Pursuing Christ

Folks say that when pursued, there is a natural fight or flight response in animals and humans.

One of my children had hurt one of her sisters. As soon as I was told, I was angry and I immediately sprang to action. I can still hear my thoughts, “Where is she; we are going to deal with this right now!” In this case, I was in hot pursuit.

In a jealous rage King Saul threw a spear at David in hopes of killing him. King Saul’s jealousy stemmed from David’s popularity as Israel’s beloved warrior. David had to run for his life. However, King Saul discovered David’s hideout and took his army to destroy him. He was in hot pursuit of David; the hunter in pursuit of the hunted. (Read about this in 1 Samuel 18-24.)

A word was used in New Testament to describe one who is in pursuit of another: persecutor. Examples from Ancient Greek literature include a hunter chasing after his prey, or someone avenging the murder of another. In a legal context the same word was used for a prosecutor.

When “I” am the one being pursued, the terms persecutor and prosecutor seem quite fitting.

Jesus taught his followers:

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

—Matthew 5:44-45

Enemies are those who are hostile toward you. They may not carry pitchforks and torches, wave swords, or fire guns, but they have turned against you. They may not physically chase after you, but they persecute you. They are in pursuit!

Jesus asked his disciples to do something that was unnatural and difficult. It is easy to make rationalizations and skip over His teaching:
“Love my enemies!?”
“Pray for those who are in hot pursuit of me!?”
“Absurd! They don’t deserve it! I’m the victim.”
“How can anyone be expected to follow through on such a teaching?”

Most of us can think of a time when we could have been described as a persecutor; perhaps like the parent-child illustration. It is my guess that whenever we are the one in hot pursuit, we believe that we are justified in our action.

Now, consider a question:
Is it possible that when we have been persecuted, the persecutor believes they are justified? Even in a fit of jealous rage, it is possible that they just don’t realize what they are doing?

These questions are raised, not to imply that an evil person is not responsible for their sin, but to lead us to the solution that Jesus chose, a solution motived by love:

And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” 

—Luke 23:33-34

Jesus, the Son of God, put into practice the very words he taught. As Christians, we are children of God. For that reason, we ought to have the same attitude as our older Brother, Jesus. 

But how?

When we set our gaze on the cross of Christ, we will be able to see souls instead of the pain we feel from others. We will recognize that the difficulties that our enemies cause pale in comparison to what the enemies of Jesus did. When we die to ourselves and surrender to King Jesus, we will draw strength and courage from Jesus to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. It is ultimately dependent on what we chase in life.

May we choose to pursue the character of Christ.


Mark Stinnett

February 11, 2024

Because of Me

Jesus said, "Come, follow me."

Have you ever known anyone who took personal responsibility for their ball team’s loss because they forgot to wear their lucky cap or they washed their team jersey? They bemoan their teams loss, “because of me.”

Focus on that phrase, because of me. It suggests cause and effect. My example might seem silly, but, we know that there are many outcomes in life that are because of me. Good or bad, those outcomes are the direct result of something we did or a choice we made.

With that in mind, I want to think about something Jesus said:

Blissful are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

—Matthew 5:11

It is easy to read this and think that any persecution I encounter is because of my choice in following Jesus. There is truth in that thought, but that is not what Jesus said. He said, “...because of Me.”

We have no trouble understanding the phrase in the natural course of life. For example, as a teen, did you ever go along with a friend’s idea only to get into trouble? If your friend was a true friend they might have apologized saying, “I know that you chose to go along with me on this, but it was my idea. It’s all my fault. We got into trouble because of me.”

Now, let’s look at Jesus’ beatitude in a similar way...just to focus on the meaning of the phrase, because of Me. Jesus was telling His followers that as a direct result of following Him they could/would suffer hardship. But he made it clear that the suffering was not simply because of the choice His followers made; it was directly connected to Him, because of Him.

Some people refuse to believe in Jesus. Others embrace Jesus, but only partially. They like love and service, however, holiness and righteousness are not attractive. Those who reject Jesus or reject His teachings often also reject those who truly believe in Jesus.

So, what did Jesus do or say or demand that would cause people to persecute His followers?

Unless you believe that I am He [the Son of God], you will die in your sins. 

—John 8:24

I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 

—John 14:6

Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

—Matthew 5:20

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

—Matthew 7:21

If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 

—Luke14:26

If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. 

 —Matthew 6:15

We might experience verbal abuse or far worse for our faith in Jesus. Ironically, when we suffer because of Jesus, we find bliss.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

—Matthew 5:12

Mark Stinnett

February 20, 2022

Do You Have Spiritual Grit?

Have you ever been persecuted?

You might answer tentatively, “Maybe, but nothing like Jesus or Paul.”

Near the end of the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews is a brief list of various ways that early Christians suffered for their faith. History has added to that record. Then, in their book Jesus Freaks, authors Toby McKeehan and Mark Heimermann recorded story after story of individuals who suffered imprisonment, harsh persecution and even death for their faith in Jesus. The shocking thing is that their stories come from around the world in the 20th century. Persecution continues today.

At the heart of the New Testament word persecution is the idea of driving, pushing or setting in motion. Persecution is not just a harsh act against a believer, but the malevolent pursuit of that person because of his/her faith.

When Jesus healed a lame man on the Sabbath, it created quite a stir. The Bible says:

For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus…. 

Therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him…. 

—John 5:16, 18

It was not the case that the Jews simply disagreed with Jesus. They did not merely judge against His actions on that occasion. They were in pursuit of Jesus, desiring to kill Him.

Perhaps you remember the persecutor Saul of Tarsus (later known as the Apostle Paul):

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

—Acts 9:1-2

Later, Paul had to endure persecution while preaching. He encountered Jews who followed him from city to city stirring up the people against him. He was beaten, imprisoned, and once, left for dead after being stoned.

It is my guess that most of us have not had to endure harsh persecution for our faith. Even so, persecution is not always extreme as it was with Jesus and Paul.

In our seemingly peaceful nation with free speech and religious freedom we are seeing increasing opposition to biblical Christianity. The Bible speaks of one God, one Lord, and one faith. Today’s tolerance movement simply will not tolerate anything absolute. Times are changing and you and I need to be ready. You need to decide NOW how you will stand in your faith, even in the face of persecution.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 

—2 Corinthians 4:8-9

And we labor, working with our own hands; when we are verbally abused, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we reply as friends.... 

—1 Corinthians 4:12-13

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

—2 Timothy 3:12

Read Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. Make note of the one who was persecuted. We must have the spiritual grit to endure. After all, we have a promise...

Blissful are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

—Matthew 5:10

Mark Stinnett

February 13, 2022

When the Devil Won't Stop

There are times when living the Christian life seems difficult and it is not a problem with temptation. You face challenges that discourage. You are doing your best, but there seems to be little progress. You don’t want to give up, and you’re NOT giving up, but things can sure become tiresome and frustrating.

This may help...

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.

—2 Corinthians 12:7-8

This was a statement written by the Apostle Paul when he was being tormented by a ‘thorn in the flesh,’ also called ‘a messenger of Satan.’ It appears to have adversely affected his mission. And what was the central focus of Paul’s life?

I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

—2 Corinthians 9:23

Paul's ‘thorn in the flesh’ was interfering with his ministry, but God assured him that His grace was sufficient. So, Paul accepted God’s decision to allow the ‘thorn in the flesh’ to remain and he declared his contentment with God’s decision.

Paul was being hampered by insult and persecution; by distress and difficulties and weakness.

Now, think for a moment…

What if Paul had decided to take things into his own hands and personally take action against his persecutors? What if Paul had not been content with weakness and difficulty? What if he had taken action to outwit, overpower, and out maneuver his adversary, this messenger of Satan? What if Paul operated under HIS own power???

We might speculate, but we know that Paul did not engage in battle against Satan. Look at his solution in verses 9 & 10:

And He [Jesus] said to me [Paul], “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul had a laser sharp focus on the will of God. He recognized… 

• He had never been promised a life free of difficulties; 
• He would have to endure weakness, insults, distress, persecution and difficulties; 
• He could be content in his circumstances; 
• The power of God was strong when he was weak. 

So, what do we draw from this example?

The devil sometimes makes trouble in our lives by putting obstacles in our way. The answer is not to mount an attack on Satan, but rather to...

• Maintain a laser sharp focus on the will of God; 
• Be content in our circumstances…even if God does not remove the difficulty; 
• Rely on the grace of God to get you through; 
• Rely on the power of God to accomplish His will. 

When Satan brings difficulties into our life, our joy is in the Lord knowing that he has an eternal home prepared for those who remain faithful to him.

As for Paul, it would seem that difficulties chased him throughout his life on the earth…but not after that!

There is peace in contentment.