Edmond Oklahoma Feb 2015
It makes my skin crawl to think that I am so hated by a faceless regime that I could be murdered for bearing the name of Christian. Blood is being shed senselessly—not of our soldiers which is anathema enough, but the blood of innocents.
Slaughtered execution style for the sole purpose of making a point,
Of getting the world’s attention,
Of spewing hatred toward Christ lovers.
Threats to annihilate all of us who are washed in his precious blood.
Yet Jesus knows what it was like to be despised. Humankind never changes, only the dates, and faces.
Jesus was at the brunt of the whole gamut of human emotions, from the devoted love of his disciples– to the intense hatred of his fiercest enemies.
He was adored by the crowds.
Some loved the entertainment. Who doesn’t want to be wowed by magic (in their view) and miracles. Many who came purely as spectators came back again and again as they slowly became touched by his love, compassion, and unblinking mercy.
Their curiosity turned to faith.
He was followed to the point of stalking. People were desperate for healing, desperate for hope, desperate for a savior who had been promised for centuries.
He was adored by women. He gave them dignity and worth in a world that disregarded and degraded them.
He was respected and revered. The synagogue leader, Jairus, pleaded for his daughter’s life. The Centurion begged for his servant’s healing. The woman with the twelve year blood flow knew if she could just touch his cloak she would be healed.
And he was despised with a blinding hatred.
The Pharisees were suddenly swept from the center of attention. This “man” even had the gall to criticize them fiercely. Some simmered and boiled, and plotted and planned, in self-righteous anger and with a hardened heart toward revenge.
His death would be their vindication, the proof that they were right all along.
He the fraud.
But his death only further proved their blindness and failure to grasp the magnitude of their despicable act. It seared forever just how wrong they actually were.
And as the slaughter across the sea continues, a few precious souls at a time, they also fail to grasp that they are fighting an un-winnable war. Not a war against the United States or NATO or against Christians, but against God himself.
And God ALWAYS wins.
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Psalms 108:13 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.
-Make a list of your greatest fears.
-Pray over these and thank God for being the conqueror over all of them.