Here is an answer to those who would accuse me of not caring what happens in our country politically. Since my trust is in Christ alone I am not worried about what the nation is doing or which direction it takes.
I know that the world is growing darker, the entire world, not just our country. These are the end times and there is nothing that will stop it. Our words will do nothing, our anger will do nothing and even our political involvement will do nothing, it has been prophesied and is written in stone.
All born again believers will continue to the end. No one who has been changed into a new creation by Christ will lose that status, as "sealed by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance", it is God that said this.
Just because I am not afraid of persecution doesn't mean I want it. I want whatever God wants even if that means persecution. Our Bible says that many will be persecuted, even now around the world terrible things are happening to believers. Why would you think we will escape what God promised?
2 Timothy 3:11-13 "…11 my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.…"
Chris, just because you do not desire persecution for yourself and your family does not mean it will not happen. Perhaps it would be better to prepare your family spiritually to endure for Christ than fight to avoid what may be coming.
The only way we can be strong in persecution is if we are fully trusting in Christ. He will give born again believers the strength they need to endure whatever He has for them.
Because Peter denied Christ three times does not mean it was alright for him to do. He wept bitterly that he had done it and was eventually martyred. When he denied Christ he did not yet have the Holy Spirit. After Christ left this earth He sent the Holy Spirit and Peter was strong enough to be martyred without denying Christ. Peter was crucified head down because he did not want to die the same way Christ did, he did not feel worthy to die the way Christ did.
Working hard to avoid trials and persecution is a sign of lack of faith. We have no control over these things but God does. If He wants us to have trials and persecution then we will have it. The best thing to do is to trust Christ so fully that we are ready to endure whatever He has for us.
When we are fully focused on Christ we don't worry about what is now or what is coming, just the opposite, we are blessed and joyful that God is in control of everything all the time. We don't have to "make" things happen to satisfy our own desires, we can rest in Him and wait on Him.
We are living in times when things are going to get rougher, our positive thoughts and desires won't comfort us, in fact, the more we lean into them the more stressed we will be. We need to face reality, accept what has come, and give God the glory for getting us through.
The authorities can take away our freedoms and even jail us for our faith but they cannot take away the Holy Spirit or our faith.
Acts 16:22-39 "22 The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”
29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The Jailer Converted
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.
33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”
36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”
38 The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,
39 and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.
40 They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.
Christ does not bail us out, He goes through with us.
Remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They were thrown in the fiery furnace, but Christ was in there with them. They came out because of the testimony of the Son of God, without the smell of smoke on them, or even singed hair.
God wanted Paul and Silas and the three Hebrew men to be in those circumstances because their strength was a testimony to everyone watching, even and especially the leaders who persecuted them.
Instead of focusing on avoiding what is inevitable, that is persecution in one form or another, we ought to be preparing our families to trust so fully in the Holy Spirit that they will have the strength needed when it does come.
Also, keep in mind that Paul and Silas didn't whine and complain about how unjust it was to be beaten and thrown in jail, they praised God, sang in the jail, and converted some of the other prisoners. WOW, think about that, a positive attitude all the way along because their purpose was not for a better life but rather to glorify God and bring others into the fold. Their safety was of little concern to them.
Notice too that there is no evidence that they prayed to beg God to get them out of there. They knew that everything that happened to them had a purpose for the Kingdom of God, even their own persecution. They glorified God more by being persecuted because of their full trust in Him than if they had never been persecuted.
I fear that many Christians in our day would deny Christ if faced with death or persecution because they have been trained to fight for their rights and to never go through anything that makes them unhappy. Our modern idea of Christianity is based on happy words and big smiles, negating the authentic Christianity that endures no matter what.
Just Saying!
