Beatitudes Pt.8

"Beatitudes, Pt. 8

Matt. 5:10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake
of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 Have you ever been talked about or shunned because of your stand with
Christ? When you stand up for righteousness these days, carnal and
religious Christians will slam dunk you! It’s almost like there are 2
extremes in the body of Christ, religious folks and carnal folks!
Jesus had to endure these two groups of people in his time but it’s
much worse now. You have the religious folks that make salvation
something physical that must be manifested emotionally in order to be
truly attained. They wear their relationship with Christ like uniforms
to prove their holiness. They talk about folks like dogs when you are
not looking like them or worshipping where they worship. They destroy
people with their gossip and attitudes, but will swear they are prayer
warriors and anointed! This group of people are the masters of
persecution. And even though they are “throwed off“, they will put
crazy pressure on you to be better than them and you will always know
how not to live by watching their example! So, hold your head up and
forget what that crazy religious spirit said about you. The spirit of
religion is of the devil and when you are persecuted by one of those
hateful spirits, know that you are in line with where Christ was.

The other side of your persecution comes from the carnal church folks
and the world. Carnal church folks want to sin and not be bothered with
spiritual stuff like the Holy Ghost or divine healing, casting out demons etc.
They feel that it’s not necessary and even if it was,
they wouldn’t do it because they are carnal and they serve their own
flesh and not Christ! They will persecute a Christian that
stands up for righteousness because it puts pressure on them to live
right. I cannot tell you the persecution I face from so called
Christian recording artists because of their desire to be rich and
famous. I cannot tell you all I deal with from pastors and ministries
that want to sin, walk, talk, and live like the world and still claim
to know Jesus Christ as their Lord! I cannot explain how hard it is to
get a carnal church person to accept the truth about themselves instead
of the lies that have been taught to them about themselves. But I know
that when we stand up for what is right, we gain God’s Kingdom! When
we serve God with our lifestyle, we have access to his throne. When
people talk about you, or hurt you purposely because of your walk with
Christ, know that they have done to you what they did to the savior.
And as they crucify and murder you with their words and
deeds, just know that God will raise you up as he did his son, and
people will know that you are his. Don’t be ashamed to stand up for
what is right, even in the midst of wrong. Right is always right and
there is never a season when you should back down. Do the
right thing always and God’s Kingdom will be yours. Always remember,
if you want Christ to stand for you, you must stand for him.

Suggested Reading: John 15:18, Gal. 2:20, 2Tim. 4:2, Rom. 6:6