Indeed, all who want to live a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3:12
For the above verse to make sense to you, you must first read all of 2 Timothy chapter 3 to get the context. The Apostle Paul is writing to Timothy to warn him of the difficult times to come along with the difficult times they were already facing. I am a firm believer we are in the “last days” that Paul warns of and many of the symptoms Paul warned about are a reality for us in 2024. If we are not readers and students of the Bible, we are likely to say, “What is this?” when we come across stiff opposition to living out our faith; however, if we know God’s Word, we will not be surprised as we will know deep in our soul that Ephesians 6:12 is true in that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but rather spiritual forces that use people as puppets for evil. It seems common sense that someone who wants to promote a moral and truth-filled life that is rooted in faith by the love of God would be appreciated and promoted, but that is not the world we live in! To stand for truth and righteousness is to ensure you will face mocking and ridicule at the least, but more likely hatred and attacks that are more costly. To live a truly righteous life threatens the plans of the wicked and corrupt by shining light on their ways. Those who live by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life cannot tolerate anyone who exposes them or makes them look bad. Their thinking is that these people who are “do-gooders” must be silenced and removed. Why do we not see more of this is America when it is happening all over the world in other nations? Perhaps it is because of the incredible compromise churches have made to appease the world with the result of grieving and quenching the work of God. We have churches openly promoting immoral living to make people “like them” while offending the Living God who they claim to represent. Churches in America, and I use the word churches loosely, have hidden the Word of God and instead taken up to promoting man-made teaching, which is in reality humanism, not faith in Christ. If these are the tactics of the church in America, there will not be the suffering that has characterized Christianity throughout history, but there will also certainly be no power of God to transform lives and see people delivered from the bondage of sin and the devil. What can we do? Well, none of us can control another person and make them a Christ-follower who chooses to live righteously, but we can be sure that is who we are! We can also pray boldly to our Lord for Him to pour out His Spirit for repentance by people we know and love as well as for our nation and world. Finally, we can be salt and light in how we live out our faith by not hiding it. If we keep secret who we are and what we believe in, we will certainly not be the influence God intends for us to be. A lamp is not lit to be covered up, but to shine for others to see (Matthew 5:15). I sure do not know exactly what the coming days, weeks and months hold for all of us, but I know who I trust in and who I must live for, Jesus Christ! This my friends, is the life we are all called to live by faith.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Gary Houdek