Day 028 – The Persecuted!!!

 

Blessed are  those Who are Persecuted for Righteousness sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and Persecute You and say all kinds of Evil against You falsely for My name sake. Rejoice and be Exceedingly glad, for Great is Your reward in Heaven, for so they Persecuted the Prophets who were before You…  Matthew 5:10-12 
These verses talks about the Eighth Character we must have in our lives as Believers. These characters are the ones found in the Life of Jesus when he walked on Earth as a Man. We are not called to imitate this character, But We are called to Partake of His nature. Trying to produce this characters in our lives through our own strength Will be impossible. But we must open ourselves to the Holy Spirit to produce this nature in us. 
In the old Covenant, There were no Blessings in being Persecuted. God promised them that as Long as they keep His Words and obey His commands, He will Destroy their enemies before them. But in the New Covenant, There is a blessing for those that are Persecuted for Righteousness sake. Jesus said to His Disciples “In the world, You shall have tribulation (John 16:33)”. He once told His brothers that the world hates Him because He testifies that Its work is evil(John 7:7). 2 Timothy 3:12 Clearly states that “ALL those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. The Life of a True Disciple of Jesus exposes the Evil of this wicked generation. And because we are not part of the People of this world, we are Persecuted. There are two things they will Persecute us for:
(1) Righteousness sake: The world will Persecute us because we stand for what is Right. Those who don’t value uprightness will hate us. Those in our place of work will do harm to us because we did not yield to them in doing evil. We may not be promoted or get a job because we seek to speak the truth and not lie. Because the Values we are living for is far different from what the world is Living for, they would hate us. Even those who called themselves Believers will Persecute Us. Churches that does not stand up for the Truth as found in God’s word will hate Us. Churches that does not preach the whole counsel of God will see us as enemies. They will put us out of the Church and Kill us and Yet they would think they are offering a service to God(John 16:2)
(2) For His name sake: The world will insult, abuse and say a lot of Evil against us because we proclaim the name of Jesus. I have discovered that some people hate to hear some things about Jesus. Some get offended if you tell them that ” Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father” They are like “don’t be dogmatic!!! How will you say Jesus is the ONLY way to God? Are you now saying other religions don’t know God?” When we proclaim things like this, People will Persecute us and call us fanatics. No wonder the Apostles went around strengthening the Disciples saying ” We Must go through Many Tribulations enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22)”. 
So what should our reaction be when we are Persecuted? Is it the time to be gloomy and sad? Is it the time to be ashamed and feel sorry for ourselves? Definitely Not!!! At that time we should Rejoice and leap for Joy!!! We should be Exceedingly Glad because  the Kingdom of Heaven is ours and Great is our reward in Heaven!!! All the persecution and sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us in Heaven(Romans 8:18). For our Light affliction, which is but for a Moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory(2 Corinthians 4:17). So if we complain and grumble when we face persecution, it is an indication that we don’t believe God’s word. It shows that We don’t believe that Great is our reward in Heaven. Let us learn from the Apostles whom after they were beaten at the Temple departed rejoicing that they were counted worthy to Suffer shame for Jesus name(Acts 5:40-41).
Finally, if we are not Persecuted, reviled and abused for Righteousness sake and the name of Jesus in this world, it means we are not walking in the footsteps of the Prophets and Apostles who went before us. Which of the Prophets did they not Persecute? ALL those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be Persecuted(2 Timothy 3:12). If we are not Persecuted, it means we are not desiring to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. It means we are not walking in the footsteps of Jesus. If they Persecuted Jesus because He stood for Righteousness, would they Honour us for Righteousness? As the world is becoming more corrupt and wicked, We must prepare our mind for persecution. It is not easy but we must believe in God’s promises that He will never allow us to be tempted beyond our abilities and He will always give us Grace to overcome if we remain Humble before Him. 
Dear Friend, There is a blessedness in persecution. It is a Blessing in the New Covenant. If you really stand up for Righteousness and the name of Jesus in this dark world, You will be Persecuted. In fact, If You merely desire to live a godly Life, be ready for persecution. But if you endure it, Great is Your reward in Heaven. How will you feel in Heaven when You meet Peter, Paul, Stephen, John, James and all those that were killed because of their Stand for Righteousness and Jesus name? How will you feel when they begin to share their testimonies of what God was able to accomplish through their Lives? How would you feel when You hear of their sufferings and persecution and Death because they stood up for God on this Earth? What will be Your own testimonies? Now that You are still alive, Stand up for Righteousness and Jesus name!!!! Let people call you whatever names they Like!! Let the Church pull you out and call you a Devil because You stood up for Righteousness. Let the whole world be against You because You proclaim the whole counsel of God as found in the Scriptures. And Great will be Your reward in Heaven!!! It’s Your choice Friend. But as For Me and My own House, by the Grace of God we will walk in the footsteps of Jesus and His Apostles. We will proclaim the whole purpose of God. And if it is God’s will, there is no Death as Great as Dying as a Martyr.  God bless you. Have a blessed day. 
#Everyday with Jesus