Monday Morning Memo: Be Hated...Be Happy? Part 3

Once again we are looking at the final beatitude which says, “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.  Be happy about it!  Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.  And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way” (Matt. 5:10-12).  I think to totally understand this beatitude, we need to realize what these verses on persecution do not say.

These verses do not say, “Blessed are they which are persecuted because they’re obnoxious.”  OR “Blessed are they which are persecuted because they were arrogant and abusive in their attempts to witness.” OR “Blessed are they which are persecuted because they had a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude.”  We need to realize that we can bring endless suffering upon ourselves and can create difficulties because we act foolishly or self-righteously.

Peter makes it very clear in his writings that it is possible to suffer for the wrong reasons. He says in I Peter 4:15, “If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.”  Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:16 how we are to conduct ourselves in the world, “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.”  So if we feel we are being persecuted, we need to first make sure that it isn’t our fault and a result of something we have done wrong.

As Americans we find it hard to be happy if we have a bad day, let alone if we should ever face persecution.  The Apostle Paul gave us such a wonderful example of how we should react when we are persecuted for being a truly devoted follower of Jesus.  In Acts 16, we read about when he was in the city of Philippi and was overtaken by a mob, arrested, beaten, locked in chains and put into prison. This is not my idea of a good day. Most of us would have been inclined to just want to try to get some sleep and hope things looked better in the morning.  Yet, at about midnight, Paul and his companion, Silas, were not sleeping and they weren’t up singing the blues, comparing cuts and bruises or telling sob stories.  Instead, these two sore, uncomfortable and weary men were singing praises to God and praying!  Years later, Paul would write to the church in Philippi from another prison in Rome, “Always be full of joy in the Lord.  I say it again – rejoice!” (Phil 4:4).  What an amazing example for us to follow!

So how should we respond to persecution?  I think there are four things to remember:

1.   Sometimes we simply need to leave.  Remember what happened in Acts 13:49-52 to Paul and Barnabas?  “So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.  Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town.  So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.  And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”  We are not promised a blessing if we go looking for trouble and none of us need to develop a martyr complex.  Just like Snagglepuss, we need to sometimes say, “Exit, stage right!” and then we need to make our exit and leave.

2.    We need to guard against compromise.  One way to end persecution is to become like those who would oppose you.  We need to remember we are called to please and obey God and not men.  Peter and John were ordered to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus, but their response in Acts 4:19b was, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?”  They knew Who they were suppose to obey.

3.    We need to love our enemies.  It’s easy to think of ways to get even when someone has hurt us or those we love.  We can be quick to begin to scheme our retaliation against those who have wronged us.  Unfortunately, revenge is bitter sweet.   We may feel better for a moment, but before long we will get more of what we’ve dished out; like the saying goes, “What goes around, comes around.” God wants us to love our enemies and break the cycle of revenge.  Instead of lashing out with anger we are called by God to love those who mistreat us.

4.    We should pray for those who persecute us.  The bottom line is simple; hurting people hurt other people.  The person who injures you is often the victim of personal pain that may be buried and forgotten.  They attack others in the same way they have been hurt.  Likewise, many of those who may be the source of persecution are not believers; they are people who need Christ.

Jesus challenged the thinking of His day and His teaching is still radically different from what many people believe today.  I need to ask myself if I am ready to respond in these ways if I am persecuted.  Are you?

Until next week… 

Monday Morning Memo: Be Hated...Be Happy? Part 2

Last week we began looking at the final beatitude which says, “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.  Be happy about it!  Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.  And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way” (Matt. 5:10-12).  Now…seven days later…I still find these words to be rather overwhelming and I haven’t been able to get past thinking about what our lives should look like if we are truly following our Jesus.

As Christians, we should be living differently than those who are not Christians and, as a result, we may experience some kind of persecution.  The values, priorities, goals and desires that we have should produce a different lifestyle.  We should look different, act and react differently and it should be obvious to those around us Whom we serve.

Living out the beatitudes in our daily life means we can’t sit on the fence between Christian faith and the values of this world.  All the beatitudes that we have studied are our building blocks to be like Jesus.  When we live our life consistent with the attitudes, characteristics, qualities and values of Jesus our life will be different.  It can’t help but be.

Do you ever wonder why we as Christians in America don’t face the same kind of persecution as believers in other parts of the world?  Scenes have been shown in our media of horrendous persecutions of believers in other countries, yet we seem to get by without such atrocities.  While I am so thankful that we haven’t seen this level of violence, it does make me wonder if we, as Christians, have lost our uniqueness.  Have we become so saturated with the things of this world to the point that no one can tell who are followers of Jesus and who aren’t?  Obviously, if we are no longer living a righteous life, very little persecution will take place. 

I think too often we focus on God’s blessings and forget the price we must be willing to pay to be completely sold out to Him.  God wants us to consider the cost and the dividends and He wants us to come to Him with our eyes wide open.

If you remember, Jesus didn’t hide anything from us.  He told us like it is, “If you are going to be my disciple, then expect persecution.”  He told us in this life we can expect:

·      Persecution instead of praise

·      Cruel insults instead of cordial invitations

·      Harassment instead of honor

·      Abuse instead of applause

·      Slander instead of support

·      Death instead of dignity 

Jesus wants us to be prepared for the difficulties that will come as a result of following Him. “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world”  (John 16:33).

Am I really willing to live my life in such a way that I might be truly persecuted for following my Jesus?  Will I let nothing stop me from following Him?  Will you?

Until next week… 

Monday Morning Memo: Be Hated...Be Happy?

We have arrived at our last beatitude and this may just be the hardest one to understand. The truth of it is just so foreign in our world today, because it says, “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.  Be happy about it!  Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.  And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way” (Matt. 5:10-12).  Wow.  I have to admit that when I first read this I thought, You have to be kidding!  I mean, I’m to be glad, even happy, when I’m treated badly?  That’s insane!

So, I began searching the Bible to see if there were other verses that would backup what it says in this last beatitude.  I figured if there weren’t any others, maybe this particular one was a misprint J

Luke 6:22-23 – “What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.  When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy!  For a great reward awaits you in heaven.  And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.”

James 1:2 – “Dear brothers and sister, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”

I Peter 4:12-16 – “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.  Instead, be very glad – for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.  If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.  But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!” 

If you want to read any more verses on this uplifting subject…check out James 1:12, Revelation 2:10, 2 Cor 4:8-12, 17, Acts 5:41 and Romans 5:3.  Believe it or not…there are even more.  It didn’t take long to realize that this last beatitude wasn’t a misprint; it was the truth and we are supposed to live it out on a daily basis.

Christians who experienced the persecution that came upon the first-century church thought it anything but a blessing.  Yet Jesus did not lie when He called the persecuted a blessed people.

He wasn’t speaking about someone who is looked down on because he or she wears a cross necklace around his or her neck.  Nor was He speaking of someone who is picked on because they happen to listen to Christian music.  Jesus was hitting on the core of what it means to be a devoted, follower of Christ; those who are sold out completely to living a life for Him no matter the cost. 

Unfortunately, believers who allow the filth of the world to filter into their lives eventually become a weak testimony of Jesus Christ.  If our values and behavior run too closely alongside those who are selfish and immoral, we probably won’t be persecuted because there won’t be a reason to be.  We aren’t making a strong enough stand against the values, or lack of values of the world to merit being silenced.  Satan has no need to harass those who have strayed from the Word of God; they have already been considered by him to be ineffective followers of Christ and so they aren’t a spiritual threat.

Those who choose to take a stand against the world and its evils are guaranteed to experience opposition, hatred, abandonment and rejection.  But Jesus promised that while His followers may appear to lose everything in this life, they gain an incredible reward in the next one.

Devoted followers of Christ today who are not afraid to speak the truth of God’s Word may not be martyred for their faith, but they certainly will not be considered a guest of honor at a secular social gathering either.  To be rejected by the world means to be accepted by Christ and honored by the Father just as Christ was honored for His obedience.

Before we continue looking at this last beatitude, I think it would be a good idea if we spent some time evaluating what our personal walk with Christ looks like.  Do we look any different than the world?  Do we experience any of Satan’s attacks because he fears our testimony will make a positive influence on eternity?  Or do we resemble the world so much with our choices and values that he knows he doesn’t have to worry about our effectiveness?  The bottom line is…if Satan never harasses us…maybe we need to figure out why he doesn’t see the need to do so.

I often think about the saying, “Be the kind of woman who, when your feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil says, ‘OH NO, SHE’S UP’”.  I have a long way to go to be this kind of woman, but I think all of us, men and women, need to have this as our goal and make it our prayer in the coming days.

Until next week… 

Monday Morning Memo: Who Holds Your Eraser?

Several weeks ago I found this graphic on the Internet and at first I chuckled, and then realized I needed to take it more seriously.  To say these words hit close to home for me, is an understatement.  For much of my life, but especially this past year, I sure haven’t been the one holding the eraser.  But that hasn’t been because I’ve been compliant and obedient to God. Trust me, my plans have been written in ink as far as I was concerned, and so I haven’t been very happy when they were erased and replaced with plans I didn’t want.

As many of you know, I had my fifth back surgery last September and I was told beforehand that it would be a relatively “easy” surgery with a fairly “fast” recovery.  This wasn’t the case with the first four surgeries, so I was excited to hopefully have a short interruption to my plans.   Enter the eraser.  After opening up my back, it didn’t take long for the surgeon to realize that things were much worse than expected.  The disc that they thought was just herniated, turned out to be completely loose in my spinal column.  As a result, they had to put a cage in the area, chisel away 16 years of bones to remove old rods and screws from a prior fusion, and then put new ones in.  By the time the doctor showed up in my room after surgery, it was obvious that he didn’t have good news.  He told me that he was sorry that it was so much worse than expected, and that he had no idea how long my recovery would be…but it would be long. 

This sure wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I still hoped I would bounce back more quickly than expected. Enter the eraser.  For some reason, after this surgery I had terrible pain in my groin area and as a result, I couldn’t sit upright.  Tests were done and different therapies tried, but five months later, I still was unable to sit more than just 10 minutes at a time.  As you can imagine, this put a huge halt to many of my plans.

Finally, by the end of March, my “sit-ability” was improving and things were looking up.  I started making plans for the spring and summer and really felt like the worst was over.

Enter the eraser.  I started having severe pain in my left knee.  I have had pain in both of my knees for several years due to arthritis, but it hasn’t had a big affect on my day-to-day living.  This new pain though, was different.  With every step the pain seemed to worsen and so as a result, I found myself sitting in another surgeon’s office to see what was wrong.  I was told that I had meniscus tears on both sides of my knee and that I was almost bone-on-bone.  But the doctor said that he didn’t feel I was at the point yet of needing surgery and I wholeheartedly agreed.  My response to him went something like this, “Oh I do not want surgery. I just had a major one in September and I’m still healing from it…so you won’t see me back in your office for a very long time.  I won’t return until I can’t walk.”  

Enter the eraser.  Within 9 weeks I was once again in his office, telling him that I was finding it very difficult to walk and the pain was much worse. Much to his surprise, after checking my knee over, he said that it was in a very rapid, downhill spiral and I didn’t have any choice but to have a complete knee replacement.  Surgery was scheduled for August 20^th.

We took off on June 20^thto spend 12 days in North Carolina.  I was really looking forward to this trip because I felt I needed some rest and relaxation before going through another surgery and recovery. Just two days into our trip…enter the eraser.  My surgeon’s office called and said they wanted to move up my knee replacement to today, July 9^th.  That was the good news; the bad news was that they needed me back home by the next Monday to begin pre-surgery testing.  So our vacation was cancelled and we headed back home.  Lord willing, later this morning I will be the owner of a brand new knee. 

I’ll be honest…I hate erasers. I really dislike having my plans changed, especially when they involve more pain and times of recovery.  I wish I could say that I have always handled this past year with grace and a sweet spirit towards the One who has been holding the eraser, but I can’t.  There have been times when I have been really ticked at God.  There have been times when I have cried and begged Him to reconsider the new change of plans and just immediately heal me.  

Maybe you can understand my feelings because you also find yourself with many eraser marks on your life.  You, like me, may be wondering what in the world God is trying to teach you through all of this, and wish you would learn it so the erasing would stop.  You may be angry, discouraged and really, really frustrated at times…just like me.

This past Saturday was a day filled with lots of pain and I was experiencing a troubled spirit as I tucked in my four-year-old grandson.  We were praying and he said he wanted to pray for his cousin, Reece, who wasn’t feeling well. He then said this, “Help Reece to feel better and have him just touch Jesus’ coat, because that will make him all better.”  

Child-like faith.  Matthew 18:3 says, “Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth,unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will neverget into the Kingdom of Heaven.” I think that through this precious little boy, God was reminding me to go back to having child-like faith.  He wants me to just trust Him, knowing that He will only use the eraser when it is best for me and will bring the most glory and honor to Him.  He wants me to have enough faith to reach out and touch His coat, fully expecting Him to take care of me.  Maybe that’s what He is trying to tell you too.  Maybe He just wants us to willingly let Him hold our eraser because He can see our tomorrow and knows what we will need and what we won’tneed.  I guess if He created the universe…He can surely take care of me…and you!

 Until next week…when we look at our final beatitude, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Oh my…I think I better ask my grandson to explain this one to me J

Monday Morning Memo: At Peace Part 2

I will begin with an apology. This post is the longest one I have ever written.  I’ve cut and cut…but I just couldn’t get peace about cutting any more!  So please bear with me…

Last week we began our look into the beatitude in Matthew 5:9 which tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”  We realized that first of all, peacemakers are at peace with God.  Today we will look into the fact that:

Peacemakers are at peace with others.  2 Corinthians 13:11 says,  “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.”  Romans 12:18 tells us to  “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

But then Matthew 5:43-45, which many of us are familiar with, makes it a little harder. It says, “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.  But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.  For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”

I think it is sometimes difficult to pray for our enemies without falling into the trap of just spending our time asking God to change them instead of us.  I don’t think that is what He desires for us to do.  Instead, I think we could follow Christ’s directions when He tells us to “Pray like this” (see Matthew 6:9-10).  We can pray that we and our enemy will revere God’s name.  We can pray that God’s kingdom and His return will be foremost in our mind and in theirs.  We should pray that we and our enemy would do His will the way the angels do it in heaven.   If we remember that the basis of peace is purity, we should pray for our enemies and for ourselves that our hearts and lives will be pure…so that there will be peace.

Then in Matthew 5:47 Jesus gives us a warning: "If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?  Even pagans do that.”  In other words, if there is a rupture in one of your relationships, or if there is someone who opposes you, don't nurse that grudge. Don't feed the animosity by ignoring and avoiding that person. The natural thing to do is to just cross the street so that you don't have to greet them. But that is not what the actions should be of a peacemaking, devoted follower of God.  Peacemaking tries to build bridges to people. It does not want animosity to remain. It wants reconciliation. It wants harmony. 

OK.  Let’s put this into a scenario and bring it closer to home.  Let’s say that someone has hurt you.   They have said things about you behind your back that aren’t true.  Why, they have even said things that aren’t true right to your face!   They have been malicious, hurtful, and downright nasty to you.  You may have even gone to them and tried to work it out, but they aren’t playing the game.  They want nothing to do with reconciliation.  And what really fries your fannie is that they profess to be a Christian!  They go to church every Sunday morning just like you do, but yet they act this way. 

Now, let’s imagine that you are shopping in a store and you come around a corner, look down the aisle and you guessed it, there’s that person who has done these things to you.  Would you duck back into another aisle to make sure you don’t run into this person? Our humanness would say yes, but we need to remember what we just read in Matthew.  We are no better than pagans if we are only kind to our friends and not our enemies. 

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I really don’t think that this is telling us that when we see a person such as this in a store, we should run up to them and give them hugs and kisses. Why?  Because if nothing else, I think it would make the person very uncomfortable to say the least.  But it is telling us that the least we can do is look them in the eye, greet them and do it not with a phony display of caring, but with a longing for peace and reconciliation. 

There is something I think we need to realize.  We should not equate peacemaking with peace-achieving.  If we are truly living as a peacemaker, we are to long for peace, work for peace (which may include a simple greeting in a store) and at times even make sacrifices for peace….but the attainment of peace may not come.  

It is also important to make sure we aren’t the one who is spreading lies and being malicious and nasty to someone else.  Peace will never be found if we spend our time making someone else’s life miserable because of our actions.

It comes down to the fact that our goal should be to make peace: “If possible, so far as it depends on you….” In other words, don’t let the rupture in the relationship be your fault.  We are to do whatever we can to reconcile the relationship, but we cannot make the other person have peace with us.  It may never happen. 

Finally, we need to realize that:

Peacemakers are at peace with themselves.  Psalm 122:8 says, “For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
 “May you have peace.”  Proverbs 3:1-2 reads, “My son, do not forget my teaching,
 but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years
 and bring you peace and prosperity. ”We read in Colossians 3:15,  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

If you have peace with God and peace with others, so far as it depends on you, then you should have peace with yourself.  Where we won’t have peace with our self is when we either have unconfessed sin OR we are still nursing a grudge against someone who has wronged us. If we aren’t feeling peace in us, we may need to look at these other 2 areas of our life.

A few basics things we need to remember:

1. The source of peace is God– that’s why it’s a matter of faith – we must trust and obey Him in order to receive and give peace.  Peace demands that we turn to God and to His ways.

2. The enemy of peace is Satan and sin– wherever there is discord, or conflict you can know that Satan is having his way.  It is always easier to create conflict than to strive for peace.

3. Christians should reflect peace in their lives both as a quality they have within themselves and as a blessing they share with others.

Blessed are the peacemakers…will you and I display God’s peace this week in everything we do?  I sure hope so, because that is what He expects from His children.

Until next week…