Tag: #Light

Persecution Today

Do you feel like your efforts to live as a follower of Christ are being met by a rock wall? Is it that with every effort, it seems that something bad happens to you, and you are plagued by hard times? Are you going against the flow of what is popular and ‘fun’, and your peers laugh and mock you, or even bully you? Does it feel like you are the single light in the darkness? If all of this is true, then Paul’s words to Timothy will be especially poignant for you:

“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is GOD-Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of GOD may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:12‭-‬17 NIV

Not all of us are like Timothy, fortunate to grow up in a Bible-believing, Christ-following home, praying and reading scriptures, and learning the ways of a Christian. That is a wonderful blessing, but not required in order to live for Christ and to hold up His Light for the world to see. No matter what age we are when we come to JESUS, we can be hungry for the Word and learn it in order to share it. Persecution comes with Salvation. It comes in different forms. As a child, it can be in mocking and bullying. As a teenager and young adult, peer pressure can be brutal. As an adult going into the work force, bosses and coworkers can discriminate and keep you from advancing. Even as adults, we are subjected to mocking and bullying.

Becoming a Christian, a follower of Christ, guarantees you will be persecuted. It may be subtle and covert, and it may be blatantly overt. The enemy uses every weapon in his arsenol to strike Christians down, and the more we live and represent Christ, the bigger the weapond he employs. As adults, it can be a job loss and being unable to provide for ourselves and our families. Disease and illness and injuries are used by the enemy to make us doubt the Sovereignty of GOD. Families and friends will turn against us – look at Jesus. He was rejected by his neighbors and had to leave His home in order to begin His ministry.

Remember Paul? He lost everything to serve His LORD. Home, possessions, friends, status….

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of CHRIST. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my LORD, for Whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from GOD on the basis of faith.” – Philippians 3:7‭-‬9 NIV

We have to choose for ourselves what is most important, the things of man or the Salvation offered by Christ. By choosing to follow Jesus, we are accepting that we will be targeted by the enemy. HOWEVER, by choosing the Freedom of Christ, we are also ensured of a home with Him FOREVER, with NO pain, NO sorrow, and NO tears. Today is fleeting, and our lives on earth will end (soon!), but the eternity after death lasts forever and ever, Amen.

Photo credit: Mark Campbell, Big Sur, California 2017. Used with permission.

Anonymous

The group calling themselves Anonymous is all over the internet, spreading their truth and their reality around the world. Who are they? They hide their identities behind masks and electronically altered voices.

The Ku Klux Klan, better known as the KKK, has pushed their agenda for years through fear-mongering, hiding their faces and identities behind robes and hoods, spewing hatred and persecuting anyone who disagrees with them.

Anonymity is a standing principal in AA and other recovery programs. You can call in tips to the police tip lines anonymously, and most companies have policies in place to protect your identity so that you can report unethical behavior.

These are just a few examples of anonymity in our world. I think Christians make up the biggest anonymous group in the world. We don’t talk about Jesus for fear of offending someone. We aren’t insisting that prayer be reestablished in schools. The Christian flag is missing from our churches….. and we no longer use the world ‘sanctuary’ to describe our main meeting room. Look around your church and your home. Is there a Bible in sight? Will the books and games and DVD’s convince anyone you believe in the Almighty God, and that you are a child of the Most High? I am vocal about my beliefs, but for years I hid them. This verse describes how our Christianity should ‘fit’ those who call themselves Chistians:

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ Lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NLT)

“Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” ” (Mark 4:21‭-‬23 NLT)

Anonymity may serve us well in certain situations and circumstances, but it is NEVER beneficial to be an anonymous Christian; in fact, isn’t that an oxymoron? By the words and example of Jesus, our mission as Christians is to spread His Story and ensure that every person has the opportunity to hear it. We can’t do that anonymously.

Just some thoughts that were on my mind this morning…..

In The Dark

“There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” ” (John 3:1‭-‬2 NLT)

Are you a Nicodemus, an intellectual, a skeptic, who doesn’t understand the message of Jesus? He was a man who felt that it would harm his standing in the community if he were seen talking to this teacher Jesus, Who was teaching such radical lessons. This radical, this man Jesus, claimed to be the Son of the Living GOD, of Yahweh Himself. Certainly, Jesus was not someone a Pharisee should be seen visiting, so Nicodemus waited until after dark to go. Nicodemus admits that Jesus was sent from God, but the message is hard for him to hear.

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” ” (John 3:3‭-‬4 NLT)

A respected Jewish teacher, a member of the elite society of the Pharisees, for Nicodemus to accept what Jesus said would cost him, and it appears that he wasn’t ready. We don’t know what happens to Nicodemus; perhaps he came to accept Jesus as his Saviour, but it’s likely that he chose his earthly position over Jesus. I see it in so many people in power today. Position and status are everything, and there just isn’t enough room for Jesus. So many people, from the poorest of the poor to the richest and most powerful person on this earth, prefer the darkness over the Light. If we choose the Light, the LIFE IN Jesus, how is it that we still let so much darkness in our lives?

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18 NLT)

I know this is true; there is no doubt in my mind the Jesus is the Trut and the Light. I am and will be eternally grateful for His Sacrifice and His Advocacy for me. WHY, then, do we as Christians continue to invite darkness into our lives? We celebrate Hallowee. Even though we try to disguise it in fun costumes and candy, or call it the Harvest Festival or other euphemism, it is still a satanic holiday. To many who are in the darkness, it is their highest holy day, and here are Christians, embracing it. I love Fall, and I thoroughly enjoy celebrating the harvests. It’s like our last hoorah before winter sets in, so we play in the leaves and gather the last of the summer’s bounty before it freezes. Decorating my house and porch with leaves and grasses and gourds is fun, and brings in a breath of warmth for the chilly weather. In the past, I was all about Halloween. I typically dressed as a witch or a vampire, and now I have so much remorse that I was actively inviting the enemy into my life and the lives of those around me. How many treats have we handed out to demons? I believe what Paul wrote in this letter:

“I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is? You say, “I am allowed to do anything” —but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.” (1 Corinthians 10:20‭-‬24 NLT)

Choose your path, whether in the Light of Jesus, or the dark of the enemy. Your choice. There are no shadows within GOD’S light.