“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” Matthew 5:11
November 1, 2025
“Those who are detained can face abuse and torture in jail. Some Christians are released and monitored-and know a second arrest would mean a long prison sentence. Converts also face persecution from their families and communities, and loss of inheritance or forced marriage to a Muslim is common.” This is a summary prayer request for Christians in Iran in “Open Doors, World Watch List” 2024. In a world in rebellion against God Christians should expect persecution. It will take different forms and is varied in intensity. In America at this time persecution comes often in the “cancel culture” and in laws that place Christians in legal challenges. The blessed – those to be envied – are those who give allegiance to the crucified and risen Savior. Popularity is not the lot of followers of Jesus. As believers we are not to retaliate, no self-pity, nor just grin and bear it, or pretend we enjoy it. View it this way: “Poor in spirit” clashes with human pride, “mourning” is anathema to the happy-go-lucky, “meekness” is derided by the self-assertive, “hungering and thirsting for righteousness” makes no sense in today’s permissive culture, “merciful” conflicts with hard-headed self-interest, “pure in heart” is the opposite of hypocrisy and compromise, “peacemaking” is scorned by the contentious and argumentative (John Blanchard, The Beatitudes for Today)
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“God examines with trials, the devil examines with temptations, the world examines with persecution.” Henry Smith