Shared from My Heart is for Israel, a snippet, excellent piece.
Sitting at the Feet of Yeshua
In my last post, we began looked at the how happy are those who are peacemakers. In this post, we will explore the last Beatitude regarding the persecuted.
“How blessed are those who are persecuted because they pursue righteousness! For the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of vicious lies about you because you follow me! Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great – they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.” ~ Matthew 5:10-12
Yeshua saved His toughest teaching for the last. Only those who have gone through all the previous steps are qualified for advancement to this stage. Oh joy, oh rapture! Surely, this must be a misprint. Being insulted and persecuted sure don’t sound like a good time to me. But, these verses teach us that we can choose to be happy in spite of our circumstances. They say, “I can remain positive and pardon those who persecute me, even when all else fails.”
If, after applying all of these previous positive attitudes to the best of my ability, I still find myself the abused victim in human relationships, I shall choose to believe that God can settle the score in His way and in His time. I shall be blessed by knowing that my hurts, borne quietly, patiently, and positively, can be turned into halos.
Once again, Yeshua takes this lesson from King David. Psalm 143:3,11-12 says, “For an enemy is pursuing me; he has crushed my life into the ground and left me to live in darkness, like those who have been long dead. For your name’s sake, Adonai, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of distress. In your grace, cut off my enemies; destroy all those harassing me; because I am your servant.”
Yeshua goes on to teach us, “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world – on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world – therefore the world hates you. Remember what I told you, “A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they kept my word, they will keep yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they don’t know the One who sent me” ~ John 15:18-21.
Source: Happy Are Those Who Are Persecuted
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