IT’S NOT AN ACCIDENT!

IT’S NOT AN ACCIDENT!

Luke 6:22-23

22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

For the believer persecution and trouble is no accident. It is the result of the collision of righteousness with unrighteousness. The more devoted you are to the Lord the more you will be shunned by Christian pretenders and those who use the Lord for their own profit and purposes! Sometimes it is simply a choice between actually following the Lord or agreeing with those who only claim to be following the Lord. By their works ye shall know them.

The sad truth is that we often are more persecuted by pretending Christians than by those who make no profession of faith. There is often a chill, an estrangement, and an unkindness that never should exist between brethren. Even Jesus, in John chapter six, looked at His handful of disciples and muttered, “Will ye also go away?”

If God is truly God then it is my duty to yield to Him and not to expect Him to simply bless my agenda. God is a personality and if we are to work together I must find myself always ready to yield my PLANS to His PURPOSES. When I yield to Christ I will often run headlong into those who stubbornly demand their own way. There will be conflict with those who are at odds with the purposes of God.  They shall cast out your name as evil.

Acts 5:41

41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Father, nothing hurts more than to suffer at the hands of those I considered my brethren. But I remember that your Son, my Savior, bore the same indignation and I am not better than He. Thank you, Lord for the privilege of suffering for your name’s sake. AMEN