in the last few weeks we all have been heartbroken and we've seen of what is
happening with afghanistan through the pictures through the videos and i know that you have been
impacted through that i want to speak a little bit concerning that and the plight of christians
in there as we know for the last 20 years the united states have been in afghanistan trying to
you know seek al-qaeda and fight the terrorism and they were planning to get all of the troops
out they started to withdraw the troops and they were supposed to transition smoothly where the
military and the country of afghanistan will pretty much continue to be independent
without the help and the aid of united states because of the statement that president of
the united states made by withdrawing the troops immediately the taliban they took over
the country swiftly and quickly thus you know bringing um the law the strict muslim law into
the land of not letting women you know work not letting them be outside without the head coverings
and without their facial complete coverings as well as you know a lot of a lot of the children
young girls being taken to be sex lives for the taliban fighters and so many other things where
christians are being notified all over that we know who you are and that we are pretty much going
to kill you people that help the united states with translation with so many other things and
not only united states but other allies are being threatened and are being killed as christians how
do we respond to that we must understand that freedom of religion for christianity is a luxury
it's not a promise jesus christ never promised freedom he actually promised us persecution
freedom is a luxury now it's something we should enjoy something that we should strive for with
something we should celebrate and pray for what we must understand as christians is that persecution
is something that we are to expect when we decide to follow jesus christ now i have not experienced
persecution in comparison to the persecution that my brothers and sisters are experiencing
all around the world right now my parents have experienced the persecution my grandparents lived
through the persecution of the former soviet union and some of them in my lineage they suffered for
christ by being thrown into jail and martyred and so while i'm not an expert but as a pastor as a
preacher what i want to share is from god's word when jesus sent his disciples to go and preach
the good news spread the message of the kingdom in luke chapter 10 verse 3 he said go your way behold
i sent you as lambs among wolves you know we know that because of our identity in christ we are like
lions among scorpions we trample upon snakes and scorpions we we fight against the kingdom
of darkness we cast out demons we combat you know satanic agenda we break down strongholds we are
lions among scorpions in the realm of the spirit but in this physical realm we are lamps among
wolves defenseless and sometimes in danger that means and jesus breaks down later on what that
means to be lambs among wolves it means that we will get persecution from religion religion
that doesn't embrace jesus as christ religion that doesn't embrace salvation through grace
by faith that's religion whether it's islam whether it's buddhism hinduism whether it's
any other ism will begin to persecute christians and jesus said that in the synagogues that they
will you know persecute you they will ridicule you and they will they will beat you the second
place where we're going to experience persecution from is from the government you know jesus made it
very clear in matthew chapter 10 verse 18 is the government will persecute now we are fortunate
where i live right now at the time of recording of this video where the government is not persecuting
christians but that's not the story all around the world that's not the story in communist countries
that's not the story in muslim countries that's not the story in a lot of atheistic countries or
christians or anyone who believes in god not only they're mocked made fun of but they're actually
persecuted some of them are killed some of them are removed from the place of their employment
and some of them are slaughtered for their faith jesus says also persecution is to be expected
from family members and this persecution is the most painful one it's when your own family member
a place where supposed to be a safe haven becomes a place of thorns thistles misunderstanding a lot
of times being completely removed from your family being renounced and family wanting nothing to do
with you because of your newfound faith we see this even in the states where the family will
disown you you know when you switch religions they say when you place your trust trust in
jesus christ and this pain is excruciating this pain is very very deep it hurts us the most when
your own family doesn't want to do anything with you because your faith in jesus christ you know
i've seen countless testimonies of muslim people who turn from islam to christianity and they get
disowned i've heard some of those testimonies in their own church you know people from buddhism
and others and their family doesn't want to do anything with because they found christ and that
is to be expected persecution also the last form of persecution is from the society it's when the
society begins to ridicule make fun of persecute sometimes physically beat abuse throw in jail um
limit us label us as crazies or anything of that sort it hurts us also because we're supposed to
influence the society through being salt and light and now not only we're not able to influence the
society we are inflicted we are afflicted and we are hurt by the society and so apostle peter
speaking into the persecution he tells first peter chapter one verse six and seven he says in this
you greatly rejoice though now a little while if needed be you have been grieved by various trials
that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it
is tested by fire may be found to the praise honor and the glory at the revelation of jesus christ
pretty much peter is saying and in his epistle peter speaks of believers suffering difficulties
in persecution four times in his first letter you know chapter one verse seven and six
chapter three verse 13 all the way to verse 17 chapter 4 verses 12 all the way to verses 19 and
chapter 5 verse 9. that tells us that persecution is something that is expected and life without
persecution is something that it's a luxury it's not something that is promised now nobody wants
to go through persecution under no circumstances am i going to be the first one to say i can't wait
for persecution i don't i don't like persecution i don't like to be misunderstood i don't like to be
criticized i don't like to be made fun of mocked betrayed rejected none of us like that these are
not things we were created for but because of this evil present age because of people that are blind
to the truth we experience that as christians the bible says in luke chapter 6 verse 26 woe to you
when all men speak well of you for so they did to the fathers who were false prophets in galatians
chapter 5 verse 22 and 23 it says the fruit of the spirit is long-suffering ii timothy chapter 2
verse 3 it says that to endure hardship as a good soldier of jesus christ second timothy 3 12 it
says that all who desire to live godly in christ jesus will suffer persecution if you're watching
this today and you are in the parts of the world where you are being persecuted for the cause
of christ i want you to take courage from our friends our brothers our sisters in afghanistan
today i was moved by so many testimonies hearing people who had the chance to escape christians
who decided to stay in afghanistan to continue to preach the good news in the midst of this chaos
you know i heard a report where right now when they baptize people in afghanistan they don't
just ask do you believe in jesus christ as your lord and savior they also ask are you willing to
die for jesus and if the person says yes then they baptize them because that's what's most likely is
going to happen to a lot of those people and while it's tragic but in the light of eternity my friend
all of us are gonna die it's an honor to live for jesus it's also an honor to follow him in the way
of death we're not reckless we're not suicidal we don't struggle with the martyrdom mentality
but the bible says that you will receive power when the spirit will come upon you and you will
be my witnesses the word witness is there is a martyr meaning a person who is dead to himself
a person who is dead to this world a person who is surrendered to god i want you to watch this clip
today it's from one of the brothers in afghanistan i want your faith to be encouraged today as you
watch this because we all need to be reminded of what it takes to serve god in this day and age
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heartbreaking how he said that we're not leaving the fields we're going to continue to serve we're
going to continue to pray we're going to continue to step in and to all of our afghanistan brothers
and sisters i'm pretty sure that they're not able to watch this because of what's happening there
but we're with you in fact you know last sunday we spent some time as a church getting on our knees
and praying and i want to play this prayer could could i ask you who's watching right now could you
join me in prayer for the nation of afghanistan for other countries where christians are
persecuted let's go ahead and let's pray right now this prayer let's pray right now with believers
from hungry jen in jesus mighty name let's let's lift our hands let their burden let our let their
pain be our pain let's get on our knees right now and let's let's ask god say lord spare them
send their angels to protect them lord we are praying we're crying out for them they might not
be even christians they might be still muslim but their pain is still our pain we're still humans
let's carry their burden right now let's pray for them let's intercede for them let them proceed
for families from men for for for mothers for for daughters for sons let's cry out and pray for them
father right now we lift up afghanistan to your throne oh god father we ask for your mercy and
your grace upon all the children god upon all the women all the man god father those that are left
behind still over there god we're asking for your intervention oh god father let your grace reach
him right now god father we're asking for a hedge of protection god for all the remaining christians
that still remain in that land oh god father god release your angels on behalf of them oh god
father release your protection around them oh god father let there be revival oh god but god we're
asking for your intervention on behalf of the land god pushed away every darkness god every scheme of
the enemy over afghanistan let it be pushed out in jesus mighty name oh god we petition your throne
for afghanistan we're asking you for your mercy oh god god we're asking you for your intervention god
on behalf of the of the children god on behalf of the broken god on behalf of those that don't
know you and those that do oh god god we're asking for your intervention on this land god
lord that land has been ripped apart god that land's been torn apart god
by division by strife by by corruption oh god god we say let there be light in afghanistan god
let your light shine in afghanistan god let your mercy reign in afghanistan god
let your grace be in afghanistan oh god god we are praying for afghanistan oh god
god send your mercy god send your angels god send your favor god send your love o god god we lift
him up to your throne of grace we lift them up we petition to your throne of grace god release your
mercy god release your mercy god release your angels into that land oh god father every child
every woman god every man let it be covered by the blood of the lamb let it be covered by the
blood of the lamb and the fire of your holy spirit god let him be spared oh god protect him oh god in
jesus mighty name protect them from every evil oh god in jesus mighty name protect them from
the scheme of the enemy oh god protect it from the hindrances of the corruption government oh god oh
god we lift them up god oh god let the corrupt government got repent god let the corrupt
government god have have encounters like saul to paul oh god father we pray god we pray for
them lifting up lifting them up to your throne god god god god do what only you can do oh god
god release your mercy release your grace release your grace in afghanistan we pray in jesus mighty
name amen amen yes lord we speak to you right now in the name of jesus over afghanistan i speak that
right now lord god we're persecuted believers all around the world in jesus mighty name i want you
to keep believers around the world in prayer who are going through persecution if you are
being persecuted remember you are in our hearts you're in our thoughts i want you to go ahead and
share this video with somebody drop your prayer in the comments below for afghanistan or share your
story maybe you're in one of those countries where you're currently being persecuted share your story
of persecution for your faith to encourage others in jesus name god bless you and until next time