Be Persecuted For His Sake, Not Yours!

Tuesday's Devotion (1-4-05)

"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." 1 Peter 4:14-16 (KJV)

It is like some people never read these scriptures. You often hear people getting persecuted not because they are Christians, but because they're a busybody or etc. They say, "Praise the Lord! I am being persecuted for His sake!" They're a little confused, getting persecuted because you can't mind your own business or for doing evil is not for "His sake". Some people will persecute you for being a Christian, they will say mean stuff, hit you, kill you, fire you from your job and etc. When you are actually persecuted for doing God's will then that is something to praise God, for. That is something to be happy for. You have to be able to tell a difference when you are persecuted, is it because you did God's will or just because you actually were in the wrong? I can remember sometimes of getting persecuted and I was able to decipher that I was in the wrong and that it wasn't because I was being a good Christian. Other times I got persecuted I could tell right off the bat it was because I was doing right. I was pleasing God and Satan, didn't like it so I got persecuted.

Let's talk more about the lines of persecution. The lines that you have to cross to be persecuted. We know that we need to be persecuted for God and not because we are in the wrong, but what lines do you need to cross? Persecution for our beliefs are something that is required to know that we are doing the work of God and there is a reward for persecution if we are persecuted for His sake. If you do bad then of course you will be persecuted, but that's not for His sake and there will be no reward for that, but there will be punishment. You won't get persecuted for His sake by just being nice either. You won't get persecuted for just being a good person. However, if you preach the gospel and do good then you will get persecuted. If you live the gospel of Christ, then prepare to be persecuted. Nobody is going to persecute you just for being nice in public. I was wearing my Jesus T-shirt one day down at the store and I walked out and held the door open for my mother-in-law. Some guy behind me who was drinking began to read my shirt and the part that said, "Drugs will leave you senseless." He said, "Drugs will leave you senseless? More like they will give you sense!" I just said, "Nah.". To me that was more along the lines of being persecuted for Christ. He was mocking my shirt, my beliefs. If I had been wearing a normal shirt and just being nice and never mentioning my beliefs then no one would mess with me. Of course if I never get persecuted, then I am not glorifying God, but myself and there is no reward for that. You have to be bold and not afraid to mention the name of Christ. Just think of Christ as being a part of yourself that you are proud to have. Maybe if you had big muscles you would show them off because you were proud of yourself for having them. Well, think of Christ as that part of you that you are pleased to have. It's not good to be proud and boasting of yourself, but I just used that as an example. Be persecuted for 'His' sake and not for your own!

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us to only be persecuted for your sake and not because we are in the wrong. Help us to do right and draw us closer to you. Make us bold and not ashamed of you. In Jesus, name. A-men!

God bless!

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