- with persecution-

The last blog post was fun!  All about the benefits and relationships gained thru leaving good things for the sake of sharing the gospel.  There are 2 words in the verse that I talked about, that I didn't really talk about, the words are "with persecution".

Mark 10:29-31 New Living Translation (NLT)

29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property

—along with persecution.

 And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”

  The idea of the post was to put faces and places with what we have experienced.   If we only focus on the good, the benefits, the return, then we aren't really giving the whole story or the whole scripture, we aren't telling the whole truth. 

It's like sharing the Gospel without talking about repentance..it doesn't work, it's not the TRUTH.

I love that Jesus could have left "with persecutions" out and let people figure it out, but He said it so that when it happened, and it happens

 all.the.time.

 people would know Jesus knew this was coming and it's part of the story.

 I can't for the life of me figure out why it happens so often, but it does.

  The craziest part is we expect persecution from the outside, but it more often comes from the inside, from people in the family of God.

*I realize in comparison to the persecutions that people experience all over the world that include imprisonment and beatings and death, the "persecutions" I'm referring to are nothing, but Jesus didn't say this for only extreme cases.  Jesus Word's are true in every context, every day, every situation.*

Everyone who has ever done ministry has been involved on one end of persecutions,

persecuted or persecuting,

 to some degree,  or the other.

  Most have been involved on both ends.

  

I think of it as a bunch of kids that inherited the most important and powerful business on earth from their Father and they fight disagree over how to run it.
 The best part is there is no need to fight, the Father is alive and well and left us with a written manual (Bible) and a CEO,( the Spirit) to guide us. 

But, because we are people and we are sinful we fight over stuff. 

And when it is dear to our hearts we fight with passion and purpose and often times we get it wrong and it hurts people and sometimes we get it right and it hurts people. 

 The beauty of it, is our Father is the Author of the manual and He shows us the way and provides the way to reconciliation.  

 God is a good Father.  He is so faithful and His faithfulness is not dependent on ours.

  When we are not faithful, He still is!

  I have seen the benefits of pressing in and staying the course with Him wherever He leads and even when it gets hard, there is always growth and deeper love and understanding. 

 Faithfulness takes time and patience, to see God's faithfulness and to learn to be more faithful in our own lives.

2 Timothy 2:12-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

12 

If we endure hardship,

    we will reign with him.

If we deny him,

    he will deny us.

13 

If we are unfaithful,

    he remains faithful,

    for he cannot deny who he is.