God blesses those persecuted for doing right…

I don’t know about you, but to me that says that those who do right WILL be persecuted. It’s a given.

They were in Jesus’ day. They were in the early centuries of the Church. They are today.

Today the persecution is diverse. In some parts of the world, people lose their lives because of their choice to follow Jesus. In some places, they are ostracized from family and society. In some regions, they are treated as weirdos and mocked. It is all persecution.

But God says those who are persecuted for doing right are blessed. I’ve had teachers tell me that “blessed” is the same as “happy,” but I think there’s more to it. The Amplified Version of the Bible says it this way:

“Blessed and happy and enviably fortunate and spiritually prosperous (in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!”
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It’s hard to imagine those who have been beheaded for their faith in recent years were enviably fortunate, but God says they were. It’s difficult to think of a person facing the loss of everything as prosperous, but they are in God’s eyes.

Where are you? Do you strive to live God’s way instead of yours? Do you choose His path over yours? Do you find yourself satisfied in God’s favor and salvation regardless of your outward conditions?

What would need to happen for you to get there? Do you need to start doing right according to God? Do you need to recognize God’s favor because you’re choosing to live right and do right in all your dealings? Do you need to focus on Heaven more than what you see around you?

First, we who are believers in Jesus need to be doing right. We need to be showing Him off and leading other believers to live His way.

Second, we need to focus on the right thing. We shouldn’t expect a reward for doing right. Doing right is the reward. Knowing that God is happy with our decisions is the reward. We may never get a clap on the back or an announcement of our goodness over the loudspeaker, but one day, we’ll hear “Well done” from the Savior and that will be so much better.

Third, we must understand that the world does not like Jesus or His followers. Never has, never will. We are an offense to them. They may jeer or mock or denigrate. In today’s culture, they may “cancel” as though we never did anything good or right. They may take everything we own and turn our own families agains us. They may take our lives. But they can NEVER take our salvation and they can NEVER move the Savior away from us.

You’ve got this, Christian. God is at work in you, helping you to know what is right and giving you the desire to do it. Seek God above all and follow what He says. He is for you.

Coffee, Bible, Journal.

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