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November 21 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10. Here we find that those who stand for the righteousness of Christ are already possessors of the kingdom of heaven. “Theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.” Christ equips us to proclaim His righteousness. We are so thankful that it is His and not ours that we proclaim. The world will not understand the source of our righteousness. We will be persecuted because they will misinterpret our motives, our worldview, and our firm commitments to the work of Christ. Remember that they did the same thing to Jesus as He walked this earth. There may even be insults and attacks upon our character. But Christ will sustain us through it all. James reminds to count it all joy when we encounter various trials. We can only do this when we are confident of the indwelling Christ to empower us. We can know beyond any doubt that the trial will cause us to mature and become more like Christ. So it is with persecutions as well, for His righteousness sustains us, expresses His life, and causes us to stand firm in the midst of adversity. Thank You Father for making things this way for us. Without Jesus we are nothing. But with Jesus we can proclaim Your wonders to the world around us. Motivate us and maintain our life as we encounter fleshly and strange views of life. We know that You are with us, and that is all that we will ever need. Amen. |
