Thought for Friday 21 April

 Matthew 13:20-21

The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone

who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

According to Wikipedia, "The persecution of Christians is the religious persecution that Christians have endured as a consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era. In the two thousand years of the Christian faith, about 70 million believers, of whom 65% lived in the twentieth century, have been killed for their faith." Someone right now is dying for their faith in Christ, while others are imprisoned and tortured as we speak.

An early Christian leader named Tertullian (164-200AD) declared: “Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust. The more you mow us down, the more we grow, for the seed of the church is the blood of the Christians. Every single drop of our blood springs up, in some thirty, in some sixty and in some and hundred-fold.”

There are times in our lives when we must make a stand. There is no room to give in to the urge to cut and run in cowardly retreat!

One of those times is now! The Christian church is under attack by those who are afraid. Why are so many afraid? Faith is being undermined by the power of darkness dwelling in the hearts of those who would rather believe in themselves than God. They want to be known as ‘self-made’. They are capable of making their own decisions regarding eternity, they think. These folks don’t realise that this decision is not their own, if the God of creation is not involved the only alternative is Satan and death.

We do have a say in how we will spend eternity, we can choose life by following Jesus, who redeemed us by His blood. Or we can choose death by following Satan who never died for anybody but who is alert for anyone who rejects the Saviour.

The persecution of Christians is gathering momentum, easily seen by the numbers turning from the saving power of Jesus’ blood to follow the darkness which is causing the voices of people to reject God’s word by removing passages they don’t like and changing other passages to reflect agreement with the way the evil one wants us all to live.

We must let prayer be the watchword for all who will follow the Son of God. We have the Holy Spirit to help us with the prayers needed. The Spirit can ease our prayers by speaking to the Father in words we cannot even pronounce.

Give thanks for the continued presence of Father, Son and holy Spirit in our lives. The living God will never let us down, if we trust Him, he will be with us, and His protection is ours.

 

Prayer

Lord God as we look around and see the decay of faith gaining pace. A lot of this loss of belief may be due to fear of persecution by the followers of the darkness which is gaining strength daily. However, it may also be that many would rather follow the gods of self-indulgence. Help us to avoid the traps of false gods and to keep our eyes on the cross of Your Son Jesus, in the knowledge that this is the only way to be saved. May Thy will be done always, amen