kissing Jesus while betraying him

Refusing Persecution

If we refuse to be manipulated, abused, persecuted and taken advantage of..

Because we can see it coming, and are skilled at exposing and avoiding and escaping all the schemes of evil men.

Being able to see the schemes does not necessarily mean we have Gods permission or power to avoid or escape them.

“And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭8:32-33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Peter knew there was an evil scheme awaiting Jesus, and was trying to help Jesus to avoid it. Jesus responded to him “get behind me Satan”. It was God’s plan for Jesus to walk into a trap of suffering and death. Peter assumed, because it seemed terrible and evil, that must be it was not a thing God wanted

If we are constantly activists against evil schemes, some of which succeed (temporarily). Then we may, at times, find ourselves refusing to follow Jesus Christ. We may even find ourselves fighting and undermining what Jesus is doing in the earth. We may get swept up in a battle he simply is not fighting. Using our limited ability to see the big picture and logic we may find ourselves taking a side that seems good but is not necessarily his side.

He may intentionally lead us into trouble, he just may have that for us for a time. That may be in our cup to bear. And if He is our Lord that should be ok with us.

Following his path for us just might result in humiliation, injustice, and peril. If he wants us to take all that, it’s our job to not whine and to accept it. Like a good soldier, and like a loyal bond-slave.

So don’t spend your days as an activist an antagonist of Satan and his helpers. Instead spend your days as an obsessed activist of Jesus Christ and come what may, take it all as his will for you.

Adjectives For Those in the Kingdom of Heaven

•surrendered, •yielding, •crushed, •laying down, •meek, •lowly, •repentant, •peacemaking, •poor in spirit, •hungry, •thirsty, •persecuted, •perplexed, •struck down, •afflicted

“always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, SO THAT the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” – Paul in 2Cor4:10 ESV

It’s a carrying of death, for the purpose of manifesting Jesus’ life in the earth.

Possess by Letting Go

On the one hand the church is to undo and subdue the works of Satan. Possess the promised spiritual land that God has decreed that is ours, like they did in Canaan.

But on the other hand we cannot control much of anything. Like Israel going into Canaan we cannot pick our fights, we can’t go after those that disgust us the most. We can’t avoid the giants and go after the little guys. We cannot decide what we can plunder and what must be burned. Like Israel we cannot decide which cities can be destroyed and which ones we can have mercy upon.

We, like they possess by letting go of control to God and as long as it takes for us to learn, that he will take with us even if our lives pass us by. We possess not by controlling and trying harder. We possess by yielding, and walking in absolute moment by moment surrender. Being careful not to overlook how we disobey, or how we persuade ourselves how we don’t really need to fully obey.

Have mercy on our stubbornness Lord.

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