“Now therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods your ancestors worshiped on the other side of the River in Egypt. Serve the Lord! But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.
– Joshua 24:14-15 (New King James Version)
If the political assassination of Christian activist Charlie Kirk taught us nothing else, it’s that unbridled evil has come into this world and seeks to silence the Christian and the Christian Church, either by cultural intimidation, or by outright physical violence and intimidation.
Throughout the Middle East, as well as on the African continent, the martyrdom of Christians occurs in a daily basis. Those who refuse to convert to Islam in particular, are systematically violated, tortured, and murdered in the most horrific ways possible.
These martyrs are rarely mentioned, and they may not be prominent throughout the world, but their names are all inscribed in the palms of God’s hands (Psalm 49:16), and they remain forever precious in His sight because they died on earth in His name and will live face to face throughout all eternity with Him.
We see have seen throughout the northern hemisphere intimidation and violence against Christians played out over several decades through the firebombing of churches and pro-life alternative pregnancy centers, shootings at Christian churches and schools, domestic terrorist driving their cars into crowds gathered at Christian events, and now open assassination.
These events are leading many to despair, yet countless more are invigorated and empowered to boldly claim and profess their sacred faith and fearlessly profess it In their words and actions.
In the book of Isaiah we read the following: ” But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, of Jacob, And He who formed you, oh Israel: ‘ Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by nMine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Not the flame scotch you. (Isaiah 43:1-2)
In spite of the dangers that faithful Christians face world wide, they won’t capitulate to any outside threats or forces that try and compel them in any way to compromise on or even abandon their faith in the One True Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, even though it would be safer and easier to just compromise in order to get along and avoid any potential dangers.
Now more than ever, we are being made aware of this violence…this hatred…and the presence of true evil in the world, far faster and and with far more honesty, than ever before; this allows us to see the dilemma of choosing faithfulness over security far more clearly and far more urgently than ever.
The Grace of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, keep you now and forever, Amen!
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