blessings through raindrops

"Pastor 'Ameen,' leader of the evangelical church movement in Iraq, said that before baptizing new believers he teaches them that they will face persecution."
- Voice of the Martyrs magazine, July 2012

Pastor Ameen tells them they WILL. he doesn't say it's just something that happened in Bible times, or to faraway believers in countries with scary governments.
why don't we teach the same thing here in the US?
why is it that we feel almost entitled to a peaceful life with no arguments?
why have we adopted the ridiculous notion that it's a faux pas to discuss 'religion and politics?'
why are we shocked when we hear that Christian kids are being bullied at school, or when atheists sue to remove 'in God we trust' from our currency, or when we make a Christian statement on the internet and get blasted and barraged with insults for speaking about Christ, or when you sit down to pray but immediately get inundated with phone calls and texts and knocks at the door and hunger pangs and the temptation to watch tv? (yes, persecution is not only bodily harm from ill-willed unbelievers; it is often attacks from Satan in the form of temptation or distractions, etc...)

Jesus clearly said we WILL suffer and we WILL be persecuted.

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death,

and you will be hated by all nations because of Me."

- Jesus, in Matthew 24:9

"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..."

2 Timothy 3:12

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,

as though something strange were happening to you.

But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ,

so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ,

you are blessed,

for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."

1 Peter 4:12-14

Pastor Ameen's approach brings home the gravity of the situation: when you choose Jesus, you need to be fully committed, and fully aware of the implications. there's no 'nominal' allowed with God, no situation where luke-warm is acceptable.

"In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus sends out His disciples on two occasions: in Matthew 10 and again in Matthew 28. On both occasions He gives the disciples specific instructions, but neither time does Jesus tell them to assess the risk. he doesn't tell them to ask permission to share the gospel or heal the sick. And He doesn't tell them to poll the villagers first to measure their receptivity to the gospel. 
"In fact, Jesus' words in Matthew 10 would not be considered hopeful or positive by the world's standards. He tells the disciples that they will be delivered up to government officials and will be 'scourged' or terrorized by religious officials. He tells them that families will reject them and even have them killed. To leave no doubt about how they can expect to be treated, Jesus summarizes their situation as 'sheep among wolves,' telling them that they will be 'hated by all' for His name's sake.
"Still, He said, 'Go!' and His disciples went. They had a mission to accomplish - reaching all nations with the gospel (28:19)."
- Voice of the Martyrs magazine, October 2013

"... Jesus wants His disciples to know that mission and persecution are inseparable. When done in the spirit of Jesus, you cannot have one without the other. When done in the spirit of Christ, mission has always taken place in the shadow of the cross. ... Survival, however, is not their prime concern. They are to be committed to accomplishing the purposes of God, even if it means their death."
- late Glenn Penner, former CEO of Voice of the Martyrs, Canada

yep. even if it means their/my/your death. i love how he says mission always takes place in the shadow of the cross. always. the meaning of the cross - its suffering leading to our salvation and thus our right relationship with God - is our whole purpose as Christians. Jesus, our perfect example, suffered unthinkably. why is it odd that we should follow in His footsteps, even the suffering ones?

it is shallow to think the Christian life will and should be easy.

it's human nature to look for the easy road. we like the world to be in a perfect, predictable pattern. we want 'follow these 5 steps to get this great outcome.' that's why the false gospel of health, wealth, and prosperity is so successful. be good and God will bless you. send money to the poor (often it doesn't even reach them) and God will send you money. like we can con God into blessing us. like we can force His hand. like He owes us 'the good life' if we're doing good deeds.
WRONG!!!

Jesus told a story about a guy planting a farm. he threw down seed as he walked. and if you know gardening, you know that not every seed you plant will grow. there are different reasons for non-growth: weeds, rocks, no dirt...
Jesus likened the seeds and soil to people who have received His message; some will take it and grow, like they are in rich soil. but some act like seed planted in rocks, which support a beginning growth but have no room for roots, and the plant dies.

"But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. 

When trouble or persecution comes because of the world, 

he quickly falls away." 

Matthew 13:21

how do we get that root? how do we survive the rocks of persecution and trouble? we must choose God first every day. spend time with Him. read His word, if you have a Bible. listen to His voice. worship Him as you drive to work or as you sit in your back yard. what would you do with your best friend? - do those things with God.

the good things you do should be from a motive of worshiping Him and growing your faith, not to get earthly pleasures in return. 

and sometimes, though you do all the right things, say all the heart-felt prayers, read all the right verses, God will still allow hardships to come your way. He has the freedom to bring prosperity or to allow evil to visit you. 

and sometimes we actually learn better when we are facing hardship than when everything is going swimmingly. why do you think the gospel thrives and expands in countries where persecution is most rampant (like China)? persecution brings out the true believers, and forces those on the fence to make a decision.

"blessings" ARE a blessing, but sometimes so are hardships.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; 

perplexed, but not abandoned; 

struck down, but not destroyed."

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

"... We also rejoice in our sufferings, 

because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 

perseverance, character; 

and character, hope." 

Romans 5:3-5

i love the words of this song about blessings coming in ways we don't want or expect. God has promised blessings, but often they're not the pleasures and wealth we're looking for here on earth. sometimes even the suffering is the blessing, if it leads us to learn or grow.

Blessings by Laura Story

we pray for blessings, we pray for peace
comfort for family, protection while we sleep
we pray for healing, for prosperity
we pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
all the while, You hear each spoken need
yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
what if Your healing comes through tears?
what if a thousand sleepless nights 
are what it takes to know You're near?
what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

we pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
and we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
we doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
as if every promise from Your word is not enough
all the while, You hear each desperate plea
and long that we'd have faith to believe

when friends betray us
when darkness seems to win
we know the pain reminds this heart
that this is not, this is not our home

cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
what if Your healing comes through pain?
and what if a thousand sleepless nights
are what it takes to know You're near?
what if my greatest disappointments
or the aching of this life
is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?
and what if trials of this life
the rain, the storms, the hardest nights,
are Your blessings in disguise?

persecution is hideous. it's not what God's world was supposed to look like. it's a result of the sin cancer.
but God is still present, and He still desires that every human being would turn from sin and selfishness to discover Him.
that is why Christians find joy in suffering. for the joy set before us. that's why Jesus endured the taunting and the spitting and the jeering and nailing and the piercing and the gasping for air and the excruciating separation from His Father and the dying - for the joy set before Him.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, 

the author and perfecter of our faith, 

who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, 

scorning its shame, 

and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 

Hebrews 12:2

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, 

whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

because you know that the testing of your faith 

develops perseverance. 

Perseverance must finish its work 

so that you may be mature and complete, 

not lacking anything." 

James 1:2-4

Jesus' joy was conquering death so that He could bring that same power to us. All true Christians will conquer death!!!!
Jesus' joy was bringing life so that we could enjoy that same life forever with Him.
Jesus' joy was sitting at the right hand of God after enduring.
our joys are similar:
-the joy of some being saved through our lives and words
-the joy of knowing we are on the right path: on God's path
-the joy of being saved now and being part of God's kingdom
-the joy of personally knowing God's voice and His leading hand

-the joy of reaching heaven one day and God saying, 'well done, good and faithful servant!'

do you have that joy?
are you willing to suffer persecution and hardships in order to claim Christ as your own? if you choose Him, you WILL suffer.
if you're looking for the easy road on earth, choosing Jesus isn't guaranteed to get you there. but it IS guaranteed to bring unspeakable joy, immense security, and eternal life in the long run.

JOIN US!!!

enemies

i found it a really sad commentary on our culture when i read the news that people were protesting the local burial of the Boston marathon bomber. yeah he did a terrible thing. true he tried to kill hundreds of people there in Boston.
but he's still a human being, and believe it or not, GOD STILL LOVED HIM just as much as He loves each of us!
that's right. God loved Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He didn't just like him. and He certainly didn't hate him. He created him and loved him and desired that he would come to know Jesus.

then i read the news story about a Bostonian man who offered his own burial plot as a place for Tamerlan to be buried. what a breath of fresh air! he did it in the name of Christianity, which was extra-fresh air.
and i heard that other people along the way had also offered burial plots. now that is how humans should treat other humans!
(i'm sad to say, it's over and above what i would even find myself doing. if all the drama had happened where i live, and if i had a burial plot in the first place, i'm pretty certain that it wouldn't even occur to me to offer it to him.)

it is a natural human response, when someone does something heinous, to despise that person, to hate them and want them dead, and when they do die, to rejoice and continue trying to punish them even after they're dead.
that's what happened with people like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden when they died.
but it's WRONG.
Jesus said it plain as day in Matthew 5:43-45:

"'You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.'"

if we profess to be followers of God, we will love our enemies, because that's what He did.
think about it. YOU were God's enemy! and if you don't believe in Jesus as your Savior, you are still God's enemy!
do you really understand that? if there were a big universal battlefield, you are either standing with Jesus on God's side, or you are His mortal enemy, standing on Satan's side......... the enemy.
and when you were still standing on the enemy side, God came to YOU and gave His life for YOU so that YOU could be saved and join Him on the other side.

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, 

though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: 

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

Romans 5:7-8

why would God tell us to do such a thing - love our enemies?
looking at His example, He did it so that we would be drawn to Him and learn to love Him back. and His desire is that ALL humans would be saved from eternal suffering and become friends with Him. so, if He has that desire and He has us as followers, it makes sense that He would want to train us to reach the rest of the world the way He did. and humans respond best to love. especially when love is offered freely and 'just because'.
think of stories you see on the news, or read about in books, or hear about in songs. the stories that amaze us and wrench our hearts are those where someone gives themselves unabashedly for the other.

• during the Aurora, Colorado, shooting, 3 men used their bodies as shields to save lives and died in the process. 
• books that survive time, like Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, are full of unrequited and self-sacrificial love. 
• Bruno Mars sings 'I'd catch a grenade for you,' while the girl clearly is not as committed to him. 

in our hearts, we desire to be the object of this type of love. it's a love that is not conditional. it's a love that gives all. it's the love that God showed to us, but that we find exceedingly difficult or impossible to show to others.
and it is difficult, it is impossible - if we try to use our own power to do it.
but that's what makes Christianity stand out. God lives in true Christians and it is by HIS power (and His power ONLY) that we can love others, even and especially enemies. as my pastor said last week, people are often unloving, unlovely, and unlovable, so we have to borrow love from God. He has a deep, gushing, luscious well of love, when ours is a grimy, muddy, and boggy puddle.
and THAT love is what will change the world. THAT love is what can make an enemy a friend, can turn hearts from evil to good, can save people from staying on Satan's side of the battlefield.
the response that Christians should have for those who die while they're still in Satan's army should be grief and regret, not rejoicing! Christ died for Tamerlan, and for Jeffrey Dahmer, and for Hitler, and for Stalin, and for bin Laden, the same way He died for you and me.

and as it turns out, there will be a battle between God and His enemies at the end of time. (Revelation 16:14-16 & 19:19-21)
whose side are you on? 



the Boston controversy: http://news.yahoo.com/uncle-arranging-boston-bomb-suspects-burial-rites-163554313.html
Yale grad offers his own plot: http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-offers-burial-plot-for-tamerlan-tsarnaev-after-body-is-refused-everywhere-95502/
finally buried: http://news.yahoo.com/police-dead-boston-bombing-suspect-buried-141202538.html
Aurora, CO, sacrifice: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/aurora-shooting-died-bullets-sweeties-article-1.1119395

when you feel tired...

i feel tired.
my head has been in pain all day. i haven't been home much this week. my workdays have been averaging 10 hours long. i've been on my feet for days. my eyelids feel puffy and heavy.
i feel tired.
i love my work, but i feel a little worn.

it's weeks like this when i find myself sighing and stretching and correcting my slumpy posture that i think of God's unweariness and feel thankful.

Psalm 121:3-4 puts it this way:
"He.. watches over you and will not slumber;
indeed, He who watches over Israel 
will neither slumber nor sleep."

and this isn't referring to some sort of insomniac who stays awake in a sleep-deprived stupor.
God doesn't NEED to sleep! He is above that. tiredness doesn't affect Him.

so as i plow through tired weeks, going-going-and-never-stopping, aching for those moments when i can sit down, just for a few minutes, it's a good reminder to lean on God. it's a good reminder to remember the completeness, the above-ness of God.
it's almost good to have those weary times, just so i can remember the awesome qualities of God.

it's good to remember that when i am not enough, He is.