Tag: persecution

Love More and More

July 14, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

I have seen posts on social media that ask if life feels like an episode of Game of Thrones or The Waking Dead. Sometimes, it might. Even the Christian life may feel like a dangerous rollercoaster ride in a two-bit theme park, especially in today’s darkened world.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul speaks to Christians – those who have believed on and followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He tells them they need to be sanctified. They need to live a holy life. He emphasizes that they should turn away from sexual immorality. Today, we see that he encourages them to love one another (and others) more and more.

You see, love is what sets Christians apart from the rest of the world. For mortal man, it may be difficult to love someone outside our immediate family (sometimes, it is not easy to love those within our immediate family). For Christians, love – even love for others and love for our enemies – should come as natural as love for our own children.

If loving others does not come natural, then you should prayerfully and persistently seek sanctification. Ask God to rid you of worldly love, lust, selfishness, pride, and hatred, and fill you with His Holy Spirit. He will. He will perfect His love within your life. When one is filled with the Holy Spirit, one is surprised by love… a deeper love than you thought possible.

We seem to be living near the end of days and Satan has begun one final offensive in the battle against the saints of God. As a result, many Christians have ducked for cover, and are not reaching out to others in love as they should; instead many are looking out only for themselves and their closest loved ones.

We must resist fear. We must stand up to evil and call it by name. We must look evil in the eye and expel it in the name of Jesus. And we must do it all in love.

Remember, Christ sacrificed His life for the sins of the world, not just for you and me (and not just those who agree with our viewpoint). That person that we think is so evil… that one who is causing so many problems in the world…he or she may be the next Saul who finds Christ on the road to Damascus and becomes the next Apostle Paul.

We must love our enemies. Pray for those who threaten us, abuse us, and persecute us. Remember, they, too, need to know God and His love.

Fear Not 365 – You are Worth Much More…

February 7, 2017 by ChristianHolinessDaily Leave a Comment

Take a look at the context of this verse, Matthew 10:31. Three times within a few breaths, Christ tells believers that we should not fear. The last two times, he sandwiches those comforting words with warnings of death and hell. In the end, he exhorts us to openly confess Jesus as Lord.

Several times I have heard people quote Bible promises with no concept of the recipient of the promise. Christ, in this section, is speaking to those who will remain true to their faith in the face of opposition, persecution, torture and death. He’s not speaking to those who will fall away when the going gets tough.

Like the sparrow, true Christians will face a stormy day. We sometimes fly against the wind. Often we are tossed by updrafts of the storm. Like the sparrow, we are often pursued by predators. In the end, we will fall to the ground like sparrows.

The point Christ makes here is that, to man, the sparrow is practically worthless. One could buy two sparrows to offer as sacrifice at the Temple for a farthing. That would equate to about four birds for a penny. No matter how little value man sees in the sparrow, they are of great value to God. He knows when one dies.

But, sparrows are not made in the image of God. We are. Sparrows are not made with body, soul, and spirit. We are. They have no free will to follow God or reject Him. We do. Sparrows will not be resurrected. We will.

Sparrows cannot become the children of God. As much as God cares for the sparrows, He ultimately loves us much, much more. We are His children…

… If we confess Christ before men. If we fear Him. If we love Him.

Those who confess Christ publicly, before men, Fear Not, for you are worth so much more than a bunch of sparrows.

———

I sing because I’m happy

I sing because I’m free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know he watches

…He watches me

– His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Written by C. D. Martin and Charles Gabriel.

Fear Not 365 – God Will Come With a Vengeance

January 23, 2017 by ChristianHolinessDaily Leave a Comment

Christians are persecuted daily by Muslims the world over. In many places they are not allowed to display crosses, construct churches, or pray in public. Elsewhere, they are taxed, jailed, or tortured and killed.

Just days ago, Hindus in India doused a Christian pastor and his wife with gasoline and threatened to burn them alive. They also destroyed their church.

Attacks against Christians have grown astronomically. The Anglican Church, for example, announced (Easter, 2015) that Christians in nearly half of its 38 provinces were suffering persecution. It is thought that nearly 200 million Christians in over 60 countries face some sort of restrictions (Guardian News and Media Limited, the guardian.com 27 July, 2015).

Though few may consider them persecution, Muslim terror attacks in the U.S. are nothing less than attacks on Christianity and the stalwart nation that both defined and defended Christianity for 200 years.

Yes, Christians the world over are afraid. We know, however, that Christ wins in the end. We know there is a special place in hell for those who persecute Christians and a special place by the side of Christ for those who were beheaded for His name’s sake (Revelation chapter 20).

Over 2700 years ago, Isaiah delivered a promise to the nation of Israel that can and should be applied by 21st century Christians. Isaiah delivered it, but the promise is from God:

Say to those who are fearful-hearted,

“Be strong, do not fear!

Behold, your God will come with vengeance,

With the recompense of God;

He will come and save you.”

– Isaiah 35:4

Fear Not, for God will come with a vengeance.