"And When He Had Said this He Fell Asleep"

At the moment it is 2:42 in the morning and I am writing a blog. You see, I was trying to sleep but God laid something on my mind and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. It was persecution. I know that  the thought of persecution can be unsettling at times, but it is something that I have come to the realization that it is something necessary to talk about. While I was trying to sleep but at the same time thinking about this subject, I was thinking how awesome it would be to have a youth service dedicated to martyrs for Christ. After thinking about this idea of a youth service dedicated to martyrs, I had a thought laid in my head that I just had to write down. I got a pen and started writing the thought down and then I remembered the scripture where Stephen is stoned to death for Christ's sake. I read the scripture and the part where Stephen said, " Lord do not charge them with this sin." And then the rest of the verse says, " And when he said this he fell asleep." What!? He fell asleep? How do you fall asleep while someone is throwing stones at you? I believe that the scripture said it this way to show you how comforting it was for Stephen to die. He was at peace to die for his savior and enter his new reward. After I read about Stephen, I continued on reading about the persecution of the early church. It said that due to persecution the church was scattered. " Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." -Acts 8:4  You see when they were scattered they preached the gospel to wherever they went and the church flourished. I think of the times when someone asks me what school I go to and how reluctant I am to say "christian" at times. But the early church wasn't only not afraid of persecution, but they would even preach the word after persecution. Are we going to continue telling Christ to the world no matter what trial comes our way? It took persecution to get the word of God to spread and I wonder what it will take to get it to spread in America? I am not trying to scare anyone, but this is something that we have to realize, how deep do we want to go with God? Will we take punishment for the awesome savior of this earth? I sure hope so, but we have to put on the full armor of God and make sure that we are prepared to go through anything with Christ. Notice that I said " with Christ," this life is not meant to be taken alone. Please pray that God will make us strong until the end, even through the rough times of life. Americas Christian population is very low compare to what it should be and believe me, God notices.

      I mentioned about a thought that was laid upon my heart earlier, it was simply this: " Do not get so comfortable in this life that you forget to give everything to Jesus!"  It was not  a super profound thought but it stuck out in my head. How many times we get so comfortable in the culture that we live in that it makes it harder for us to give everything up to God. But if the martyrs were so on fire for God that they gave up their life and literally gave it up to God, shouldn't we completely devote our lives to God no matter what our profession. You don't have to be in "ministry" or old to live all out for God. We need to remind one another constantly that life is just a gust of wind and that we must take every chance we have for Christ. Don't hold onto your life, but give it Jesus who will take care of your every need.              "And when he had said this he fell asleep" - Acts 7:60