WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Think of tough times when God has been your refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). Thank him. Persecution today In August and September 2011, 30 Nigerians from three different communities were killed because they were Christians. A 14-year-old Ugandan Muslim girl who turned to Christ was locked up for six months by her father. Her brother smuggled food and water to keep her alive (source: Open Doors, www.opendoorsuk.org). In the same month, an Indian pastor cycling out to pray for a villager was brutally attacked by an anti-Christian group (source: Gospel for Asia, www.gfa.org). Paul’s words (vs 4–11) are as relevant to suffering believers today as they were to first-century Christians. Keep going The Thessalonian Christians kept going, kept loving, kept believing (vs 3,4) in spite of opposition. Persecution did not stop God’s work in the church then, and it will not stop it now. When Christians cling to God in the midst of terrible suffering it shows that they truly belong to him (v 5). Those who suffer for Christ may not see justice done and wrongs righted in this life (vs 6,7). That seeming injustice now is terribly hard to endure. That’s why we need to pray like Paul for persecuted Christians (vs 11,12) and in light of the terrible final judgement (vs 8,9) we must pray for the persecutors too. Respond: Online websites, like Open Doors, Barnabas Trust and Christian Solidarity International, give details of Christians suffering for their faith today. Pray Paul’s prayer (vs 11,12) for these persecuted Christians and their families. http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-10-31