This is just my take.
Paul