Persecuted But Not Forsaken

Paul suffered many times because of his faith but he said he was never forsaken, read what he said in 2 Corinthians 4:9, “persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

People that live in the United States don’t suffer persecution nearly as much as believers in other countries, but if we continue to lose our religious freedoms we may experience that kind of persecution also.  When the heavy persecution comes, and it will, I wonder how many of us will be faithful and stand for the faith that we profess?  It is easy to claim that we will die for the Lord living in a free country where all we may suffer is verbal abuse, but do we really know how strong our commitment is?  

When I think about this I think about Peter and the other disciples and how they said they would die for Jesus but when it came to standing for Jesus at His death, Peter denied Jesus and all the disciples scattered, forsaking Him and they were the ones that walked with Him and talked with Him and saw the miracles that He performed.  They also were the ones that were filled with the Holy Spirit and performed many miracles themselves.  I think when they made that statement they were serious and thought they were ready to give their lives for their Lord.  They all had good intentions but that wasn’t enough.

I am doing this ‘Tidbit’ to remind every believer that reads this that there are many believers around the world that are suffering for their faith and many are dying, in fact more people are dying for their faith today than any other time in the history of the world.  We don’t seem to hear much about the persecuted believers too often and we need to be made aware that they do exist and they need our prayers.  Seems like the only time I hear about them is when I am listening to the Family Life Network on the radio and they have the ‘Voice of the Martyrs’ on and recently I read an article about them on Facebook.  It is easy for us to forget that persecution is a real problem and that many believers experience it every day.  

It is so easy for us to live as believers in a somewhat free country, but many people when they become a believer have to give up everything they have and some that defect from other religions, their parents disown them, some actually have a funeral for them considering them dead.  Some lose their jobs, there only means of support and possibly their living quarters and without help from other believers they could starve to death, which for us is hard to believe.

Many people come to church and hear a salvation message and feel convicted through the Holy Spirit because of their sin so they repent and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and it costs them nothing at the time.  Others it cost them their lives and they knew it would before it happened, but they are willing to forfeit it all to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Think about that for a while, then you might want to think about this - what would you be willing to give up for Jesus?  He showed us what He was willing to give up for us.  Are you willing to suffer for Him?  Something to think about!  I hope you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!