Daily Bible Reading Plans to help you read and understand God’s Word

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:10-12, Psalm 9:7-10, John 15:18-25, Hebrews 11:13-16, 2 Corinthians 4:8-14

I work for an international sports ministry, and our leaders around the world face trials and challenges we here in the United States generally do not. On the regular, I hear about ministry happening through war, government crackdowns on Christianity, and leaders going without transportation, resources, and sometimes even food for the sake of staying in what they believe is God’s calling to see their countries transformed by Jesus.

They face unimaginable circumstances, and yet the joy on their faces and in their hearts is unmatched. How can this be? How is it possible to be at peace when the situations around them are often in turmoil?

Because they are holding to the One who holds all things together.

In what we know as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a new list of what it looked like to walk with Him. Each was counter to the culture of that day, leaning heavy on hardship, hurt, and humility. These blessed qualities also displayed a dependence on Him, a belief that He would restore justice and flood the world with His kingdom.

Jesus came to unseat the self-centered ways of the world and usher in the way of His Father. The Light of the World lit the corners of darkness and exposed them, and those in the world didn’t like it. Therefore, they wouldn’t like the ones who called on His name—that is, you and me.

Christians around the world who are persecuted and insulted for the name of Jesus don’t persevere because they are stronger in spirit or mind than others but because they have confidence in Christ and in an eternal kingdom we cannot yet see. They walk by faith, continuing through hardship, because they know this world is not their home. As exiles, they act as prophets to a sharp world that does not like them because it does not like Jesus, and they often receive punishment, isolation, and sometimes even imprisonment for their beliefs.

Yet Jesus called them blessed. Why?

Because they endure through suffering, through persecution, through trial and temptation with Jesus as their companion. The Spirit of the living God lives in them, and they know that nothing experienced here on earth can compare to the reward that awaits them in heaven.

May we learn from those who have gone before us and from our brothers and sisters around the world who wake each day ready to defend their faith, whatever the cost. May we pray for them, and may we ready ourselves for the moments when righteousness brings pain. Ours is the kingdom of heaven because of Jesus, our great reward and King.

Written by Sarah Freymuth