No Amount of Persecution Can Separate Us from God

Choose Christ; Eternity is a long time

Revelation 20:8

Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

According to The Center for Study of Global Christianity, the number of Christians in the world in 2019 was just over 2.5 billion people. The Bible mentions in many places that Christians will be persecuted, tortured, and even killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Open Doors is an International NGO that maintains a global Watch List of countries that persecute and discriminate against Christians for their faith. In the top 50 countries alone, an estimated 312 million Christians face very high or extreme levels of persecution. Out of these, 1 in every 7 is considered to be suffering from extreme levels of persecution. So far in 2022, the three countries which show the most extreme levels of persecution are Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia.

Further down the list, China is ranked 17th. The situation continues to worsen as more and more churches are experiencing pressure at the hands of the Chinese state. As of January 2020, more than 5,500 churches had been destroyed, closed down, or confiscated. In May 2020, officials in the eastern province of Shandong raided the homes of local Christians and hung pictures of Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping on the wall in place of Christian images, saying, "These are the greatest gods. If you want to worship somebody, these are the ones to worship.”  

Cash rewards have been set up across China for those who spy on and report underground churches and other ‘unofficial’ places of worship. As the Chinese social credit score system is rolling out, there are indications that the government might reward the persecution of Christians with bonus points added to personal social credit scores.

CCP officials visited the homes of Christians in Linfen, in the northern province of Shanxi, ordering those who receive welfare payments from the government to remove crosses, Christian symbols, and images of Jesus in their homes and replace them with portraits of China’s communist leaders. The officials suspended subsides to impoverish Christians who failed to give up their devotions and pictures of Jesus.

The architects of the Great Reset at the World Economic Forum (WEF) have thrown their weight behind the concept of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), claiming that state-controlled cryptocurrencies will ‘revolutionize the future of finance.’ COVID19 will be the justification for eliminating ‘dirty money’ in exchange for a cashless solution. So many have already bought the propaganda about masks, social distancing rules, and the need for booster after booster, changing to a tattoo at our hairline or a microchip placed into our hands to pay without touching will gain traction quickly. I don’t know who this woman is talking about transhumanism but watch this 3-minute video. If you’ve already seen it, watch it again. This is what’s coming.

Revelation 13:16-17

"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." 

This will be the mark God warned us about. It may very well come with the coronavirus vaccine. The “mask” has already become the first step of “The Mark” - we were barely able to shop or participate in life without wearing the illness-inducing, worthless mask for months. Masks are the outward sign of obedience and slavery…and people are continuing to wear one, even when proven useless and NOT required.

What’s that about…??? hmm.

Romans 8: 35, 38-39 

Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am persuaded that not death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christians, more persecution, more pressure, more bullying is coming. But stand strong. Know that God will never leave you, especially in times of your darkest need and your most frightening circumstances. No matter what comes upon us, He will be with us every step of the way. Physical Life is temporary.

Decide now: Choose freedom, eternal life, and God...or choose slavery, the mask, the coming mark, and eternal judgment. Cling to Jesus. Eternity is a really long time.

TODAY’S PRAYER

Lord, in the midst of all that is swirling around us, we have some difficult, very human decisions that will soon be boring down on us, probably sooner rather than later. Help us to gird up and prepare for what is to come, knowing that NOTHING can separate us from Your love as long as we cling to You. We know You will never abandon us and we know that no matter what happens to our physical body, we cannot be separated from You. When the toughest assaults start to appear, keep Your Word - especially Roman 8:35-39 - resonating through our minds and our hearts. Without You, we are nothing. With You, we are Overcomers and by Your grace, we will live our entire life in courage. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.