Are You Believer Enough To Be Persecuted?

I ask myself that question? Do I stand out enough from the world for the world to persecute me for who I am – a follower of Messiah Yeshua? If someone were to look at how I spend my days, how I live my life would they see me any different than everyone else around me?

I read a passage by someone who was into Satanism and the occult recently. They related that they all looked at Christians strangely because they keep the same pagan holidays, celebrate the pagan sun god day (Sunday), live their lives the same exact way the Satanists do with one exception, they’ve said a little prayer. Is that difference enough to change their eternal destination?

The Word of Yehoveh tells us that there will be a great deception put upon the congregation in the last days. Those last days, the days of the gentiles, have been the last 2000 years since Yeshua was crucified. That great deception is growing darker by the day. That deception is that the Torah is no longer valid for us, that since Yeshua died He took that so-called burden away from us and that to keep it makes us “legalistic”. That deception is that all someone has to do these days to get into heaven is “say a little prayer and believe in Jesus”.

Well congregation of believers that is false teaching. Yeshua Himself taught right in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17, 18 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened.” And in Romans 3:31 we read “Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.”

Torah is what shows the world how we are set-apart for Yehoveh. How we are different. How we are NOT like the world. That we keep the Sabbath Holy for Him, that we don’t celebrate pagan holidays and how we eat and drink differently. If we do everything the same way that unbelievers do then why in the world would Messiah have died for us? What are we doing that is so different?

Legalism is a word that came to the church early on when they wanted to distance themselves from the Jews. Keeping Torah is not legalistic. It wasn’t legalistic for the Israelites. What became legalistic were the hundreds of extra laws that the Pharisees added to the Torah. These were not set down by Yehoveh and they became a heavy burden to the people. Keeping the Torah is being obedient to our Creator who gave them to us as a gift to separate us from the rest of the world. When we throw them out then we throw out any chance of being different.

The pagan holidays all have their roots in Satanism. Satan is the father of them all. He is the master deceiver and the father of lies. He has convinced the world that evil is good and that good is evil and the church has gone right along with him.

In Joshua chapter 24 Joshua asks the people whom they will serve. The gods of the world or Almighty Yehoveh who brought them out of captivity and gave them their own land. We have that same choice put before us. Will we continue to serve the gods of this world or will we choose Yehoveh? As for me and my house, we will choose to serve Yehoveh. No matter what!

So to get back to my original question, am I enough of a follower of Messiah to invite persecution? That is a question every believer should ask themselves? If I keep the same holidays, go to church on the sun day, don’t keep Torah, don’t even know what a feast day is, etc. there is no reason for anyone to persecute me because I am the same as they are.

Here is a test. Tell someone that you have decided to keep Torah and to stop celebrating the pagan holiday of christmas (not capitalized on purpose) and see what the response is. If you find that they look at your strangely and tell you that you are crazy or worse then you’ll know that you are on the right path. It won’t be easy and that in itself is a sign that you are doing the right thing.

He is coming back soon. The signs are all around us. He will be looking for His set-apart people, His sheep. Are you different than the world? Different enough to be persecuted like He was?