"Straight Walk"

"Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings." (Psalms 140:4)

  Please forgive me if I have assumed something that is not taking place, because I am pretty sure that religious persecution is something we are going to expect to go through; that is, if we are actually doing the Lord's work. Remember what Jesus said we should remember: "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." (John 15:20) It is actually not that hard to figure out: If we are making any sort of impact in this world for Jesus, then the enemy will have something to say about it; if we are not making a difference for the Lord, then the enemy will simply leave us alone. You have got to see this from the perspective of someone who is trying to live out what they believe; otherwise, it is just someone else getting picked on. This is not a game! There are lives at stake and it only takes one person to make difference for a multitude of people! The way I see it, is that there are two very distinct ways that this plays out: One, is the way of the Master, where we know where we are going, that our going is against the ways of this world, and that we should expect there to be persecution along the way. And two, is the way of disaster, where we think we know where we are going, until we run into opposition or a trial, and then we try to redirect what way we thought we were going. Jesus clearly said, "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 NLT) Besides, this is not about us being removed from religious persecution or avoiding have to go through it: it is about relief from religious persecution, which is simply a little comfort along the way...

"We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." (2 Corinthians 4:7-10) NLT