I know that many of you reading this post may be going through persecution beyond anything I can imagine for your faith. Holy Spirit has brought you to The Called Remnant for a reason, many of which I may not know until I am on the other side of Heaven. But I know what it is like to be ostracized by loved ones for your faith. I know what it is like to be mocked by loved ones for my love for Christ. I know what it is like to cringe when a loved one has seething declared to me:
“I hate your God.”
It was like a knife that cut through my heart. Hearing a loved one that I love beyond words pretty much curse the God Who I love MORE than anything or any one in this world. Perhaps the response to your faith and walk in Christ has been the same, there is one thing that I have had to realize in my 37 years of being a follower of Christ (part of God’s called remnant) – we CANNOT change people’s hearts. We CANNOT give someone our faith. God lovingly created each of us with “free will” and each person on their own accord gets to decide in this life whether they want to choose to live a life with God in it or not. And God will honor that person’s decision. If someone chooses to live a life on this earth without God in it, they are also choosing to eternally exist (after this earthly life) an eternity WITHOUT God. People make that decision, God doesn’t. An eternal life without God means an eternity without hope, without peace, without love, without compassion – all the things that God encompasses. An eternity without light, but with darkness. God gets blamed for things that He NEVER intended man to experience. He NEVER intended us to live in a world that is full of sickness, sin and death. If you read the book of Genesis in the Bible, you can see where He explicitly tells Adam the results of going against what God advises. We haven’t changed, we are still the SAME as Adam and Eve. Yet God’s mercies, His forgiveness, His love and grace are new every morning. If hearing a loved one tell me “I hate your God” made me cringe and wince in pain, I can only imagine how much more so it hurt the One Who created that individual in love felt. The One Who according to John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Father has shown His love to us in EVERY way possible. EVERY WAY. There is NOTHING more He can do to show us how much He loves us. What was my response to the loved one who declared that to me? My reply was:
“I’m really sorry to hear that, because He absolutely LOVES you.”
I don’t write this post for you to lose heart over loved ones who hurt you because of your faith. I write this because I want to encourage you to KEEP believing! KEEP trusting! KEEP praying for those who persecute you for your faith to come to Christ! For God to do as indicted in Ezequiel 36:26:
“ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Pray that for those loved ones you are interceding in prayer for! Don’t give up! Even when you feel like things are hopeless! Remember that we have an enemy who HATES us and does not desire ANYONE to come to Christ! We are waring through prayer for souls to be saved! The devil wants you to throw your hands up in the air and give up on those you love. To return hate with hate. Try to remember beloved reader, that you *may* be the only light of Christ that people get to see. And mark my words, they are watching you! What you say, how you act, how you live! The hardest lesson I have EVER had to learn is that as much as I wish I could change hearts – I can’t.
BUT GOD CAN!!!
I will share with you that God IS faithful! Remember, it is NOT His will that ANY perish! And there are times which we must get out of the way of what God ALLOWS to happen in the lives of those we love so that those “hearts of stone can turn into hearts of flesh” where they come to a point where they realize how VERY much they NEED God. Bad things happen in this life because we live in a fallen world – but God can take those bad things and use them for good. It is important that we pray for wisdom and guidance as to when God wants us to intervene or when He wants us to stand back and allow Him to work through whatever situations occur (good or bad) that will bring them to a point where the scales are removed from their eyes and they become aware of just how much they need Him. It is easy to want to be a “fixer” and get in the middle of what God is allowing to occur in the lives of our loved ones. Let me clearly say:
GOD DOESN’T REQUIRE OUR HELP HE WANTS US TO TRUST HIM IN ALL THINGS
Think back to where you were and what you were going through when Holy Spirit opened your eyes to God’s immense love… I know for me, I was at one of the lowest points in my life – a time when I questioned if there was MORE to life than just existing. The bad things that happen in this life are NOT God’s fault – it is the fault of the fallen world that we live in and also very often the bad choices we make. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9:
““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
YOU CAN TRUST GOD
Sometimes letting go and letting God can be one of the hardest lessons to learn. I don’t have all the answers, I’d be lying to you if I told you I did – but the One thing I DO know is that God IS faithful. God IS merciful. God IS forgiving. God IS patient, and God loves each of us VERY, VERY much. So, don’t lose heart. Don’t give up! Don’t despair! Nothing surprises God. He is sovereign. His good and perfect will, WILL prevail.
Don’t be little prayer, it is the deepest form of love you can offer up for someone. Talking to God is something that people make so difficult, but it’s not! Talk to Him, tell Him whatever is on your mind. It’s not as if He doesn’t already know it! The Bible tells us in Psalm 139:4:
“Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.”
So don’t hold back! As you draw nearer to God, He WILL draw nearer to you! Another lesson I continue to learn in my walk with Him is (and this is a hard one) not to be led by my feelings… I don’t always “feel” God’s presence or “hear” His voice. This is where faith has to abide. This is where I have to trust in my promises in the Word of God, which is truth! The Bible tells me in Deuteronomy 31:8:
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Isaiah 41:10 tells us:
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Psalm 94:14:
“For the Lord will not forsake His people; He will not abandon His heritage.”
Psalm 55:22 says:
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
These are just a few of the many scriptures that we can hold on to and take to heart. God is ALWAYS in control, even when we feel out of control, so many times we take on burdens that He never intended us to carry. Letting go and letting God is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength, of faith, of realizing JUST how dependent we are upon our Creator. There are some lessons that Holy Spirit brings us to that are faith lessons that we often have to revisit over and over again – and that’s okay! God is gentle and patient with us! Thank God He is!
Never forget that we have an enemy who wants us to forget Who we are in Christ. Who wants the concerns of this world to weigh us down and keep us from going forward in all that the Father has for us to do! The VERY last thing ol’ slewfoot wants is for you to intercede for your loved ones in prayer! Why? Because he knows how powerful prayer is! Especially when they are prayers that line up with the Word of God! Determine in your heart that you will continue walking forward in your faith, even when you hit areas in your life that feel as if you are wading through quicksand and mire. Looking back at the thirty-seven years I have already experienced in my walk with Christ I can see how much God has brought me through, even when I know there is still SO much more for me to learn! As long as we have breathe in our bodies and are open to Holy Spirit teaching us, we will ALWAYS be growing and our minds transforming. We are TRULY works in progress! This is something you can even see as you learn and read about the Apostles! God is NOT looking for perfection in us, He is looking for commitment! He is looking to see if we are keeping our eyes on Him, desiring to grow in Christ, to seek His will in our lives.
GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART!
Allow Holy Spirit to transform your mind, pray, read your Word (the Bible), seek God in ALL you do – and I promise you, you WILL find Him. He loves you more than any words I could write –
YOU BELONG TO HIM.
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