Blessing those who persecute us.

Romans 12:14

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

I find with a lot of commands in the bible that in my head I acknowledge that it is a good thing to do before superficially looking at myself and deciding that I am doing alright at it, then moving on. But when I spend some time mulling it over and thinking about the wider implications of God's commands I usually find that I'm not obeying him very well at all.

This is one of those commands. It's easy enough to say that I don't treat those who persecute me badly (aside from the fact that I'm not persecuted by many people at all). But how about those people who don't like me? How about those people who try to make life terrible? How about preparing for when I do face those people.

And maybe there's even a bigger question: Is the reason that I'm not persecuted much because I'm not standing firmly and unwaveringly on God's words?

The Basic Command.
The main command here is to not seek revenge on those who hurt us. When we are persecuted, especially for our faith, instead of trying to get back at those people we need to seek their good. We need to bless them, to care for them. We need to love them so much that we will want them to have true blessing: salvation in Jesus, and therefore we should share the gospel with them.

That's hard enough - when people hurt us we usually want to get back at them. At the very least we want to avoid them. We certainly don't want to help them out or bless them. And there's also the fact that if they are persecuting us for our beliefs, if we share those beliefs with them, we'll probably suffer even more.

What we need to remember is that it is God who judges. We don't have the need or the right to take revenge. God will judge justly. He will vindicate us. Trust in him!

But what about if we aren't persecuted?
There are many reasons that someone wouldn't be persecuted. It doesn't automatically mean we aren't living godly lives. It is a blessing from God to have peace with others - and it is a blessing to be persecuted, because by those sufferings God brings us closer to him.

If we aren't suffering at all for our faith though, then it might be a good idea to honestly evaluate how we're living. Am I following God's commands even if it means I don't fit in? Am I telling people about Jesus, even if they may think I'm an idiot and never talk to me? The second of those things is the one I struggle most with - sharing the gospel and trusting God instead of fearing man. But we need to do it. We are commanded to do it (Matthew 28:18-20). God is more than capable of looking after us. Trust him and tell people the good news!

But there's more...
If we should have that much love for those who hate us, how much more should we love other people. Those who don't hurt us, but are on the outside of our social circles. Those who most people don't like. Those who it will cost us socially to be around - the uncool people, the dirty, smelly people. The people we don't like.

So here are the questions to consider:

• How do I treat those who hate me? Do I reflect the love and forgiveness I have received from Christ through my actions and attitude?
• How do I go at loving those around me who are harder to love? Do I love them even though I might be persecuted for it?
• Am I being persecuted? Am I living in a way that shows I am a Christian? Am I sharing the gospel, even if it costs me in this life?

They're hard questions, but good to consider honestly and act on.

God Bless,

Nat.

Hope, Patience and Trust (Part 2).

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

In the previous post we looked at the reason for our hope and our joy, and today we'll look at the next command: Be patient in tribulation.

Image source

Persevering in hardship. 

The greek words used here mean persevering with hope under a crushing load. In life we will face hardships - regardless of if we are Christians or not. The difference is that if we are Christians we can expect them (because God tells us we will be persecuted in 2 Timothy 3:12) and we can endure them with hope. We will suffer in this life, but we can rejoice knowing that no matter how bad things get here for us,m we have eternal life in heaven because if we have truly put our faith in Jesus we are completely forgiven.

As a result, even though we sometimes will face hardships that will tear us apart, we can trust in God's promises. What are those promises? There are many, but here are a few:

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

This verse tells us that God is with us, and so we know that whatever we go through we have a faithful saviour, king and friend who can guide us through it and is with us. We can also know that he understands - Jesus, who is God also suffered and he can empathise with us in our hardships and weaknesses (Hebrews talks about that)

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9) 

This verse shows us that God is in control. And we know from Romans 8:28 that he works everything for our ultimate good. No matter what we are suffering God is good and he will work it to bring us closer to him and make us more like him (James 1:2-4 also supports this).

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Although this verse is primarily about temptation, I think it still applies. Yes we will suffer. Yes it will sometimes get to the point of being unbearable. But God is good. He is faithful, and he will not give us more then we can bear. He won't give us so much that we have to disobey him or end it ourselves. He will always provide - trust him. It won't be easy. But it won't be impossible.

Life is tough. And God doesn't promise it will get any easier here. But he does promise to see us through this life and to bring us into his kingdom at the end.
Trust in him, he is the only one who can save us.
God Bless!
Nat.

A verse to Munch on.

Just one verse to munch on today:

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I want to spend more time in the word today then writing a blog post about the word, so here are a few quick thoughts on this verse to think over.

• God never promises we won't face hardship. In fact this is almost a promise that we will face trouble, and 2 Timothy 3:12 informs us that we certainty will be persecuted if we live for Christ. There is no support for the Prosperity Gospel in the true gospel or the bible.

• We should read God's word. He has given us his word so we can have peace, so read it.

• We need to Trust God. He offers us peace through his words. We get that peace by trusting that he is faithful and keeps his promises.

• Take Heart! We have reason to be joyful. I don't know if "take heart" can be translated as be joyful, but it most certainly is linked. We don't have to go around gloomy and depressed if we are Christians, because our Lord and Saviour has forgiven us eternally, and it is based entirely on what he has done, not on our effort, so we don't have to fear losing it! Be Joyful! Take Heart!

• He has overcome the world. It is based entirely on Christ's effort and sacrifice, not ours. He has overcome. He did not sin and he has saved us. He has defeated Satan. It's all Him, it's all about Him, and we need to live for Him!

I hope that was helpful to consider today.

God Bless!

Nat.

The riches of God's word.

Romans 12:12 

        Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

Here's a short, simple verse that's packed with good stuff. I love how God's word cna be so succinct and yet so full of treasure, and how different verses all link up.

Be Joyful in Hope 
It's pretty simple: Be joyful because of the hope you have. Be hopeful. Praise God. Jesus came to earth, he who was and is God became a man for our sakes. He lived perfectly and died to take our sins if we turn to him. Through him we are completely, 100% saved. Our sins are forgiven and even though we still stuff up he forgives. Therefore rejoice! Even if the world is falling apart, even if the mountains are falling into the heart of the sea, you have reason to rejoice (Psalm 46:1-3).

Our sure hope is that God works everything for his glory and our good (Romans 8:28) and that ultimately he will bring us to heaven, to be in his presence forever. That's a blessing we cannot fathom.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Patient in Affliction
Paul isn't a prosperity gospel preacher. Everyone who has any sense can see that Christians, like everyone else in the world, face hard times. Not only that, but we are often (or at least can be) persecuted for our faith. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that every Christian will be persecuted. The question isn't if, it's when will you be persecuted?

We will suffer, But be patient, the eternal glory we will receive is far better than any suffering we can face here. It's worth it by far (Romans 8:18). Trust God, be joyful and be patient.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Faithful in Prayer
Just because God's in control doesn't mean that we aren't called to trust him and pray. We should pray for ourselves and the situations we are in, and we should pray for those around us, both Christians and non-Christians.

Prayer is an expression of our trust in God. It is a proof of our faith. So keep praying, keep trusting God and keep serving him. Even if he doesn't seem to be answering. We know that God does answer our prayers - not always how we want or would expect, but he always hears us and works for our good in it all (Romans 8:28 again). 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

Soli Deo Gloria
Nat.