The Pursuit of Happiness, Part 9

Jesus ends the Beatitudes with, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ” The disciples faced persecution for following Jesus. They could have run from it, but they chose to embrace it. We can do the same thing by choosing allegiance to Jesus over the things of this world, giving Him all of the glory.

Found in You
Vertical Worship

This is the Kingdom
Elevation Worship

I Speak Jesus
Charity Gayle

Matthew 5:10
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

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As you and I grow in our allegiance to Jesus, it will bring persecution.

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Matthew 5:11-12
Blessed are you, when others revile you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on account of Me, rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your might.

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John 15:18-20
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

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John 16:1-4
I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. 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.

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Hebrews 11:35-38
Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

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As you grow in allegiance to Jesus, it will bring persecution.

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2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

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As you and I grow in our allegiance to Jesus, it will bring persecution.

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Rod Dreher
“We are facing now the widespread collapse of the Christian faith among the American people. If you want to see what America is going to look like in 10 or 20 years, go to Europe.”

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Rod Dreher
“American Christians are going to have to come to terms with the brute fact that we live in a culture, one in which beliefs make increasingly little sense. We speak a language that the world more and more either cannot hear or finds offensive to the ears.”

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Matthew 5:12
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

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Choose allegiance to Jesus over comfort.

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Choose to elevate heaven over earth.

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Choose to live in the light over living in the darkness.

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