Praying For Persecuted Brethren

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven — Matthew 5:10 (NASB)

I’ve been reading some of what President Barack Obama has been saying over the past few days regarding Christians, Jews and Muslims learning to get along together and must admit that I am not particularly inspired by what he had to say.

Truthfully, I believe that President Obama is rather naive when it comes to who is doing what to whom equating what Israel is “doing” to the Palestinians with what the Nazis did to the Jews during the run up to and through the second world war. If you are Jewish you know how appalling that comparison is, underscoring the lack of support Israel has from United States leadership these days.

I apologize if some of you reading this are immediately offended by what I just shared, but I’m not here to support anyone without reservation. Rather, I want the truth to come out and have it come out clearly and accurately.

Persecuted Brethren Need Our Support

Last week, I shared the plight of North Korean Christians, many of whom are imprisoned for their faith. Since then, the Holy Spirit has laid these brethren on my heart several times, instructing me to pray for them. As I intercede, I fully expect that this is just one of several steps for me to take. Right now, I am raising awareness of what is going on behind the iron Korean curtain with as many people as possible, particularly fellow believers. As God leads, I’ll take whatever other action He calls me to take.

While the communists continue to abuse our brethren in North Korea and elsewhere (China is another example), brothers and sisters in a number of African nations continue to suffer persecution, almost always at the hand of Islamists. That fact, my friends, is why I shake my head in disagreement with what the American president has to say who, by the way, seems to be making his own shift to Islam of late.

Crisis In The Congo

Samaritan’s Purse sent a letter out this past week which focused on what is going on in Democratic Republic of Congo. This nation, which borders Sudan, has seen Muslim herdsmen come into Christian communities to rape the women, kidnap the children and kill many of the men.

The Zande people were formerly a warrior people group who were unreached by the gospel until about a century ago. Samaritan’s Purse says that there are hundreds of thousands of believers among the Zande who have been singled out by a pair of political factions, both of which are bent on harming Congolese.

Terror In Iran

Iran has been in the news a lot lately, most recently when President Obama made it clear that he doesn’t have a problem with the Persian nation acquiring nuclear technology as long as they use it for peaceful purposes.  Right! And this is the same country that has sworn to blow Israel off the map.

The young people of Iran are hungering for something different than the restrictive Sharia laws they are forced to endure which means that women are mistreated, petty criminals executed and political prisoners are tortured or worse.  Many young Iranians are tech savvy and know that a world of promise exists beyond Iran and are discovering that God cares for them is reaching out to them in the name of Jesus Christ.

Voice of the Marytrs recently reported that five newly converted Christians were arrested after plain clothes security officers raided the home church that they were attending. Bibles and New Testaments are confiscated, the house searched without a warrant and the five Christians were taken to an unknown location where they are being held today.  This latest incident is just one of many against Christians in that country, some of whom have been imprisoned under horrible circumstances. Yet, they endure for their faith.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you — Matthew 5:11-12 (NKJV)

More Information As Becomes Available

I’ll be sharing additional information as the Lord leads, but if you have something you want to share, then please carefully fill out the comment portion of this article and if what you wrote isn’t spam, I’ll approve it and post it for others to see. God bless you!

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