Saturday, January 26, 2013

Being Faithful in a Faithless World.

1 Peter 3:18
{source

This post may be for no one but myself, but I felt the need to share anyway. How many times have you been persecuted for your faith? No, I don't mean martyred, literally. But I believe that suffering is not always physical. You can be verbally abused as well. People can AND will make fun of you for believing in Christ at some point. I think it is inevitable. I can't count how many times I have been the joke. Here's the good news though: If people are making fun of you for your faith, then you must be doing something right.
They can see God in you. They can tell by the life you are living, by the choices that you are making, that you are living for Jesus. I am reminded of a very popular DC Talk song, Jesus Freak. If you should only get one thing out of this post, may it be that being a Christian is no reason to be ashamed. Jesus died for us, so that we could live for Him. So do not allow other people's negativity to keep you from doing what you believe is right. Jesus suffered far greater than we do now. Here are some verses from 1 Peter that speak to me on this subject.
1 Peter 2 21-25This is the kind of life you've been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came His way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss. They called Him every name in the book and He said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you're named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.
 Happy weekend, friends!

18 lovely notes:

Rosala said...

Amen, sister! God didn't say it would be easy, but he did promise that he would be there with us! "Though none come with me, still I will follow." We sang that song last night at church.

Jessica said...

I love that song and it so fits this blog post! I haven't heard it it years. Thanks for reminding me of it. :)

Lacey said...

I love this. I think it's interesting though how He set this whole thing up. Life, you know? Haha. What I mean is, the more we truly love Him, I mean truly, truly fall in love with Him, the more we desire to serve Him and obey His commands. And thus the less suffering there is for us. What I mean is, though we'll still suffer in the earthly manner, because of our love for Him, it means nothing to bear it. Because His kingdom and sharing His love and the message of the cross is what matters.

Not sure if that all makes sense. It's something I've been learning lately and I still haven't worked out how to put it in words. But your post made me think about it more :) It's so cool to know that Jesus is REAL and that He walked on this earth as a mortal man like we do. He did experience it all, and that makes it so much easier to trust God because He truly knows what He's talking about!

Sorry for my rambling, haha. Love your post! :))

Lacey said...

P.S. DC Talk was AWESOME. And you are even more awesome cause you know who they are. Haha!

Unknown said...

I love this, thanks for posting this. I really love this post.
xx Laura

Michlyn said...

I love this. The title caught my attention right away, and I love your boldness about it!

~Michlyn

R's Rue said...

So great!
Thank you!
www.rsrue.blogspot.com

Jessica said...

Don't apologize for your ramble! I loved reading it!! :) Thanks for such a thought provoking comment...it's absolutely true. It does hurt on earth, but it will be worth it. Jesus and His followers back in His day suffered MUCH more than a few words. It's just something to think about! :)

Jessica said...

Hahaha! I am very glad to hear that you were a fan too! :)

Jessica said...

I am glad!! :) Thanks for reading, Laura!

Jessica said...

Thank you, Michlyn! :)

Jessica said...

Thanks for reading! :)

Katie Aman said...

I agree with everything said here. We should want others to see Christ in us and even if they make fun of us for it at the time, it is planting a seed in their hearts that will hopefully grow in God's time :) Glad you shared this today!

Unknown said...

http://randocology.blogspot.com/2013/01/ive-been-tagged.html

You've been tagged!
xx have the best
Laura

Jessica said...

Thanks, Katie! You are so right. It hurts at the time, but will certainly be worth it. :)

Jessica said...

Thanks, Laura! I will work on this tomorrow night! :)

Britt Lauren said...

What a great post, so inspiring!! Thanks so much for sharing this Jessica! I wanted to let you know I tagged you over on my blog - http://encouragementforeverydaystruggles.blogspot.com/2013/01/tagged.html

Jessica said...

Thanks for reading and also thanks for the tag, Britt! :)