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To be a christian is not a matter of bodily survival. But to choose to live in God means to obey God and defend the truth of God.
The early church was fed to lions, they were free to deny their faith and save their lives, but they choosed to defend the truth and obey God.
God told us the story of the poor Lazarus waiting to receive mercy from the Rich man's table, Lazarus accepts his fate and God could use his life for His purpose to find out the heart of the people. So this is an example of total obedience to God.
Even God has His purpose on Lazarus's life and Lazarus served Him by obedience to God without complaining and murmuring and rebelling like the Hebrew did in the dessert. This is what God wants from all of us and that He will test each of us whether we are worthy or not to receive Eternal Life with Him.
Jesus could run away from Gethsemane garden as he knew the people would ambush and arrest Him but He didnt, He choosed to face them all and defend the TRUTH.
Dont judge God and curse Him when you dont have bread or water like the Hebrew did in the dessert
Even so you'd be better live in obedience to God until you die faithfully like Lazarus did.
James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Hi friend, thank you very much for your feedback. I definitely agree that you can’t deal with the whole concept comprehensively. I just want to make a platform for spreading ideas that can be helpful to others, because they’ve been helpful to me.Hey there Sal!
"Difficult times" is obviously a big concept and we can't pretend that we could deal with it comprehensively in a short video, article or forum reply!
I appreciate your perspective in the video - I admit I generally haven't viewed that passage you mention in connection with persecution or difficult times as much as about faith generally, but don't have an issue with what you did with it.
Fundamentally on persecution or adversity generally, I think the core of how to "deal" with it depends on our relationship with Christ.
As we see Paul's response to adversity all through the NT, we see how the events that surrounded him made little difference to his steadfast relationship with Christ and the way in which he dealt with them was simply to continue to step in obedience. It doesn't mean he was having a good time, but nor did it impact his joy because that comes from a higher source unaffected by the events of this place.
This, I think, is similar to what you said in the video about keeping our eyes on Jesus, but I guess I'd take it even further and suggest that if we are struggling with the events around/about/towards us then some devoted prayer focused on relationship (likely including repentance and obedience as topics to consider as part of it) is a good place to start. As you said (and I agree) - focusing on the event/issue itself is often misdirecting our attention.
That all said - thanks for sharing your video with us
Thank you so much “Now Faith”, I deeply treasure your encouragement. My the bottom of my friend, God Bless you, and thank you so much
Thank you so much “Now Faith”, I deeply treasure your encouragement. My the bottom of my friend, God Bless you, and thank you so much
