The Persecuted Church

THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

This morning the persecuted church is very much on my heart. The Lord had me up in the night praying for the situation in Iran with Pastor Yousef and His precious family and others. Here in the nation of Canada for the moment we live where there is freedom to practice our faith. We do see however that the enemy is trying to bring restraint on just what one can preach out their bible when it comes to certain topics. The love and fear of the Lord must be paramount in a person's life and the fear of man must be kept under our feet.

My heart is troubled for our brothers and sisters in China, Iran and many other places in the globe where they are suffering deep persecution for the gospel of Christ. What would it would be like to live in a country where anyone could pound on your door in the middle of the night and just haul you off to some unknown place and torture you. This happened to one precious woman in China as they tried to get her to denounce her brothers and sisters. Truly she was suffering the sufferings of Christ for her faith in Him. She did not relent and give in but with the grace of God she held ground.

Which brings me to the spirit of compromise that is so prevalent in much of the church today. Could we stand if persecution comes one day to our nation as it is in China or Iran. Years ago when first saved I heard a brother speak about persecution and all it did was scare me. Now I am mature and can look at it in new light. The bible tells us that all those that live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. We read about the sufferings of Christ. Do we even discern the Lord's body and move beyond our own needs to the needs of others? Are compassionate and understanding when one part of the body suffers for when one suffers we all suffer with them!

How is your relationship with Jesus? Is He your first love or have you over the years you have allowed other things to come between you and your Lord? Perhaps it is your work, another person, it could even be material things or your ministry. Do you have enough of the Word of God hidden in your heart to bring you through rough times? I am a firm believer in the need to memorize scripture and in retrospect would that I had memorized more when young and became a new believer. It is never too late to take the time to learn a scripture a week.

We must realize that the body is not just those in your group, your family, or ethnic background but it is truly made up from all the nations of the earth. Precious brothers and sisters who have heard the gospel and accepted the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. His blood was shed for you and me and for all mankind and we are seeing as we have seen through ages past that there are those that have and will continue to pay a high price for serving Jesus. They have seen that they are not of this world and that there is no price paid that will not be worth it in the end. They will obtain a better resurrection.

Let us turn our hearts towards the persecuted church, sit down with Father and hear Him. I know they are on His heart as He had me up praying for them in the wee hours of this morning. Ask Father God what is your part in this and He will show you. Let us stand with our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church today.

³²And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

 ³³Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

 ³⁴Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

 ³⁵Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

 ³⁶And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

 ³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

 ³⁸(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

 ³⁹And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

 ⁴⁰God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Heb. 11:32-40

Standing In The Gap For The Sin Of Abortion

Standing In The Gap For The Sin Of Abortion

Sometimes we are so blind that we do not see our sin as God sees it.  We can be grateful that He takes time before dealing with a nation to point out our sin and show us the way of repentance.  Jesus is the answer to a nations sin issues and when we repent of our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.  The Lord is addressing the sin of abortion in the United States of America as we have heard tonight on a call to fast and pray sent out by Lou Engle of The Call. 

I was painfully aware that our own nation is not exempt of this sin and also needs to come to a place of repentance and that laws need to be speedily changed to protect the unborn lives that are so dependent on the decisions we make.  The laws we make do affect the generation to come and those thereafter and the sins of the fathers are visited on the children to third and fourth generation and some sins even to the tenth generation. What are we doing about our sin?  What are we doing as the body of Christ in prayer and intercession?  Are we calling on the Lord and repenting for the lives of those whose blood has been shed and like Abel's blood is now crying up from the ground?  God sees it all!  He knows it all and nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. 

We want our nation spared the natural disasters and yet do we deserve that our nation be spared?  This is a soul searching question but one that needs to be asked.  Are we asking the Lord to also change the hearts of those that are pondering abortions in the near future?  Even this next week abortions are scheduled and yet we forget and these lives hang in the balance.  Could we by our prayer change the hearts of many of these mothers?  Can we change the heart of a nation through prayer, fasting and intercession?  Yes we can!!!  We have been called for such a time as this to make a difference, in the lives of others.  Do you believe the Lord wants to use you to pray, stand in the gap and repent of the sin of abortion in our land?

The unborn are crying out as they are taken to the slaughter.  Doctors that perform these abortions are murdering children.  Mothers and Fathers who have abortions are killing their children and so many later live with deep regret troubling them each and every day of their lives.  I know of one woman who suffered mental illness because of the abortion she had in her early life. 

Let the Lord tenderize your heart to the cry of the unborn.  Let Him stir you to stand in the gap.  Let Him allow you to see sin as sin and not call it otherwise.  The Lord saw the blood of Abel crying out and He sees the blood of each and every child that has been shed.  Abortion breaks the commandment of the Lord that says, you shall not kill.  In having an abortion you are committing murder.  

Father God will most surely forgive you for having had an abortion and cover this sin in His precious blood.  He is a loving and forgiving God.  He is merciful to those that repent.  Let us also repent of not carrying this burden and passing it off for others to take care of.  Let us pray for our leaders that they hear the Lord and have their eyes opened to see.  Let us cry out and spare not that the fear of God and a spirit of repentance come upon the people of our land and see if the Lord will again show our nations favor.  

Now is the time to repent of our sin!  Now is the time to hear Him!  Now is the time to not delay but come quickly to Him in repentance!  Now is the time for tomorrow may be too late!  Now is the time to hear the voice of the Lord as He is speaking to many in the nations.  God is raising up youth with a standard.  He is raising up prophetic voices among our youth today that will go far beyond that which we have done for the Lord and will walk fearlessly speaking the whole counsel of God.  Let us pray for these youth that God will raise them up with His fire in their bones and that they will speak without fear of man.  Let us pray everywhere without doubting what the Lord will do for a nation that walks in repentance and fear of the Lord.  Let us watch and pray, and repent of our sin.  ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Patricia Hamel

Urgent call to fast and pray for the United States of America - Lou Engle - The Call