Having Jesus In Your Heart 25

[Jesus is talking to His Apostles as He sends them out to minister] “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel. 

“Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

“But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:16-33

We have here a widely argued issue about how the Divine Providence of Jesus Christ works: how can a God who is love only tell me to acquiesce to persecution just so that He can achieve His will? Note verse 18: “You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.” Now, He does promise to be especially present and helpful in such moments, giving us just the right words to speak. But He predicts I will be whipped. He implies in several speeches that I will die. Now, I am very conscious of the thousands of people around the world who are actually, really, being tortured and killed because they are a certain religion. (And of course there are thousands being tortured and killed because of their socially unacceptable behavior. Recently it was reported that lesbians in Ecuador were being tortured to change them.) But I know that I will not be tortured or killed for my Christianity here in Cincinnati, OH, USA, in 2011.

So what am I to do with this long list of explanations provided by Jesus explaining why I my being persecuted, each with the perfect resources for me to weather the trial? I want to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to have a clear feeling that He is with me, is on my side, and that His truth will prevail. The information Jesus is giving me here is a wonderful contribution to that relationship.

When I listen to Jesus, do what He commands, apply His teachings to myself – including the one that says He loves me regardless – then it is much easier for me to choose to say the truth, with love, to proclaim His love and wisdom, and to defend the stand I am taking, even if it is unpopular

So, based on what Jesus says here, I am going to strive for these attitudes and practices (see verses 26-33): I will seek to be good, even if people hate me for it because that is better for me and the world than my being agreeable so that I am liked. I will practice appearing to trust the Lord rather than appearing to be strong in the face of peer pressure. I want to love a person because of who they really are – a child of God – rather than who their parents are, the position they hold, or the doctrine they espouse. I intend to act like I believe the Lord loves me as much as anyone else. I will explore ways to confess my sins to the Lord that are effective – that open my heart to Him so that He may heal me.

My experience is that as I practice these exercises and do these tasks, Jesus is making His home in me, abiding in me. I then have Him in my heart.