BLESSINGS AND PROMOTION COME WITH PERSECUTION
Jesus promises faithful believers who leave everything and follow Him a hundredfold increase in this lifetime and in the age to come, eternal life. But notice, that is not all that He promises… Jesus warns us that with the blessing and with the promotions come persecutions. In fact what He is specifically saying is that along with the hundredfold blessing and increase comes a hundredfold persecution including a hundredfold criticism, accusations and attacks.
Did you know that God will only elevate you to the proportion of criticism and persecution that you can take? So how you handle the persecution determines the rate and the speed of your increase. Why is this? Because the Lord promises that His blessings make us rich, and He adds NO SORROW with His blessings. So, if the persecution that arises against you because of your blessing becomes a source of sorrow, offense and hurt, God will not allow you to continue to operate on that level to protect you. When you demonstrate that you are able to process the persecution in such a way that you count it all joy and in a way that does not hinder your walk, then get ready to stay on that level of blessing and to increase all the more!
IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE PERSECUTION AND CRITICISM THEN GOD WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THE COST OF INCREASE!
GOD WANTS TO PROMOTE YOU AND TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL, BUT FOR YOUR SAKE PROVING ALWAYS PRECEDES PROMOTION… CAN YOU HANDLE YOUR PROMOTION?
If people get money, property, promised relationships, leadership or authority before they are ready it could destroy them. On top of the direct consequences of promotion also comes the indirect persecution that comes with the territory of being blessed. If this proves to be destructive to your life, the Lord will hold back the promotion and the promised blessings until you can handle it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (TPT)
We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 LITERALLY SAYS – “HE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY TIME OF PROVING TO EXCEED YOUR ABILITY TO PASS THE TEST AND TO OVERCOME”
Here are some ingredients needed for promotion…
Knowing how to walk in grace, living by faith, being led by the Spirit in your stewardship, steadfast patience and the ability to endure and process persecution in a scriptural way.
NEW COVENANT KEYS TO DEALING WITH PERSECUTION IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT LEADS TO PROMOTION
BY GRACE - DISCERN THE SOURCE… Your battle is not against flesh and blood. Know that everything that comes against you to break you, hinder you, hurt you, accuse you, blame you and condemn you is from the devil. Look past the person and discern the source. This way you can continue to walk in love towards the individual and deal with the issue in the realm of the Spirit.
BY GRACE – HAVE COMPASSION… Walk in compassion towards the people that have fallen into the trap of the enemy to persecute you. Forgive them, pray for them and have compassion towards them. Do not EVER get offended at them… this will only hinder and delay your promotion.
BY GRACE – SHAKE IT OFF… Like Paul shook off the snake that bit his hand, shake off the persecution, count it all joy and then continue on as though nothing happened.
BY GRACE – BLESS THE PERSON… Speak and pray blessings upon the person that the devil used to hurt you. Send them a gift and speak kindly about them to others.
BY GRACE – WALK AWAY… This is key, do not try to fix things, do not try to confront (unless CLEARLY led by the Spirit to do so) Walk away, let it go, take your thoughts captive to Philippians 4:8, shake it off and walk away and let God deal with it.
As you process your persecution in such a way that it not only is not harmful to you, it causes you to enter into the joy of the Lord, compassion and fervent prayer… as you handle persecution the New Covenant way, get ready for promotion, in Jesus Name!
