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Persecution

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repottinger:

--- Quote from: santgem on August 06, 2015, 12:50:10 AM --- I was persecuted in a daily basis because  I am a follower of Christ Jesus. In a dominantly Muslim country i do not have a place especially in my works, home, inside the country. I have to endure the hardships because i am poor and there are not so good consequences if i leave my job. I cannot practice my belief openly or else death is at hand. I have to be very carefull in all my actions and talkings especially in the name of Jesus. All the years it is only Jesus who is protecting me and is always protecting me until this very moment. I give my all but for the Muslim  am only as good until they needed me. At the end of the day I endure the hardships because my Lord always makes a way for me to be satisfied. God works in a mysterious ways.

--- End quote ---
I'll be sure to pray for your safety in what sounds like a very dangerous environment, and also that you might in some way be a blessing to those around you, Santgem.
Your brother in Christ,
Randy

virginiabm:
Hi Nelson, I did say that they wanted to hurt Jesus, but Our Father would not let them hurt Him. I know Jesus was persecuted because He claimed to be the Son of God. They said all kinds of bads things to Him and about Him, but they never touched Him, even thou they tried and no one will touch us till it is time for that to happen as it was with our Savior.
I have been persecuted for my faith by my family. I have had them tell me they are disappointed in me for leaving behind the Sabbath and feast days, and dietary laws. They say I am wishy washy, but I go where the truth leads me. It has taken awhile for me to get where I am at today. Now I found out that Yahweh and Yahshua is a pagan name and my husband is Yahwehist and Yahshua man. This has just happened to me and I can't talk to him about, but I did ask him to read what I did about it. He hasn't done it yet. I doubt he will unless God draws him to it.
I hope I made myself clear about Jesus being persecuted. I believe that He was in the sense that you speak, but he wasn't hurt or touched until it was His time to be.

    May God bless you,
       Virginia

indianabob:
Hi friend Nelson,
I take your point about REAL persecution, attacks from other persons due to our faith!

But then I must respectfully disagree that we have to suffer persecution or else we are not truly called and chosen followers of Christ.
Let me try to explain much the same way Kat did.

If a person is going to suffer from personal persecution, there has got to be some type of threat in the mind of another person, the one committing the persecution against me.

For example, if my teaching makes them question their beliefs or their pastor or someone that they love and trust. That is the point in time where it is wise to change the subject and let well enough alone.

If God wants them to pursue the truth they will come back of their own God inspired choice without us nagging them. Even then we should be very circumspect in our approach considering the other members of their family who may not be able to understand our motives.

This type of persecution would usually come from a relative, probably one that we have tried to help or "convert" to our way of thinking. So to avoid that type of attack, keep your new beliefs to yourself or at least tread lightly. Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

When Jesus instructed the apostles (and we are not apostles) to go into the world and teach the gospel, he also told them to go only to the circumcision or those of the Jewish persuasion. And even then Jesus told them that if their preaching was not received by the head of the house or by that city, that they should just leave and shake the dust of that city from their sandals and return no more.
They were not taught to proselytize in gentile communities. That task was left to Paul and of course Paul did receive persecution.
But again, we are not Paul and as far as I can determine we have not received a vision or direct instruction to spread the gospel to all the people we know. We are to simply be a light on a hill, an example of gracious living and sincere caring for the needs of others.

Today in a secular nation such as America or Britain a practicing follower of Christ does not have answer for their religious beliefs or go out looking for trouble by preaching where they are not welcome.

People in Muslim or Hindu nations have a different set of circumstances.
Of course you may recall that Christians were accepted and protected under the rule of Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Saddam didn't want trouble and he dealt harshly with any who threatened those native Christians. The trouble didn't start until America interfered.
And there again, the Christians did not proselytize outside their own families.

So then my main point would seem to be that true believers do not have to pressure other people to accept the gospel in order to have salvation. That would be some sort of "works" that should remain in the authority of almighty God.

Subject to correction by the moderators. Indiana Bob

 




--- Quote from: Nelson Boils on August 07, 2015, 04:11:23 AM ---Hi Indiana Bob

You say".. persecution and testing can come from the temptations that Satan places before everyone especially those who believe."

And:"So to not be grateful or thankful and harbor resentment can be an inner persecution needing correction."

Actually,temptation is not persecution nor does persecution come from the inside,friend.That's not "real persecution!"

Check this email from Ray

http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,5712.msg46266.html#msg46266html#msg46266

Dear Mark:
No, as used in the Scriptures, persecution always comes from without from others,
not from within. Here is just one of many such examples:  "If THEY have persecuted Me, THEY will also persecute you..."  (John 15:20).
God be with you,
Ray

We must suffer real persecution,from THEM.

--- End quote ---

lauriellen:
Dear Indianabob,
I have given a lot of thought to what you have said. I have always wanted to 'lay low' were my religious beliefs were concerned. Being raised in WWCOG, I would avoid any conversation that turned toward religion like the plague. As a child, my siblings and I were singled out, made fun of and shunned because we could not participate in holiday parties and activities, could not eat pork at school, etc, by other students, teachers, family, etc.  I remember vividly being berated by a teacher in front of class over not being able to participate in the class Christmas activities. I can still feel how my cheeks burned with shame. We only wanted to blend into the background and not be noticed, and being asked "what religion are you?" or "what did you get for Christmas?" was always dreaded. This carried on into adulthood, and first chance I got, I blended myself right into the local Baptist church. I felt safe, accepted and mainstream for the first time in my life. You would think I would NEVER let myself get into a situation of 'sticking out like a soar thumb' ever again. But here I find myself again. I begged God to show me the truth, and here I am. I feel an uncontrollable urge to share my beliefs on my facebook page. I have been unfriended. Shunned. Called names. In my small bible belt town, I think people look at me as if I have gone off the deep end. I don't want to put myself out there like that. It causes me a great deal of stress that I don't handle well and don't need. I tell myself regularly that NO MORE. . . that I will not share any more religious posts.....but, I may wake up in the middle of the night with specific verses going thru my mind or a specific subject, and an intense feeling like I need to share   some verse or  quote or article, and I do.... I have even cancelled my facebook account a few times just to stop, but always feel driven to start again.  I know we are not supposed to share our faith unless someone asks.....but I just don't seem to be able to help it.  What do yall think?  Should I stop? Should I continue? I just don't know what I should do...............  :-\ :'( :-[

lilitalienboi16:

--- Quote from: lauriellen on August 08, 2015, 07:32:37 PM ---Dear Indianabob,
I have given a lot of thought to what you have said. I have always wanted to 'lay low' were my religious beliefs were concerned. Being raised in WWCOG, I would avoid any conversation that turned toward religion like the plague. As a child, my siblings and I were singled out, made fun of and shunned because we could not participate in holiday parties and activities, could not eat pork at school, etc, by other students, teachers, family, etc.  I remember vividly being berated by a teacher in front of class over not being able to participate in the class Christmas activities. I can still feel how my cheeks burned with shame. We only wanted to blend into the background and not be noticed, and being asked "what religion are you?" or "what did you get for Christmas?" was always dreaded. This carried on into adulthood, and first chance I got, I blended myself right into the local Baptist church. I felt safe, accepted and mainstream for the first time in my life. You would think I would NEVER let myself get into a situation of 'sticking out like a soar thumb' ever again. But here I find myself again. I begged God to show me the truth, and here I am. I feel an uncontrollable urge to share my beliefs on my facebook page. I have been unfriended. Shunned. Called names. In my small bible belt town, I think people look at me as if I have gone off the deep end. I don't want to put myself out there like that. It causes me a great deal of stress that I don't handle well and don't need. I tell myself regularly that NO MORE. . . that I will not share any more religious posts.....but, I may wake up in the middle of the night with specific verses going thru my mind or a specific subject, and an intense feeling like I need to share   some verse or  quote or article, and I do.... I have even cancelled my facebook account a few times just to stop, but always feel driven to start again.  I know we are not supposed to share our faith unless someone asks.....but I just don't seem to be able to help it.  What do yall think?  Should I stop? Should I continue? I just don't know what I should do...............  :-\ :'( :-[

--- End quote ---

Hi Lauri,

This is a good question and I've certainly thought about exactly what you mention.

I think its a matter of the motivations in your heart for why you are posting what you post. I share scripture often because I think of God and His Word often. I find God's words to be very encouraging and so I post. I don't do it to try and "witness," argue, or condemn anyone. Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. In this day and age what we say on the internet is what was once spoken by the lips. So then can you deny what is in your heart? We shouldn't be ashamed of who we are. We shouldn't go out of our way to hide who we are. Most people don't even bother to read what someone like myself posts on a news feed. They know I post pretty much only scripture so they either unfollow me, block me, or unfriend me. I don't have a problem with that one bit. It also doesn't bother me one bit if absolutely no one reads what I post. I don't do it for anyone really. I do it mostly for myself and, to a lesser extent, those whom I love dearly in Christ. Like I said, I cannot hide who I am and I think when we start to feel we have to hide who we are then that's what we need to question the spirit that is leading us to believe this. I don't think the spirit of Christ would have us hide who we are. We are in the world and because of this someone will always be watching what we do and say. The trick is to not be conformed to this world, to be not "of" it.

These are my thoughts and I could be wrong on this. Maybe I am overstepping the line but I truly do not believe in my heart that I am. So many people unfriend me over it but I cannot hide what is on my mind or in my heart and I have no desire to ever do so. I certainly won't come knocking on your door though and asking you if you read my post about Jehovah ;)

I welcome more discussion on this issue and would love to hear more perspectives on it.

God bless,
Alex

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