The Blessing of Persecution: Standing for Righteousness

Matthew five ten it says, blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is revealing that a distinct blessing comes to life inside us when we endure persecution for the sake of righteousness. This blessing comes when we choose to follow god's way and not the world's. Persecution can come in many forms. As a six year old, that experience of rejection affected me. Ultimately, we're talking about the collision between light and darkness. The blessing of righteousness, peace, and joy saturate us when we choose to stand for the light of the truth. [01:02:58] (49 seconds)  #BlessedInPersecution

Although we were not able to have an altar call, the seed of god's love was deposited into the hearts of these amazing people. Afterwards, they come up to us with tears, just tears, just tears crying, and and just embracing us and thanking us for the stories, for the experience, for taking time to leave peace, and to come to them. It was the authenticity of the message and the music that touched their hearts And we will never know the full impact of that day until we get to heaven. [01:16:37] (28 seconds)  #SeedOfGodsLove

It's a strong word picture. Would you agree? Yeah. Yeah. But why would he say such a thing? Why would he say such a thing? When we read the word spoken, it's important for us to understand the heart, say the heart in which they're spoken. Say the heart. The heart. And over many years of following Jesus, I've learned that our heavenly father is not insecure and he's not a narcissist. His rebuke through this angel to the church of Laodicea was motivated by love and protection. [01:09:15] (35 seconds)  #HeartOfTheMessage

Cry out to your father. Say, father, remove that because guess what? If you're a follower of Jesus, you don't die. We live in eternity. This is just a stepping stone to the future that we have in him. Amen. Come on. When I hear personal stories of people's commitment and love for Jesus, it truly humbling and it causes me to reflect on my own life and I pray it does for you today. [01:26:38] (28 seconds)  #EternalHope

I shared a personal testimony of how as a teenager when I needed to be saved from drowning as I was about to sink into the ocean and my brother and I were about to die. I whispered the name of Jesus and the next second, I woke up on the sand. 20 meters out, the next second, I was on the sand and I survived. The people yelled. They cheered. They didn't abuse or throw stones. God made a way for us to reach them withering. Come on, people. [01:16:04] (33 seconds)  #MiraculousRescue

How many times have you looked in scripture? Jesus himself says, the ruler of this world has come. God in the flesh himself is saying, the ruler of this world has come. The ruler of this world has come. The ruler of this world and has found nothing in me and the question is today, has he found nothing? Because he's going to come knocking at my door and your door. And the question is, has he found nothing? And if he finds something, are we are we humble enough to repent and say, father, please forgive me, cleanse me, sanctify my heart. Are you with me today? [01:10:20] (33 seconds)  #SearchYourHeart

The heat of persecution gets turned up when men turn away from the principles of god. In this climate, the church listen, family of god and harvest, listen up carefully. In this climate, we must hold to the word of god. Yeah. We cannot give in to the temptation to move the goalpost in order to fill seats or to appease men. The church of the living God needs to do our best to hold up the standards of truth for the world to follow in order to avoid persecution. [01:07:22] (35 seconds)  #HoldToGodsWord

After the final first songs, after the final few songs, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart to thank, listen, the Holy Spirit speaks to me and I got all these people that he speaks to me and says, I want you to thank the people of Israel for giving you Jesus. Out loud over the sound system. I shared a personal testimony of how as a teenager when I needed to be saved from drowning as I was about to sink into the ocean and my brother and I were about to die. [01:15:44] (32 seconds)  #ThankIsraelForJesus

God's refining process includes persecution. Listen, don't fear it. Don't hide from it. When your time comes and it will, allow it to do its sanctifying work. Endure like a good soldier and run your race to win. In closing, third but for real. In closing, we would do well to remember the apostle Paul's exhortation to young Timothy. Second Timothy three verse 10, it says, I love the scripture. Listen, everybody focus in. Listen to this. It's powerful. [01:28:40] (40 seconds)  #RefinedByPersecution

When we came down, we're one block away from a mosque. Yes. Anything can happen. On that day, our lives could have been taken just last year but god protected us and looked after us. He made a way for us. It wasn't our time. If it's not your time, it's not your time but you cannot live a life in fear. We have to move and obey the Holy Spirit and enjoy what god has given us. One incredible story on our travels. We've heard so many amazing stories of people who have walked through their own various experiences. [01:17:27] (33 seconds)  #ProtectedInTheField

but we are not to be deceived and seduced. We're the body of Christ. Come on, family. We're of a different spirit. We are in this world, but we're not of it. We're in it, but we're not of it. You beautiful teenagers. You belong to Jesus. You don't belong to a political system. Do you understand? We belong to him. We are his. Hallelujah. Whoo. Come on. The rising tide of persecution has no boundaries. So we another story, another story. [01:20:42] (30 seconds)  #NotOfThisWorld

A Christian family we meet in Germany shared a disturbing story about their daughter. After their daughter became a teenager, she decides that she wants to be smoking and drinking at home and all that stuff. Her parents explained to her that her behavior was not acceptable in their household after a week of going back and forth with her. The parents got a phone call from the social service agency stating that the parents did not have the authority to tell their daughter what to do. [01:21:20] (31 seconds)  #ParentsAuthorityMatters

And I don't about you. I'm seeing I've in my spirit, honestly, I hear a lot of impostors in the world today. And what what's the role that I need to do? Pray for them First, pray for them that they'll come to know Jesus. Can you I can't understand. There's there's I don't want nothing else. Take I just don't want nothing else but Jesus. He's touched my I don't want anything. I don't want nothing. I can, to be honest, I can sleep on a on a yeah, I don't I honestly, I don't care. [01:31:15] (30 seconds)  #PrayForImpostors

I know what it's like to abound and have abundance and I know what it's like to have nothing. And all of it, I just love Jesus. And he's always looked after me. But the difference between an an apostle and someone who's a real deal is knowing about him, knowing about Jesus, and actually knowing him personally. Do we want to know him? Do we want to live for him for real? Persecution will come. Don't run from it. Don't hide from it. The Bible says, blessed [01:31:45] (45 seconds)  #KnowJesusPersonally