Persecution

 

Persecution

I like to think I have a pretty thick skin---or at least that I'm pretty good at faking it and letting hard things slide off my back. Truth is, depending on the day, sometimes I let people really get to me. 

It's different now that I've left the socially acceptable way of following God and have gone rogue with a bunch of other zealots. In the church, there was mutual acceptance. I accepted what was taught for that particular denomination, they accepted me as a member and let me minister there. Now that I've taken ministry into my own hands, it's not unbelievers who come against me---it's churchies.

I'm thinking of Paul. He wasn't imprisoned for bringing the nourishment of Scriptural truth to a society that was starving for it; no, he was imprisoned for stirring the pot, for shining the light of truth on a society that wanted to continue living in darkness. Paul tried to open the eyes of the willfully blind and the purposefully ignorant---he was a thorn in the side of every person who fleetingly felt convicted by his words.

I've been mocked for comparing myself to Paul (like he's some kind of higher saint, rather than just a regular dude serving God) but he's our biggest example of faithfulness in the New Testament, besides Yeshua. He was literally put there as an example to follow. When I think about how much it stinks to question whether I should share truth today and risk having to fight bad feelings toward former friends, I think about Paul in Philippians chapter 1.

"But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel…and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."

I know the persecution I'm facing as a minister of the gospel on social media is laughable in the face of what Paul went through---but the emotions are similar. Reading that portion of Scripture this morning, the Father showed me a couple reasons why He's got me in the stocks, 21st century style:

Through Paul's example of faithfulness in the face of persecution, others were made bold to share the truth, too. If I will keep my temper, stick to Scripture, and pick my battles, the Father will use my example to embolden others as witnesses, also. 

Additionally, we need to realize that this is just the beginning of persecutions. The narrow path is unpalatable to anyone not on it, but especially to those who think they are but are shown they're not. In short: compromisers don't like to have their reasons debunked. The persecution is gonna get a lot hotter and a lot heavier---and it's going to come mainly from those who've "Got Jesus" but don't understand what it means to surrender to Him.

To those of us who are truly walking out this narrow path and trying to reach those around us, let's be so careful to keep our temper, stick to Scripture, and pick our battles. There are arguments out there that just. don't. matter. and we clutter up our ministry by focusing on the noneternal. If you spend more time on flat earth or calendar arguments than you do on ministering about Yeshua and His ways, (Matt. 28:19-20) you're wasting your time. Stop picking apart the little things the enemy is distracting you with and train yourself to go after the really big spiritual warfare stuff. You were shown the narrow path of Revelation 12:17 for a reason.

There. There's my pep talk for the day. For me and maybe for you. Shalom.

A Serious Question for Protestant Believers

 A serious question for Protestant believers:

This is not an attack---I'm genuinely hoping to open your eyes to something. 

Why just Protestants? Because one of the main things that makes you feel "free" is that you read and interpret the Bible for yourselves, rather than hearing from "Rome" for your instructions.

Do you realize Rome changed the Sabbath in the 4th century and you've been going along with it for 1700 years? 

When I was in the church, I believed it was ok to observe Sunday as "the Lord's Day" and that the Sabbath was the "old way". I believed it was ok for man to change it---to take any Sabbath day we wanted, as long as we were taking one. (Which I wasn't --- and you aren't either, I can bet.) I didn't know about these truths from Scripture:

The Sabbath is a sign of our covenant with Him: "Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed." (Exodus 31:16-17

Notice it says FOREVER. These are not just laws "for the Jews". 

"You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 24:22

This is what it means to be grafted in. We are grafted into the family of Israel---we have both the rights and the responsibilities.

I didn't understand this because I didn't know these scriptures. I was trusting in man's interpretation and every church or book I'd ever gleaned from didn't address these things.

I didn't know about these truths from history:

Since the Romans kept Sunday as their rest day honoring their satanic sun god, Christians started keeping this as their set apart day, too, to try to blend in. In AD 313, Constantine, a sun worshiper, came to power and legalized Christianity. (This does not mean he became a Christian---contrary to what many like to fantasize). He actually acted in the form of an antiChrist or antiMessiah by "allowing" them to keep a Sabbath, but in his way: 

“On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.”

The Roman papacy in AD 364 confirmed: “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ” 

Rome called Sunday, "the Lord's day"---partly to honor the day He was resurrected. But, if we understood the meaning behind the Biblical Spring feasts, like Passover and First Fruits, (found in Leviticus 23), we'd realize the Father already set up a time for us to celebrate Yeshua's resurrection! 

Most of all, I didn't love the Father enough to do exactly what He said in exactly the way He said to do it. I was in rebellion, even though I thought I was living for Him. It was because I suffered for lack of knowledge, because I'd chosen to listen to the interpretations of humans instead of going straight to the Father for His true understanding.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." --Hosea 4:6

So, with all that said, my question is: why do you continue to reject the Sabbath and follow the ways of man?

I don't hate the church. I don't hate Sunday worshippers. I definitely don't hate pastors and teachers and those who try to spread the good news of the gospel to the best of their understanding. What I hate is that the enemy has perverted the Father's holy Sabbath day and has confused and lied to Christians for close to 2,000 years. I hate that you don't see it. I hate that you don't understand this beautiful sign of our covenant with Him. 

Please PLEASE read for yourself. Ask the Father to help you block out all the interpretations that you've heard over the years and pretend you're on a deserted island with amnesia and a Bible. Let Him teach you His word in His way. Otherwise, how are we any different from Rome? We are not free from the rule of man when we still follow the ways of man. Time is short, friends, and many aren't actually on the set apart path that they think they're on. Don't set yourself up for a rude awakening when He comes for His bride. KNOW the scriptures for yourself and find people to sharpen iron with---not people to spoon feed you their versions of truth. The Father will help you in all of this, if you ask Him to.