Dealing With Persecution & Pain From Family Members (per your request and you know who you are, I hope this blesses you, sorry it took so long) Matthew 10:16-42 = Our Lord warned His disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. Micah 7:6 is a reference to this scripture. So having these thoughts in mind, Micah 7:6 is a description of how wicked people are going to act in the presence of the faithful. How will they act? The wicked son will dishonor the father. The wicked daughter will rise up against her mother. The wicked daughter-in-law will do the same against her mother-in-law. In essence, when it comes to wicked people, “a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.” The first mistake that Christians often make concerning Jesus Christ, is that He came to bring peace. He DID NOT, He came to distinguish His people from Satan’s people. And whenever a person receives Christ, automatically, the ones who are against Truth, become your enemy UNLESS they have genuine love for you. That is why most of your family will embrace your change, but the haters and jealous ones, will not embrace you. JUST BECAUSE IT’S FAMILY, IT DOESN’T MEAN THE LOVE IS GENIUNE. Please remember Cain and Able, two brothers. Remember Joseph and how his brothers put him in a pit. Please remember Christ, how Christians crucify Him in claiming His name but living another lifestyle. JOSEPH AND JESUS ALIKE, BOTH RESPONDED WITH LOVE AND WON HIS FAMILY BY THE CORRECT ACTIONS. Treat family with love no matter what! Or anyone for that matter. It may appear that its not working, but you must know, God will not always allow you to see (with your eyes, the affect you have on them), you have to love in faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. Whatever you do, don’t give family members, or anyone for that sake, reason to speak evil of you. I say this with strong conviction!!! Whenever you live differently than your Christ “Talk”, people will automatically jump on the “band wagon” to discredit you. Be careful of how you live before others. WHY? Because WHEN YOU REPENT AND MAKE THE DECISION TO LIVE FOR CHRIST, FAMILY MEMBERS AND OTHERS ALIKE, WILL USE YOUR FAULTS TO DEFEAT OR BELITTLE YOUR TRANSFORMATION. (#1) The Devil uses this tactic to make you feel as if your transformation is not legitimate. (#2) The Devil doesn’t want you to be effective in your calling to tell others or witness to others about Christ. So when we live differently than our talk, both 1 & 2 are most likely to be effective. (It is what it is and we can’t blame the enemy, we have to work to show the transformation is genuine) When it comes to preaching the gospel, the unfaithful will not want anything to do with it. They will oppose it. They will reject it. They will even sever family ties over it if they disapprove of it. It is our responsibility, however, to preach the gospel regardless of what kind of problems that may cause. So this passage serves as a warning to us as well regarding what kind of attitudes we should expect from some people in regard to the preaching and teaching of the truth. When this Persecution arrives from a family member, or a relative, the pain is different because it is ASSUMED that family would be the closest and would protect your heart, but not so. The reason the pain is so great is because you haven’t prepared yourself for the truth. The truth is “The Enemy always comes from a person who know exactly how to get to your heart and emotions“. It not stressful when its from someone who doesn’t know you; and that is because you don’t hold the same type of bond/love/relations with outsiders, therefore you don’t ASSUME an expected love from them. The same reason why people who attend church every Sunday, will discredit your name and degrade you as if you are the lowest of low. (I have witnessed this several times over) That happens in many church, often. And that’s the reason sinners don’t care for Christian; they hear the so-called Christian bashing other believers. Don’t partake it that behavior. Those people are not Christian and when you expect love from a pretender, you will hurt every time, take that advice and remember it. PRETENDERS can’t love. The righteous way to deal with Pain From A Family Member is to pray and know that the Lord God has chosen you to disciple that family member to salvation. It’s not about your emotions or heart, it’s about the showing of Christ within you that will draw that family member to Christ through your love. Often we feel we don’t need to disciple our family members, but we must. You don’t get to choose Who Christ Suggest you to be a witness to. Often I hear born-again Christian speak of how that father wasn’t there or their mother mistreated them; that’s only an excuse not to love. We do Christ wrong almost daily, but He forgives and loves us the same. Don’t hold on to past hurt because it only keeps you down, while the other person is at home sleep, you still deal with the pain of yesterday. It’s time to move on and up in the Lord. (That’s for somebody) So don’t take it personal and you will be just fine. I recommend “TIME” to be your friend. If you continue that walk with Christ, in time they will come around. If you can remember that not everyone will like and/or love you, you can deal with this issue. Know who to ignore, know who to enjoy, know who welcomes you, know who embraces you and know who really genuinely love you. I pray this has been a blessing to you as you have asked me to do a commentary on this matter. To God Yahweh, be the glory through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. Pastor Samuel Williams Bibleway Family Christian Church
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:58:03 +0000
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