As my mind attempts to grasp the reality that tens of thousands of Christians across the world live in poverty, in fear yet with great faith, in prison while silent praises fill their hearts - and all for their refusal to deny their LORD, I wonder… what if this were happening in America? Living in the joy of the LORD, with hope and trust in His Word, these precious brothers and sisters realize that through much tribulation they will enter the Kingdom of God.
In America, we have the freedom to pray. We have the freedom to attend church, read our Bibles, witness to friends and family without fear, sharing the good news that “Jesus Saves” and the freedom to worship as we choose ~ or not. We are not bound by government restraints, unjust laws or lack of Bibles. We do not live daily in fear of arrest, torture or death because of our faith as we worship and serve the LORD Jesus Christ.
We have been given such a great gift, the gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life with God through Jesus Christ His Son, our LORD. His gift to us we did not deserve and could never repay and yet…. How many opportunities has the Holy Spirit given us to witness - at a restaurant, on a subway, on the train on our way to work and we have remained silent? A smile, a kind word, a silent prayer and yet how many times have we remained silent and walked away only later to think: “I should have…”???
Those in North Korean, Syria, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq…, cherish this gift and suffer great persecution in order to worship, serve and share the Good News, all the time loving their LORD and King. We have also been given the gift, yet as American Christians many choose not to share their gift for whatever reason. Our precious gift, our treasure, we all too often choose to hide and horde, silently groaning when called upon to pray or read a scripture verse, making excuses as to why we do not study His Word, pray, witness or serve ~ we remain silent.
Thousands die daily - separated from God for all eternity never hearing about the precious gift of eternal life that God will give to all who repent of their sins, confess with their mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead.
and we remain silent.
If not now - when, if not him - who???
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Yes, I too have grave concerns about christians in America. Luke warm at best.
ReplyDeleteI pray strength for the remnant-we will need it in the very near future I think.
We are well. There are some who are not YET safely in the ark, but we lift them to our LORD knowing He will do what is best-we are in His hands, and so are they.
ReplyDeleteWhen real persecution comes to the USA, the wheat will indeed be separated from the chaff.
ReplyDeleteI believe the separation has already begun. So many call themselves christian but no evidence is visible and they remain comfortably settled in the world. I pray daily that I will be more like Jesus and less like the world - LORD help us all.
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