December 5, 2020 -- John 16:2-4a -- Prepared to live for Jesus

They will put you out of the synagogue. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

John 16:2-4a

From January 2020 to September 2020 363 Nigerians have been killed by the Boko Haram. This is an Islamist military group operating with almost no opposition in Northern Nigeria. In the last week an additional 110 people were slaughtered. Farmers were tied up and their throats slit. While Canadian news seems to focus exclusively on Covid-19, the world around us burns with the conflict ignited by the arrival of Jesus Christ. The constant haranguing about Covid-19 and the fears the state media whips up in order to deflect Canadians’ attention from the gross scandals and the constant, continuing ethic violation of the government prove Jesus’ words, “they do these things because they have not known the Father” nor do they know Jesus.

Christians know the violence and the evil, the killings and the scandals are nothing new. Every generation had to deal with the machinations of wicked men and women, corrupt governments and violence. Christians, do not live in constant fear! The LORD your God knows every atom, directs every storm, works in and through every tragedy in order that His glory and majesty would be made known across the earth and proclaimed into the cosmos.

Pray with urgency for those afflicted. Praise with confidence King Jesus, Who once came as a babe in a manger, He is now ruling with power. Live in the confidence of the salvation given you in Christ Jesus. Do not measure your success by the standards of the world. Success for the follower of Jesus Christ is to live by the power of the Spirit, defying the dictates of godlessness and knowing our lives are precious to the Father in heaven because of Jesus Christ. Be prepared for suffering and persecution. The Father’s watchful gaze is on you. Obey the government as far as it agrees with the Word of God. Show yourself a faithful citizen of Jesus’ kingdom even as you live faithfully wherever it is God has called you to live.

Prayer today is Psalm 2

Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 2 ESV

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