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Saturday, February 14, 2009
Persecuted!
"What great blessings there are for the people that are
treated badly for doing good! The kingdom of heaven belongs
to them. People will say bad things against you and hurt you.
They will lie and say all kinds of evil things against you
because you follow me. But when people do those things to
you, know that God will bless you. Be happy and glad. You
have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did
those same bad things to the prophets that lived before you."
-- Matthew 5:10-12 (ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
You mean we are really blessed by being persecuted for doing what is
good and by being insulted for being righteous? Now that's hard to
take! Seeing ourselves blessed by God in such times is very tough. How
can we be glad when we are persecuted, spoken about badly, and have
evil lies told about us when we are trying to do good? But that is
exactly what we see in the book of Acts. The early disciples considered
it a privilege to suffer for the name of Jesus. In his first letter,
Peter is constantly reminding believers to make sure that if they are
going to suffer, they suffer because they have done what is right, not
what is wrong. You see, the journey of discipleship is about developing
the character of Christ and carrying on the great tradition of
faithfulness demonstrated by the prophets. If they faced persecution
for doing right, shouldn't we think we will? Even more, history has
repeatedly reminded us that those who suffer to bring a blessing to
others have a witness that cannot be silenced. That's why God is not
ashamed to be called their God and why the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to
them. More than just being happy, Jesus said these people will have a
great reward!
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Holy God and Righteous Father, thank you for reminding me that the
first goal in my life is not to be protected, but to be used to share
your grace. Help me to know that being persecuted for doing what is
right is following in the steps of Jesus. Give me the courage and the
passion to help lead others to the wonderful discovery of you, your
grace, and your great reward. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
>> NEW: Phil's What Jesus Did devotional is now
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>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/0214-wjd.html
>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+5:10-12&sr=1&t=erv
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