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Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV) 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
That is the paradox. When we endure circumstances that would normally be counted as something to be sad about, we are told to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. I recall when Jesus chided His disciples and said: Luke 9:55, “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.” This happened after the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans who did not receive Jesus into their village. Jesus was pointing out that we operate at a higher spiritual plain than the world. Our reactions should show this.
As we get closer to Jesus’ return the world will grow less tolerant of those who teach and live by the Bible. We cannot be timid, scared and afraid to stand for what we believe. We must let the Holy Spirit lead us in how to handle persecution. The persecution we experience in America as Believers pales in comparison to some countries where people are being put to death because of their faith. If we are too scared to take a stand now, how can we expect to stand strong in the faith when persecution escalates.
I recently experienced backlash on an online site where neighbors share stories and experiences, request help, share opinions, etc. I posted about the rising cost of housing here in Florida. That includes cost of houses and rent. I took the opportunity to include the fact that in 2017, God told me to go and purchase a house. I wanted them to know that God does speak to people today. He speaks to his people, the sheep of his pasture. It seemed that the devil was unhappy with what I wrote. There were many positive comments; many shared their experiences; many “liked” the post. There was one negative attack on me. He stated that I should have posted the solution to the problem instead…he said post “THAT”, all in caps. He also said that I was making money because my house had appreciated. Something he obviously was not pleased with.
To my surprise, the monitors of the site took this hate-filled post and captioned my post with it to set up a new feed. This would have allowed people to attack my post with more negative comments. I prayed about it and asked the Lord what I should do. Feeding the troll was not an option. I thought of ignoring it, but I could not seem to put it out of my mind. I went to the new post with the hateful comment captioning it and wrote in the comments: “I do not respond to trolls. I pray for them”. I then went to sleep.
Today, I have searched high and low and cannot find the new post with the negative caption. I believe, seeing that I would not respond in the way they had hoped, they decided to remove it. Remember, we have the power to condemn every tongue that rises against us. What people who seek to persecute us need most, is prayer.
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