You know it seems like every year around Christmas the protests against public displays of Christianity and the birth of Jesus seem to increase. Unfortunately this isn't something new the first apostles came under attack for healing a guy in the name of Jesus. The thing is today many Christians hold themselves some pity parties and pick up offenses and essentially this gives the world a win and the church becomes ineffective. What we need to do is follow the example set by the apostles. They stood their ground, refused to deny Christ, gave testimonies about what happened which turned into a worship party prayer meeting that so pleased Abba that He shook the house they met at and refilled them with His Holy Spirit.
So in this Christmas season we need to not stand down to those who complain and protest, but we need to stand up so they know that we truly believe in our Lord and Savior and instead of picking up offenses or retaliating for their attack we need to lol for opportunities to show them Abba's love and bring healing into their lives.
Acts 4:18-22 "So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years."
Do you think it a coincidence that we do not hear anything about persecution until the lame man at the gate is healed. One would have thought that such a move of the Spirit would have attracted the attention of the Sanhedrin but it didn't. There's no record of persecution until the first healing takes place.
ReplyDelete