I can't begin to imagine a life where morning prayer is done in secret.
Where worship is silent; heartfelt, Spirit filled, but without sound.
A place where a whisper of my faith could (and likely would) be punishable by death.
Persecution.
Matthew 24:9
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
I can't begin to know that kind of persecution.
But,
I kind of want to.
I want to know...
Would I do as Peter?
Would I deny you three times?
Will my fear stand firm before me as I hide my face from the enemy and beg for my life? Or will my knees crush the soil beneath me as I fall to the ground in full armored faith. Knowing that, even in death, nothing can separate me from Your love.
NOTHING.
No, not one thing can separate us from the love of Christ.
Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have no idea, we have no idea, and most of us will never have much more than a small glimpse of real life persecution like this.
BUT-
We can use this.
We NEED TO use this!
We can walk in HIS strength with our bibles wide open,
spreading the gospel,
to anyone who has ears to hear-
and even those who don't.
while our mouths sing praise...
Out loud!
ALL THE TIME.
And giving thanks that WE CAN!
That we still can.
And not forgetting those who lay everything down to do it anyways,
even though it may bring death.
