If you become a Christian, will that make your life easier? Will it help you to live your best life now? If you switch over to “God’s team” won’t He do everything that He can to fill up your life with happiness and riches? Does receiving Jesus Christ into your life make all of your problems go away? Those are really great questions, aren’t they?
Unfortunately, there are many “preachers” and “ministers” out there today who try to convince people that if they become Christians their lives will become so much easier than they are now.
They make it sounds like everything is going to be rainbows, lollipops, ponies and endless goodies.
As a result, a lot of the same people who have tried Tony Robbins, the “Secret”, and every other self-improvement course that they can get their hands on figure that they will try out this “Jesus thing” for a while as well.
But many of these people find out that being a Christian can be really, really hard! When you decide to become a Christian, people may look at you weird, people may start making fun of you, and possibly even your own family members may turn on you.
That doesn’t sound “fun” at all.
The truth of the matter is that if you decide to become a Christian you should expect to be persecuted.
This is what Jesus had to say about this in the Scriptures….
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
-John 15:18
The truth is that if you do decide to become a Christian you may get a whole NEW set of problems that you never had before. Following Christ is not always easy and it is full of challenges.
But there is nowhere else I would rather be.
Along with all of the challenges, God will give you more love, joy, peace, passion and purpose than you can possibly imagine.
When you become a Christian, God will forgive all of your sins and will give you eternal life.
Just imagine living forever!
Life is NOT always going to be easy as a Christian, but if you are tired of your sins and your rundown life, and if you want a life of passion and purpose beyond anything you can imagine, then I would encourage you to turn to God while you still have time.
Fortunately Christians in North America do not yet have to pay the same kind of price for being a Christian that believers in other areas of the world do.
Can you imagine having your head nearly cut off for serving God?
Is that something that you think you could handle?
The following amazing story of a heroic Christian man from Indonesia is originally from a book entitled “Extreme Devotion” which documents many of the stories of Christian persecution around the globe. May stories such as this challenge us and encourage us to deepen our devotion to the Lord…..
—
The twenty-year-old Bible student was asleep when he was awakened by shouts of “Allah-u-ahkar!” (Allah is Almighty) Radical Muslims entered his room and beat him nearly unconscious. As Dominggus fought to escape, a sickle came down on the back of his neck, nearly severing his head. The attackers left him in a growing pool of his own blood, assuming he would soon die.
Dominggus said that his spirit left his body and was carried by angels to heaven, and he witnessed his own corpse lying motionless on the ground. He no longer felt fear or pain, but rather peace as he awaited his new life with Christ. Then he heard, “It is not time for you to serve me here.”
The next voices Dominggus heard were those of Indonesian emergency medical workers. Since they did not know whether he was Christian or Muslim, they were discussing where to take his body.
Dominggus prayed to God for strength to speak. Finally, the words “I am a Christian” came out. One can only imagine the look on the workers’ faces as the “dead” student answered their question.
Today, Dominggus has fully recovered. He physical scars remain, but his spirit has a renewed faith and a message of forgiveness. Dominggus stated that he is closer to God, and now, he is actively praying for his Muslim neighbors – even those who attacked him.
—
The truth is that persecution of Christians is increasing all over the world and it is only going to get worse.
So you will have to make a choice.
You can reject God and embrace the world system and do things your own way and escape the persecution. But without God you will not have eternal life.
If you turn to God and receive Jesus Christ into your life, you are likely to experience difficulties and persecution and many challenges in this life. But, you will have the opportunity for your life to be more of an adventure than you ever dreamed, and you will live forever with the Lord after you die.
So what will your choice be?
Choose wisely.