"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for  him," Philippians 1:29 NIV

I suppose the church in Philippi understands about suffering for Christ. Next week we will see Paul relates his experiences to theirs.
Life was hard thousands of years ago, but to suffer for your faith on top on it is something most of us don't know.

Unless you have been overseas in a country where preaching the Gospel is illegal, I would say we don't know anything about it.  Recently we saw an American Pastor released from a Turkish prison after 21 months. I believe he said all of the other prisoners were muslim. When asked how successful he was in converting them, He said, "They tried hard to convert me." It was one against seventeen.

Thank God for Pastor Andrew Brunson and his prayers for President Trump. This man went from a foreign jail to the office of the President of the United States within days. Reminds me of Joseph in Genesis.

This week I read a testimony from a mother whose daughter is still in captivity with Boko Haram.The girl is 15, and wasn't released with the other girls because she would not renounce her faith in Jesus. I can't imagine this family's pain, as their daughter faces execution.

These are hard truths of life around the world. What can we do to make sure our nation doesn't treat Christians in a similar fashion? Pray for revival, and ask God to have mercy on a nation who destroys babies before birth. Ask God to have mercy on our nation as the upcoming elections are almost upon us.

Ask God to put angels around every candidate who will vote for life. Ask God to open the blind eyes of every person who sees the Gosnell movie and doesn't understand about  the sanctity life. 

Pray for the persecuted church. I'm sure Pastor Brunson had many people praying for  his safety. The ministry of "Voice of the Martyrs" will give you lots of prayer material. Maybe your church has missionaries who need prayer?

God has lots for all of us to do in this day, but a new day is coming. God will return for us and no one else will be saved after this. Now is the church's hour to act like His church. Precious time is going by. Be blessed and do what He tells you to do!!