Daily Devotionals

Voice of the Lord

Devotional: 2nd of Sivan

How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you ...because you follow me! (Matthew 5:11).

The Messiah revealed from the beginning of his ministry that his followers would encounter persecution. This persecution would not be the ordinary difficulties of life, or even the difficulty of living a moral life in the midst of an immoral world. Rather, Yeshua called his disciples to "suffer on account of my name" (Acts 9:16). When we identify with the Messiah, we draw the fire of persecution upon ourselves.

Believers around the world are encountering such persecution today. In China and Vietnam, they are harassed, beaten, and imprisoned by governments. In Sudan they are kidnapped and sold into slavery by Islamic militias. In Saudi Arabia they face execution for sharing their faith. Rabbi Sha'ul (Saul; i.e., Paul) seemed to have our day in mind when he told Timothy, "All who want to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).

But what of believers in lands like ours, lands where there is little or no real persecution? Do we identify with the rest of the body of Messiah, so that their suffering becomes our own? The writer of the Book of Hebrews instructs us, "Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves" (Hebrews 13:3). We must remember our imprisoned spiritual brothers and sisters, and pray for them consistently with perseverance.

...begin the practice of praying for my persecuted brothers and sisters in Messiah throughout the world.

RR