Pray for those who persecute you...

     We, as Christians, have the words of Jesus as a reminder to pray for those who persecute us. He said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:43-45

     That is a difficult command to follow, but Jesus is our Commander in Chief and when He gives us a command, we are obligated to obey. We don't have a choice if we are truly His followers.

     During a recent Bible study, the discussion turned to ISIS and their murderous threats and ways. It is so much easier to hate them than to pray for them. But I reminded the ladies in the study that the Apostle Paul was once a terrorist. In the Book of Acts we can read about his "murderous threats". We know that he was at the stoning of Stephen. "At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him (Stephen), dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul." Acts 7:57-58

     Yes, Saul (later known at Paul) was a witness to that stoning and in Chapter 8, verse 1 we read that Saul was there, giving approval to his death.

     The death of Stephen resulted in a great persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and as a result, they were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Those who knew Jesus remembered His words to them: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." I have often wondered just how many of His disciples prayed specifically for Saul?

     The persecution continued with Saul leading the way. Yes, Saul was a terrorist - his chief aim was to rid the world of Christians. Don't believe me? This is what the Word of God has to say about him: "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' He replied. 'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do'." Acts 9:1-6

     If you are a student of the Bible, you know that much of the New Testament was written by the Apostle Paul in the form of letters to various churches. His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus changed his life and he became a devout Christian himself. How was this possible? I truly believe that Jesus met Saul face-to-face because Christians were praying for those who persecuted them.

     Now if we believe that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever; then we have to believe that the prayers of believers for those who are persecuting them will still be answered. It is difficult to pray for ISIS, but we can pray for Jesus to meet them on their roads to Damascus. As they plot and plan to steal, kill and destroy, we can ask Jesus to reveal Himself to them - stopping them in their tracks and turning their lives around. Since Jesus is alive and in the business of answering prayer, He can reveal Himself to anyone at any time.

As the former terrorist, Paul, said to the church in Rome, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." (Romans 12:14) I can't think of a better way to bless ISIS than to pray for them. 

What is the world coming to?

Jesus had quite a bit to say about His coming kingdom and His disciples and the prophets also shared much about the end times. But are we there?

In Matthew 24, Jesus' disciples wanted to know the signs of His coming and the end of the age. He answered them with this: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."

He went on to say, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Jesus also said, "no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

The Apostle Paul was given a vision of the future by God and shared some of his insights with the churches he helped to establish. He too spoke about the earth and all of creation waiting for the return of Christ. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."

Both Jesus and Paul saw the earth in terms of childbirth awaiting the coming kingdom. Having experience three births firsthand, I can understand and appreciate what they were both stating. Birthing pains start out fairly mild and spaced far apart, but as the baby prepares to be birthed, the contractions come closer together and the pains become more severe. Extreme earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, drought, extreme heat and cold all seem to be pointing to the imminent coming kingdom.

Paul also had these words for the believers in Thessalonica who were concerned about fellow believers who had died. "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)

The world is a frightening place right now especially for Christians around the world, but these are exciting times to be alive and preparing for the return of Christ. He's coming back for a church that is standing firm and watching for Him.

Paul wrote these words to the believers in Thessalonica, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

What do we do while we are waiting for Christ's coming? We pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field, because the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We continue to be light and salt to the people around us. We watch the earth as the contractions grow closer and praise God that He will soon liberate the earth. And we pray "Come Lord Jesus"!

Want the truth? Listen to Jesus!

Dictionary definition of truth: the real facts about something: the things that are true: the quality or state of being true: a statement or idea that is true or accepted as true

     “What is truth”? Pilate asked Jesus that question after He was arrested and right after Jesus had told him that He was a king. Jesus had said, “You are right in saying that I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37) 

     Most of the turmoil that the world is experiencing today is because the truth has been perverted. Please notice that in the dictionary definition of truth it states that it is an idea that is accepted as true. That’s where the problems arise. People today are accepting whatever they read or whatever is spoken by someone they hold in high regard as the truth. It seems to have become the truth because someone said it’s the truth. Few people read the Bible and most of those who choose to accept someone else’s word about the truth don’t know or follow what the Bible says about truth.

     As a Christian, I have God’s word to lead me to the truth about all things. Psalm 51:6 speaks about the God of the universe who desires truth. The Lord God Almighty spoke through the prophet Zechariah that we are to speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgement in our courts; he said we are not to plot evil against our neighbors and we are not to love to swear falsely. (Zechariah 8:16-17)

     Jesus told his disciples that He was the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) He also said that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. He referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth who would guide believers into all truth. 

     As believers in Christ Jesus, we know that God the Father is all-knowing, all-seeing and that absolutely nothing in the world escapes His knowledge. He alone knows the truth about all people and all situations. King David realized that he couldn’t hide his sins from God and stated, “surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.” There is nowhere to hide from God Almighty because He is everywhere at all times. But He has created us with a free will and although He desires a close relationship with us and wants us to desire the same thing, He will let us make our own choices. Our desires for our selves can over ride God’s desires. 

      “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” ( Romans 1:24-25)

     The Apostle Paul had much to say about truth and wrote to the church in Corinth that love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He told the church in Ephesus to be strong in the Lord and take their stand against the devil’s schemes by buckling the belt of truth around their waists. He warned the church in Thessalonica that “the coming of the lawless one would be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10) And he gave Timothy this hope, “God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4) He said that the church of the living God was the pillar and foundation of the truth.

     As I said before, God has given us freewill to decide whether or not to seek Him, but there are consequences for our choices. The author of Hebrews says, “if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Peter also warned about false prophets and false teachers saying that they would secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. (2 Peter 2:1-2)

     We read in 1 John 1:6 and 1:8 these words, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

     The Bible is very clear about being truthful and seeking God’s truth in all things. It is upsetting when Christian people read something online, accept it as the truth and pass along the information without first checking the facts. As Christians, it is our duty to be truthful in all things and to seek God’s wisdom and the Spirit’s guidance before we share information which may be false or damaging to someone’s character. In this age of twisted truth, we have to be diligent and careful about pursuing the truth and presenting the truth to those around us in love. Jesus spoke to the Jewish believers these words, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) It is up to us, His disciples to hold onto His teaching and seek the truth in all things. If we live our lives based on the truth that Jesus Christ has shown us, we will be set free and can stand firm against the enemy and the lies that he tells. His falsehoods cannot harm us because we are in a right relationship with God the Father.

     “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8  

Where does my help come from?

"I lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

Being the person God created you to be

     I read this devotional story in Streams in the Desert, Jan. 7 and just had to share it. If you are a Christian struggling to be joyful in this decaying world, then you might be inspired by this story, too. 

     A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac.

     And so on all through the garden. Coming to a violet, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. "Well, violet, I'm glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened." "No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a violet, I am determined to be the best little violet that I can."

Others may do a greater work,
But you have your part to do;
And no one in all God's creation
Can do it so well as you.

     Be the best little violet you can be - God knows your heart and your desire to please Him!