May 1 - Blessed Are You

Blessed Are You

            Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you…(Matthew 5:11); if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…(John 15:20); rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great… (Matthew 5:12).

On a daily basis, we find this exhortation hard, if not impossible, to live out.  Not because we don’t want to, but because, frankly, we don’t need to.  Living in America, we’re not assaulted or imprisoned because of our relationship with Jesus Christ.  A smirk here, a little ridicule there, that’s about all.  Most recently, we have been challenged by the threat of God being removed from our

Pledge of Allegiance; but our nation continues to have coins that read, “In God We Trust” and

“The Ten Commandments”  hanging on courtroom walls.  Such symbols display the fact that persecution is not a way of life where we are.

But it’s not that way for our brothers and sisters in other places.   More Christians have been killed in the last century than have been killed during the first nineteen centuries of the Church.  And today, across the globe, 400 believers will be killed, some churches will be burned, and hundreds of believers will be beaten or imprisoned-not because of economic or political reasons, because of their love for Jesus Christ.

The Lord commanded us to “remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners,  and those who mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Hebrews 13:3).  Therefore it’s important to occasionally set aside a time of prayer for the persecuted church around the world.  But our praying, we trust, should continue to occur.  There are several important ways to pray when it comes to the persecuted church:

1)  Ask God to cause good to come from the evil – Only Jesus can always do that, as Joseph (Genesis 50:20) and Paul and Silas discovered (Acts 16:16-34).  This life, for people who die without Jesus, is their eternal high-point; but for those who will live eternally with Jesus, this life is the soon-forgotten low point of eternity.

2)  Ask God to purify His Church so they can do mighty exploits-Our circumstances press us to make vital decisions;  accept His ruler ship and to rise to mighty exploits,  or reject His ruler ship and expose our self-corruption  (11 Chronicles 33:1-17; Daniel 11:32-35; Matthew 5:16).

3)  Ask God to grant His church boldness to preach His Word, miraculously – Jesus reveals the reality of His presence and He proves the reliability of His promises through the testimonies and the works of His people (Acts 4:24-34; Revelation 12:11; 11 Chronicles 16:9).

4)  Ask God to move on the rulers of nations to promote peace, righteousness, and justice – Jesus requires us to pray for such rulers (1 Timothy 2:1-7).  Nations where these atrocities are most severe are China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan,  Indonesia, Iran and Sri Lanka.

May the Lord bless you as you bless those who are persecuted.

Consider reading the Word today: