“Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous – with life-joy and satisfaction in God ‘s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.” – Matthew 5:11 (AMP)
In the history of the Church, right from the early days, persecution against the church has always been experienced and the Church did not have to do anything wrong for her to be persecuted by the world. Anyone who associates with Christ becomes the enemy of many governments and organizations. According to history, at a time in Rome under a brutal emperor, Christians were lied against to have caused a massive fire in the land and as a result, many of them were killed mercilessly.
Christ knew this would happen for His name’s sake and He taught His disciples ahead, preparing them for the worst of all scenarios. Not long after His ascension did the persecution against the Church start and Stephen was killed by being stoned for the sake of the Gospel. As it was then in the early days of the Church, so does it still happen in our days.
The historical evidences suggest that Christians will always be persecuted inasmuch as we choose to stay with Christ. What should be our consolation is that the blessings of God are upon us. You must never allow persecution make you deny or betray Christ. You must know that your life is precious to Christ and compromising is not an option for you.
To keep standing despite all persecutions against you, you have to keep your eyes and gaze on the reward. You must be like Christ who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame. Falling and failing becomes inevitable once you shift your gaze from Christ. Your reward is bountiful in heaven and let this be your consolation.
Practical Application: Pray for at least 30 minutes today for your faith not to fail if and when persecuted for the faith and also pray for other believers who are currently facing persecution.
Confession: I am sold out to Christ and I pledge my allegiance to Him alone. I will keep looking to Him and I will never drop my gaze from Him. I receive strength from Him to stand when others fall and fail.
Related Scriptures: Acts 4:13-22, Acts 5:17-42
Bible Reading: Acts 4, 5
