Prepared for Persecution

Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.  I Timothy 3:12  This is what the Apostle Paul wrote to his spiritual son in Christ Jesus, Timothy.  He was preparing Timothy, a leader in the church, so that he could prepare himself and the church for what it would be like to live for Jesus Christ.  Jesus encouraged us letting us know that though we will have troubles in this life, He has overcome this life, the world.  It is only when we are living with one foot in the world and one foot in the church, we become fearful when we understand that there will be persecution for everyone who lives for Christ Jesus.  Jesus calls this half-committed people lukewarm.   Those in the world measure someone’s value by how much stuff, things, and wealth they have, but God does not.  On the contrary, Jesus said, the possession of great wealth, stuff and things makes it more difficult for that person to enter His kingdom.  Why? Because they often place their hope, their value, their ability to exist on their titles, job, wealth, things, and stuff.  They cannot imagine how they could survive without their “stuff and things.”  Jesus says that many will fall away because of this heart set.  It is time now, as a believer, for you to make up your mind, no matter what, you will live a godly life in Christ Jesus, living for eternity, the life to come in the presence of God.  You need to clarify what that means knowing in Whom you believe.  This life, this world and all you see is fading away, it is temporary, but the things you do not see, are eternal.  Our brothers and sisters all over the world since the day the church was birth has undergone all sorts of persecution, yet the church lives, and not only survives but thrives.  I personally believe that persecution brings a purging of the church from those who are not the Lord’s and the revival for the church comes out of the persecution. You need to prepare yourself for persecution so that you are not caught by surprise and find yourself on the wrong side of eternity.  In your preparation you need to understand persecution comes in many forms from ridicule, to losing your job, customers, houses, ministries, marriages, children, parents to even losing your ability to live in your hometown.  It can range from political persecution, to loss of rights, to being arrested for just teaching about Jesus, and told teaching of the Love of God from scripture is a hate speech to being reduced to live a life with limited means.  Prepare yourself as it will come not only from people outside the church, but inside the church, as Paul warned the church for three years, night and day, with tears this will happen. If you are not wise and prepared, the shock of the betrayal can take you out.  Realize this persecution could be coming from the so-called preacher up the street, or the secret sleeper cells of those who war against God’s church, blinded by their deception, in the caldrons of incantations they call prayer and intercession.  Just like there are true pastors and prophets, there are also false pastors and false prophets.  Just like there are true believers, Christians, there are false believers, captors of the antichrist, held captive to do his will which is to steal, kill, divide, and destroy God’s church.  Some join ranks against the church, against God’s servants, against shepherds who are watching over God’s people knowing that if their witchcraft takes down the shepherd the sheep will scatter, and they will be destroyed.  Just like the Pharisees of scripture, they will not rest till they have harmed, damaged, or destroyed parts of Jesus’ body, the Church.  They pray against Christian families and marriages doing all this so deceived as Jesus said, convinced they are doing a service for God. You can identify them as they are against the church and seek to divide the church. They are blinded by deception not knowing whatever they do to the least of these of Jesus’ they are doing to Him.  The Good news is that in these times of persecution that many, will be drawn to Jesus, as a pure church, gathered in unity under Jesus’ leadership draws people to Jesus, but also send out those who are His into His harvest fields to win those who are lost sharing with them the good news of Jesus Christ who died for our sins, who was raised from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling over His Church, as King of Kings, Lord of Lords!