Acts 12: Now about that time
Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the
church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of
John with the sword. 3 And
because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter
also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he
put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending
to bring him before the people after Passover.
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It felt pretty good to see
this person get reprimanded. I mean the lies this guy told were phenomenal. I
had enough. I caught this person his lies and told our bosses. They did act on
what I told them. Little did I know, one of them was his friend. Life started
getting hard for me thereafter.
There were times when I
received backlash for doing something I thought was right.
There were times when I
received backlash and I did not expect it.
There were times when I
received backlash and I did not know how to handle it.
Saying “JESUS is GOD who died
and was raised for the sins of mankind” seems harmless. But there was another
force at work that wanted this message to be stopped. Herod, a political
leader, decided to show his power by killing people who believe in those words.
Political church leaders agreed, so Herod went after the biggest threats,
namely the disciples.
- GOD wants me to expect trouble because I believe in JESUS.
- GOD wants me to know people will question HIS power because they do not know HIM.
- GOD wants me to understand that HE can and will protect me, but I am not to fear speaking about HIM.
Believing in JESUS is
somewhat easy in certain areas. I mean, there are places in the world where I
can hand out a bible and hear “thank you” as a response. But there are other
places where just the mention of JESUS could get me killed.
GOD knows the battle I face
is supernatural. The harder part of belief is knowing there is a demonic force
that tries to stop me from saying “JESUS is LORD” to everyone I meet. The fear
of ridicule over believing in demonic forces may keep me from preaching about the
enemy, Satan, who at every turn tries to use misdirection to fool even those
who are chosen. I am grateful GOD protects me and opens my eyes to the battle.
- Are you helping GOD’s kingdom or hurting it with your messages?
- Are you experiencing backlash for speaking the truth?
- Will you continue listening to GOD and speaking the truth about JESUS to as many as HE sends you to, expecting backlash for doing so?
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