Don’t be surprised if due to your deciding to accept Jesus as your Savior, make Him LORD OVER your life if you are met with opposition and not joy from the people you love most, from those closest to you. Don’t let this dissuade you from the decision you have made. 1 Peter 4:12-19 tells us:
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
You have made an enemy, satan (I never capitalize his name), and he uses the SAME tricks over and over again – the most common way he tries to dissuade Christians is to use those that you love most, especially those who as are spiritually blinded to the truth of the Gospel, to hurt you by mocking you for your new found faith. I tell you this in advance so if/when it does occur you are aware of what is happening.
DON’T GIVE IN. DON’T GIVE UP!
The VERY last thing ol’ slewfoot wants is for MORE souls to get saved because of your testimony and the plan God has for your life.
YOU HAVE COME OUT OF DARKNESS AND INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
Let me tell you what I have learned – you are waring on behalf of your family, your loved ones, friends, colleagues, etc. For those who are spiritually blinded by satan himself. Every prayer of intercession is heard by your Heavenly Father. You are standing in the gap through intercessory prayer and by the word of your testimony and you are fighting for the salvation whose victory has already been won by Christ Jesus. You are called to be Christ’s Ambassador and no matter WHAT the devil and his demons TRY to throw your way, you MUST stand firm.
NO MATTER WHAT
In standing firm in your faith, living and fulfilling your God given destiny in Christ, you are loving your loved ones in a HIGHER form than what they can understand. I know it is hard, I know it is painful, I know it hurts – especially if you are experiencing rejection and being ostracized for your faith – but you MUST keep going! It is through your walk in Christ, your prayers, your commitment to living and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ that your loved ones WILL come to Christ. I KNOW this personally! I prayed for my father for 15 years before he on his death bed made a profession for Christ. That’s 15 years of him not understanding my faith, ridiculing me for it – all because he was spiritually blinded. But I pressed on in love and decided to LOVE him in a HIGHER form that what he could understand. You CAN’T give up, you CAN’T give in! Your family, your loved ones – Jesus Himself is asking you to press on!
YOU ARE IN A SPIRITUAL WAR THAT IS OCCURRING ALL AROUND YOU WHETHER YOU BELIEVE THAT OR NOT – IT’S TRUE!
YOU ARE WARING ON BEHALF OF TRUTH! THE VICTORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WON BY JESUS HIMSELF!
Jesus said in Matthew 10:16-42 the following:
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his Teacher, nor a servant above his Master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his Teacher, and the servant like his Master. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of His household. “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
You have to LOVE your loved ones in a HIGHER form than what they can understand – and by that I mean:
LOVE THEM (EVEN WHEN THEY SAY THINGS THAT HURT YOU)! INTERCEDE ON THEIR BEHALF THROUGH PRAYER!
I attest to you that your prayers of intercession are heard by the Father! If you are praying for their salvation – don’t give up!!!! My mother (on her own accord) after 37 years of my interceding through prayer, living my faith walk out before her, loving her and being ridiculed for my faith made a profession for Christ one year before she passed away. The same with one of my aunts. My prayers are heard and even though I was mocked for my faith, misunderstood for my faith Holy Spirit brought THREE of my loved ones (that I know of) to a point where they made a profession of faith and accepted the gift of salvation! Was it easy for me? NO! Was it painful for me? YES. I share this to encourage you to go forward in your walk with the Lord! Entrust your loved ones into HIS care. Even though they ostracize you for your faith! Even though it hurts like hell! In choosing to continue praying for them, interceding for them, loving them, forgiving them and CHOOSING to follow the One Who loves them MORE than you EVER could – you are loving them in a HIGHER form than they can understand. You are battling for their souls! You are entrusting them to the One Who is GREATER than the enemy.
THAT IS REAL LOVE!
We are in a spiritual war that is growing darker by the moment. satan knows his time is short! Jesus is coming back soon! The devil is trying to keep the minds of those we love blinded to the truth of the Bible! Why? Because he HATES God and he knows how very MUCH God loves us! He knows the best way to cause you pain is through those you love most. So he determines to mock your faith through those who are close to you and spiritually blinded. But if you know his methods, you know how to fight against those methods – and that is through love, forgiveness and prayer. It’s not easy, boy do I know that personally! But honestly, through the 38 years that I have been part of God’s called remnant – a born-again believer whose faith is in Christ and Christ alone, I can TELL you that to see those I love most come to a point in their lives where those blinders have been removed and the discovery that God’s Word (the Bible) IS true and that Jesus loved them enough to die on the cross for forgiveness of their sins and that He rose from the dead in victory defeating sin and death and on their own accord, made a decision to accept His gift of salvation and receive eternal life, and the victory that has been mine has now become theirs – has made any pain I have had to endure worth it, because I know that NOTHING can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus. Who is and has been the Lover of their very souls and the Lover of mine. And the enemy has been defeated…
Don’t be surprised at the hurtful tactics of the enemy, stand firm in the Word of God. Stand firm in knowing that as in 1 John 4:4:
“Greater is He that is in Christ, than he that is within the world.”
God IS on His throne! Jesus IS coming back and the time to live FOR Him and intercede for your loved ones and the world itself is NOW.
TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION! PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!
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