Pray

Pray

The apostle Paul writes,

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:9-13.

As Christians we serve a God who calls all people from every nation to trust in Him by faith. He simply asks that we truly believe with our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with our mouth to those around us that “Jesus is Lord” we will be saved and enter heaven.

That being said, God understands that it is not safe to confess Jesus as Lord in some parts of the world. 

Paul and the other apostles certainly knew what it was like to be persecuted for their faith. They were thrown in prison, tortured, beaten, stoned, crucified, among other things. Yet they still confessed Jesus as Lord.

I firmly believe in places where Christians are persecuted they need to pray and ask for Gods protection. They need to ask God for wisdom in how to spread the gospel and who to talk to.

As for we who live in areas that are free from persecution. We need to remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering for their faith. Additionally we need to hold our persecuted brothers and sisters up in prayer before God. And do all we can to help them.

According to one British parliament report in 2023 “Around 365 million Christians are subject to "high levels of persecution and discrimination"

If you claim to be a true Christian are you at the very least praying for your persecuted brothers and sisters in the Lord?

Praying and doing what we can to help persecuted Christians in the world should not be something we simply think about. 

We need to at the very least pray!

Please pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.

Are you willing?

  Are you willing?

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.  

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  

Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38

Are you willing to follow Jesus? Be careful how you answer that question. 

Jesus makes it clear what is expected of a true follower of him. In the words of Jesus, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Now that may not mean we will suffer for believing in Jesus but in may. There are millions of believers in Christ Jesus around the world today that are being persecuted, physically attacked, having their homes destroyed, put in jail and even murdered. All because they believe in Christ Jesus.

What amazes me about those persecuted Christians is that they continue to believe despite living in areas where they could suffer and die for believing. They are not ashamed of the being associated with Jesus. They are an example to all of us who live in freedom in the western democracies.

If you are reading this blog and live in the western democracies ask yourself, Am I willing to take up my cross and follow Jesus? Am I willing to suffer and possibly die for Jesus sake?

Please think about it.

Post script.

If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, remember those brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are suffering persecution. Brothers and sisters in the Lord  who live in dangerous neighbourhoods where being a Christian can get you beaten up, kidnapped, or tortured.  Brothers and sisters who are in prison and labour camps around the world for simply following Christ Jesus.

About God

About God
In the book of Genesis we read,

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 

                                                                                      Genesis 1:1

Peter John Kreeft ph.d wrote,
"How is it possible that over ninety percent of all human beings who have ever lived usually in far more painful circumstances than we, could believe in God? 
The objective evidence, just looking at the balance of pleasure and suffering in the world, would not seem to justify believing in an absolutely good God. Yet this has been almost universally believed." Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
Christians around the world believe in a loving, caring God. Yet many live as someone has said “in unsafe naighbourhood’s” It is even said that one Christian dies for their faith every seven minutes somewhere in the world. While many more are thrown into jail for doing nothing more than worshipping God.
To my way of thinking if everything said about Jesus is not true then someone would have to be mad to believe in Him. Yet there are around three billion Christians in the world today. Many living under repressive governments and dictators. Having to meet in secret.
For me God exists and all the dictators and repressive governments in the world cannot change that. As C. S. Lewis put it,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” .S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
So my question is do you believe in God?