Wait!  We're missing it!  "...they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons...You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends."  Luke 21:12

Synagogues?  In our culture, that means churches.  Betrayed?  Betrayal can only come from someone who you thought was on your side.  You can't be betrayed by your enemy.  I'm worried that much of the church has already been, and is being, deceived by how we view the end times.  We look at the blatant persecution of the apostles and Jesus - crucifyings, beatings, stonings, etc. - and that becomes our definition of persecution; extreme physical abuse.  And if we aren't careful, we see the Roman soldiers and mention of the empire of Caesar and we attribute the persecutions to outsiders.  When the lead men who actually labored for the Crucifixion of Jesus and His followers, like Caiaphas the high priest, were the equivalent of the pastor of a large church in today's U.S.

If you were to re-create this scene today in the U.S., headlines would read, "Pastor so & so of (insert any denomination or church here) leads his congregation in the capturing of a local traveling prophet, Jesus Christ.  President Obama and his officials tried their best to pardon Jesus, but the church would have none of it, demanding that he be executed immediately."

We look for false prophets among the politicians and persecution from those outside the church, hardening our hearts toward the lost, the future "found sheep" of Jesus.  Jesus clearly said "synagogues" (churches) and "betrayal by friends and relatives".  We say that we would die for Christ.  We say that we would be beaten for Him.  But what about when your church turns on you, or your father or brother or best friend questions your salvation because God has directed you to live a way that is not normal to the orderly American church? 

Personally, I have been so worried about offending my brethren inside the church that I have procrastinated in God's work for me.  If I am truly operating in the Spirit of God, things are going to happen that cannot be explained by natural understanding.  When men don't understand something, they oppose it.  The spirit of religion and legalism is a great hindrance in the church.  When the power of the Holy Spirit breaks into that religion, it is going to hurt some feelings and cause some opposition.  I can't apologize for that.  I simply have to be yielded to what the Spirit will do in my life.  So I'm praying for boldness to speak and to do what God has called me to speak and to do.  To fear Him and His word over man and his word. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I want to bring offense to anyone.  But true Christ followers are going to shake things up.  When the Supernatural overtakes the natural, walls are broken down, boundaries are crossed, routines are interrupted.  We must live with the understanding that our greatest opposition will not be President Obama, the government, terrorism, etc.  Our greatest opposition will be the same as that of Jesus: the clean and polished spirit of religion.  Jesus Himself said these words:

 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;  and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."  Matthew 10:34-39

The only constant in my life is Jesus Christ.  May the Spirit of God give us boldness to face our adversaries and brethren alike.  May our anointed works draw the line in the sand, so that we will know who opposes us and who is for us.  May we be free from the fear of men and turn our efforts to the fear of Almighty God to see His glory invade earth. 

And merry Christmas!  "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High...and His kingdom will have no end.”  Luke 1:30 & 32