There's Good News Ahead!!

Does the picture above offer a hope of living a positive life. There are many ways of being positive, sometime I make statement about how something will not work, my wife will say, "be positive". I reply. "I am positive, I'm positive it won't work". This is of course a sarcastic remark. The way things are going in our world and our country it would be obvious that we can be pretty positive that things are going to get worse.

Christians around the world are being persecuted, I heard a preacher say that every four to five minutes a Christian is put to death. Christians are being put in prison and tortured every day. We don't have to worry about that in America, or do we? It seems that everyday bring another assault on our rights as Christians. We don't have a right to pray in our schools, we don't have the right to bring a Bible into a school room, we can't pray or preach on a streets. Christian business can not refuse to bake a same-sex wedding cake. We are in jeopardy if we refuse to marry a same-sex couple, although we can refuse for others. If we quote the Bible for our beliefs, we are judging. We are being attacked from all sides. 

How can I say "There's Good News Ahead"? We are being attacked from all sides, but, the Bible has good news for those that are followers of God. In Matthew 5, Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people and gives us what we call the Beatitudes. He gives a list of things that we will receive a blessing for possessing, poor in Spirit, those that mourn, the meek, etc., one on the list that we might wonder about is "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which serve before you..". Did you get the words rejoice and be glad? Rejoice and be glad that we are persecuted? Yes, there is a reward that is not temporary, but everlasting!

Read what else He has to say: "If the world hate you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." He goes on to say that if we were of this world they would love us, but since He called us out of the world they hate us, John 15. The Bible says in John 1, that He came into the world to bring light and the world knew Him not because they love darkness. This is the reason that they world is against the Christian and the Bible is because we shine the light on their sin.

Paul admonishes us to rejoice and again rejoice. We can do this because some day Jesus is coming to bring us unto Himself where we will be with Him for an eternity. He comes with His reward with Him. A few years ago, I had problems with my back, and I was in constant pain. Surgery was the only solution, and this was going to cause more pain. What a blessing when the pain went away. So it is with the pains we suffer for Christ, what a relief when Christ comes and relieves the pain for ever.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS AHEAD! JESUS IS COMING AGAIN FOR HIS REDEEMED! BE ONE OF THEM!

Even so Lord, come soon!