Persecution

God's ability to speak even when we don't think we are ready or listing always surprises me!  As I sat in a dear friends home in McAlester OK a couple of weekends ago, I was not expecting to be fed spiritually, in fact I was more just looking to catch up about life.  Within a few minutes of sitting down to relax on his couch, he suggested I needed to hear a piece of the book he had been reading.
He went to his kitchen and brought back a book entitled "The Heavenly Man"  with little explanation of what he was going to read he started in.  It was about a man from Asia who had made his life's ambition to share the glory of Jesus Christ with everyone he could no matter the cost.  This man has been persecuted in ways I can't possibly understand, beaten beyond recognition, imprisoned in a cell with little light, electrocuted with batons, kicked, punched, spit on, defecated on by his fellow prisoners...then released because the Lord was not finished with his life.
The part of the book read to me was when this man came to America to visit the churches of the "west."  He came with excitement to see the zeal for God of an American nation that had sent so many to share the gospel in his home country.  He came ready to join in fellowship with a fervant excited church breathing life into the lost.  But what he found was far different than what he imagined.

He says "Before I traveled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so many churches were spiritually asleep.  I presumed the Western church was strong and vibrant because it had brought the gospel to my country with such incredible faith and tenacity.  Many missionaries had shown a powerful example to us by laying down their lives for the sake of Jesus."  He goes on to say, "I've struggled while speaking in Western churches.  There seems to be something missing that leaves me feeling terrible inside.  Many meetings are cold and lack the fire and presence of God that we have in China."  

Church it is time to wake up!  We are blessed as a nation with the freedom to worship as we so desire, our availability to the throne of God is free and unhindered yet we lay aside basking in the protection of a governmental system that keeps us from being slapped in the face for our beliefs and grow comfortable with being conformed to our self-seeking lives.  God's call is to lay down all that you are and pursue Him adamantly, with-out reserve, leaving behind fears and doubts of not being secure and comfortable.  Jesus taught this when he told the rich young ruler go and sell all you have and come and follow me, He (Jesus) knew the ruler was basking in his self-centered, secure life and he needed to be freed from the prison of temperament.  The rich young ruler walked away sad because he had alot of wealth.  Understand, the wealth of the rich young ruler was by man's standards, NOT GOD'S!  We wrap ourselves in a neat little life and think we know Jesus in His suffering and death because we prayed a prayer, but Jesus' sacrifice is worth so much more than we make it to be through a 30 second prayer identifying our lives with His.  

"The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children, and if children, also heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ-seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."  -Romans 8:16-17

We are to be found as Co-heirs by suffering alongside Christ so that we may claim our glorified being with Him!  Persecution is necessary for a mature faith.  But the reverse to that statement is that a mature faith is necessary for persecution to take place.  The world sees the righteousness taking place in your life and they don't understand it, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn't understand it." (John 1:5)  The world doesn't understand the glory that shines from a life lived pursuing the Lord whole heartedly!  This is our calling!  To so love the Lord that all men may look upon our lives and see nothing but the radiance of the Holy Spirt coming from every aspect of the way we live.  So step up, step out...be bold and courageous!  Forsake sin and cling to forgiveness and allow the Spirit to do in your life what it will do instinctively, so shine before men that they see the good works of your Father in heaven.  Be persecuted for a radical faith, a fool non the less for Jesus!