What's with all the Warning?
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18
This is just one. There are so many passages which should give us a heads up about what it really takes to live as a Christian. It is a given, "the sufferings of this present time" statement can be compared to so many others that talk as if suffering was a common occurrence in the lives of those who were the recipients of the letters from the Apostles, Paul, Peter, John, James and the author of Hebrews. It was not a rare thing.
Declaring to be a believer of Jesus Christ and a follower of His word had a price that included loss. It also had great rewards. But in the American Church today, and as it has been for a long time, trials and sufferings because of what we believe have been pretty much non-existent with a few exceptions.
Yes, there has always been times, even in the United States where believers suffered because of their belief but it was generally due to the non acceptance or intolerance of specific people and groups. The general populace has not been generally against one who believes in Christ. But that is changing. Today, anti-Christians are coming out and acting out and the populace is becoming intolerant and bolder so that actions and attitudes are affecting civil life.
Are we ready?
Are you ready?
What will you do when you are discriminated because you proclaim Christ as your Lord? The crowd that used to be around you and give you some sort of comfort is dissipating.
The automatic Christians are disappearing in the face of a building antagonism against what they have aligned themselves. For decades there has been a safety in numbers people who called themselves Christian because they were born in America and because America is "a Christian country."
Attitudes and our culture has changed so dramatically we can still see what it was just a short time behind us. Today we must make accommodations for many different beliefs except the Christian belief.
Your Christian faith and your belief in Jesus and His Word will be tested in ways it has never been tested before. This will change your priorities and what is important to you will be shuffled. You will find out that some things once very important will no longer be very high on your list. What you say and where you say it will become a more important consideration. The freedoms we have cherished for so long in this country and have taken for granted are dissolving away.
It will cost us something and we need to prepare ourselves, our hearts and our minds for that cost. It is a winnowing and the chaff will be driven away. The assembly of the righteous is being purified.
Be ready.
Be strong.
Put on the full armor.
This is just one. There are so many passages which should give us a heads up about what it really takes to live as a Christian. It is a given, "the sufferings of this present time" statement can be compared to so many others that talk as if suffering was a common occurrence in the lives of those who were the recipients of the letters from the Apostles, Paul, Peter, John, James and the author of Hebrews. It was not a rare thing.
Declaring to be a believer of Jesus Christ and a follower of His word had a price that included loss. It also had great rewards. But in the American Church today, and as it has been for a long time, trials and sufferings because of what we believe have been pretty much non-existent with a few exceptions.
Yes, there has always been times, even in the United States where believers suffered because of their belief but it was generally due to the non acceptance or intolerance of specific people and groups. The general populace has not been generally against one who believes in Christ. But that is changing. Today, anti-Christians are coming out and acting out and the populace is becoming intolerant and bolder so that actions and attitudes are affecting civil life.
Are we ready?
Are you ready?
What will you do when you are discriminated because you proclaim Christ as your Lord? The crowd that used to be around you and give you some sort of comfort is dissipating.
The automatic Christians are disappearing in the face of a building antagonism against what they have aligned themselves. For decades there has been a safety in numbers people who called themselves Christian because they were born in America and because America is "a Christian country."
Attitudes and our culture has changed so dramatically we can still see what it was just a short time behind us. Today we must make accommodations for many different beliefs except the Christian belief.
Your Christian faith and your belief in Jesus and His Word will be tested in ways it has never been tested before. This will change your priorities and what is important to you will be shuffled. You will find out that some things once very important will no longer be very high on your list. What you say and where you say it will become a more important consideration. The freedoms we have cherished for so long in this country and have taken for granted are dissolving away.
It will cost us something and we need to prepare ourselves, our hearts and our minds for that cost. It is a winnowing and the chaff will be driven away. The assembly of the righteous is being purified.
Be ready.
Be strong.
Put on the full armor.
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