Persecuted for Christ, rejoice!

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.


Revile- To reproach; to treat with opprobrious and contemptuous language. (Opprobrious- 1. Reproachful and contemptuous; 2. Blasted with infamy; despised; rendered hateful; as an opprobrious name.)


Persecute- 1. In a general sense, to pursue in a manner to injure, vex or afflict; to harass with unjust punishment or penalties for supposed offenses; to inflict pain from hatred or malignity.
2. Appropriately, to afflict, harass, or destroy for adherence to a particular creed or system of religious principles, or to a mode of worship. Thus Nero persecuted the Christians by crucifying some, burning others, and condemning others to be worried by dogs. See Acts 22.
3. To harass with solicitations or importunity.

Falsely Accused.


God's people are blessed when they are reviled, when they are held in reproach, when they are held in contempt, when they are despised, when they are hated, when they are injured, when they are afflicted, when they are harassed and unjustly punished for no reason, when they are inflicted with pain, when they are falsely accused.


BLESSED! A blessing is received by those who are Christ's and endure all manner of suffering because they are Christ's.


We don't consider ourselves blessed when we are persecuted, do we? Have we been persecuted as Christian's - for being Christians? Can you remember a time you were reviled for being a Christian- truly reviled? Has anyone ever spit in your face for being a Christian? Has anyone ever beat you for being a Christian? Has anyone ever punished you in any way for being a Christian? Seriously? Have you ever had to face another person and have them hate you, revile you, persecute you, falsely speak evil against you for your FAITH?


I've personally had people *not like* the fact I worship God as I do but they didn't really revile me, or hurt me physically. I didn't like it at all when they *acted out*, it was bizarre to me, it felt incomprehensible at the time. A wave of disbelief rushed over me and as the strange miniscule persecution ran its course I was left with the feeling that what just happened was of the devil- not truly of the person who was doing what they were doing. It was just that bizarre of a situation. Even now looking back on that happenstance I'm left with that same feeling of it being totally absurd. Was I allowed a teeny tiny glimpse into persecution for my faith? I believe I was. I have to wonder how people who live day in and day out with that sort of incomprehensible behavior towards them only a hundredfold, no, a thousand-fold worse, feel. It is truly inexplicable to be abused physically, mentally, and emotionally for your faith- it is something so incredibly personal and one of those inalienable rights we here in America are taught to believe in.


How many of us LIVE our faith?


Let's for a moment consider the Amish, the Quakers, the Jewish people - just three examples there. This people as a rule LIVE their faith and by that I mean their every day lives are so entwined with their religion that people find it hard to separate the two. We think of the Amish and the Quaker people and we know how they shun modern living- electricity etc; and are known as God-fearing people having their own beliefs and those beliefs are intricately woven into their lives. The Jewish people cannot escape their religious heritage no matter how modernized they become. We think of Orthodox Jewish as those who live their faith. There are others - many others known for living their faith- Jehovah's Witness', Seventh-day Adventist, and more. What sets all these people apart is the way their beliefs form their way of life. Their faith is revealed in their lives.


It's very easy to say that the majority of the world do NOT live in any sort of real faith. Their lives do NOT reflect their faith. Or rather their EVERY DAY lives do NOT reflect their faith.


If your life reflects the world and not your faith is it any wonder you are not persecuted? Seriously. If our lives are so similar to the lives of those who have no faith what sets us apart from the world? Those who are set apart from the world seem to invite persecution. Those who LIVE their faith, those who are KNOWN for their faith are those who will be persecuted not those who blend so completely in with the world that the world can't tell them apart.


Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.


It HAS to be understood that those being persecuted for Christ are - poor in spirit, mourning, meek, seeking righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers - not those who are mean in spirit, not those who are content to be of this world, not boasters, not the proud, not the unrighteous, not the merciless, not the impure in heart, not the warmongers. Yes, the mean spirited, the discontented, the boaster, the proud, the unrighteous, the merciless, the impure in heart, the warmongers of any faith CAN be persecuted, but only those who are CHRIST'S and are persecuted for Christ's righteousness, for our Savior, will be blessed. If you are mean spirited and fight your persecutors you are not of Christ. Seriously! Jesus is teaching us! Jesus is revealing Himself to us fully and letting us know that if we are truly His will we manifest Him in our lives. If we truly surrender our lives to our Savior- accepting Him completely as our Deliverer giving up our selves then we are His and HE will be reflected in our lives and the lessons He is teaching us will be real, they will be lived in our lives!


That little persecution I experienced which caused me to wonder at how bizarre it was, that gave me bit of dismay, that opened my eyes to see the reality of persecution- was allowed- to teach me a valuable lesson. All praise to God may I not forget and always remember that any persecution large or small should be cause for rejoicing!


Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.


Those persecuted must realize that they have cause to rejoice! Rejoice and be exceeding glad! Why? Because GREAT is their reward in heaven. The prophets of God were persecuted before they were!


May we all learn the lessons Christ has to teach us now and always!


By His most amazing LOVE! By His mercy! By His grace! All in Him!

JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR!

Blessed by the name of our LORD!


Amen.