Friday, March 7, 2014

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???

7 comments:

  1. I fear American Christianity is so superficial, so self-centered and worldly, it is of no use to our Lord. Praise God He does have His remnant; may we yield to the Spirit, may we have hearts of compassion for others. May we not be self-absorbed or worldly. May Jehovah continue to work in our hearts and cause us to ask 'search me O God'. We may not like what He reveals....

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  2. Yes, I too have grave concerns about christians in America. Luke warm at best.

    I pray strength for the remnant-we will need it in the very near future I think.

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  3. I agree Ali, probably much closer than we realize. I pray you and your family are doing well.

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  4. 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.

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  5. When real persecution comes to the USA, the wheat will indeed be separated from the chaff.

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  6. I 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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  7. Agreed Glenn, and just as Ali, stated, it has indeed begun.
    Most big names in Christianity are too busy having conferences, pushing their books, cds, dvds, etc. There are scandals in the visible church - sex abuse & physical abuse, and the leaders who should call this out are covering it up. Recent news stories concerning Doug Phillips and Gothard are horrifying, then there's the Driscoll mess!
    C. J. Mahaney is accused of alledged cover up in sex abuse as well, this is still ongoing. SO much is going on in the visible church - then we have the goings on outside this. Our government & our President and the ongoing wickedness that is building there. I do not agree with the theology of some of these folks, but I do appreciate their ministerial work - http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/understanding-the-times/player/one-world-no-borders-how-soon-396045.html

    Now more than ever, we need to keep our focus. We need to keep our minds fixed on Christ, trust in God, and await His return.

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