Persecution - Bible Study

Several months ago I downloaded an e-copy of the book, “I Am N: Inspiring Stories of Christians Facing Islamic Extremists” by The Voice of the Martyrs. It is a book of 48 reports of Christians who have suffered for their faith and six historical stories all arranged into six parts under the words sacrifice, courage, joy, perseverance, forgiveness, and faithfulness. Each of these six sections is introduced with a relevant verse. Clicking on the link above will direct you to an introduction to the book, but at the top of that introduction is a link to where you can start reading the book for free.

Since I enjoy writing about verses I decided to include these six words and the corresponding verses into a study on persecution. What you are reading is that study containing links to six previous blog posts where I wrote about those verses.

     Romans 12:1 - Sacrifice
     Psalm 31:24 - Courage
     Acts 20:24 - Joy
     Romans 5:3-5 - Perseverance
     Luke 23:34 - Forgiveness
     Revelation 2:10 - Faithfulness

I pray that this study would encourage you to read the book to learn more about persecution and how God is using it to advance the gospel. The goal of this study is to better understand what our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing so that we can better pray for them and learn ways to come alongside them to encourage.

Have you ever considered what it would be like to prepare your children, if you were a young family, for persecution and possibility even death, as the consequence of living out their faith in Jesus? The video titled “Liena’s Prayer” is an example of having such a conversation. I need to warn you that the video is intense.

What would you do if persecution came to you? The video titled “Victoria” illustrates what can happen when a small church is invaded by extremists. How would you react if this happened to your church? This is a sobering video.

I pray that this study will help you understand that most Christians do not have the opportunity to enjoy living behind walls of security, safety, and comfort like we do. The more I study this topic the more I realize the importance of persecution in adding value to one’s faith. How willing are you to live like the family in the video of Liena’s Prayer? What price are you willing to pay to remain faithful to God?