Troubled Times

9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
- Mark 13

To be a follower of Jesus you will have to be willing to die and be persecuted in the troubled times which many call as the end times. Jesus promised a life of abundance to those who walk with Him but He never promised a life of bed and roses. In gospel of Mark, he writes the words of Jesus saying You must be on your guard! This sentence should wake us up if we are spiritually sleeping, coz being on guard will require us to be alert, be alert at all times. Jesus is very honest about what would be happening to His followers, some will be handed over to be flogged and punished.

That being arrested or being brought to trial should not make us worry because the LORD will be the one speaking in us through the Holy Spirit. There will be many troubles towards the end, families will be at war with each other. You will be hated because you love and follow the LORD Jesus. This is a very difficult thing to be, but this will test our faith and how true we are to our Lord as we profess with our mouths. We have to persevere, we have to endure whatever trials GOD allows in our lives, for HE has promised that he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Yes Jesus has saved us when we opened our lives to change us but He requires us to be faithful even to the death.