"Every day He was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill Him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on His words." (Luke 19:48)
"Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy." (Acts 5:17)
In this Christian life, part of the package is that not everyone will appreciate your decision to submit to Christ and to be engulfed in a relationship with the Father. They will be jealous of your being used to demonstrate the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, they might seek out ways to undermine and destroy your effectiveness in ministry. They might even try to end your physical life.
So, what are we to do in the face of opposition?
The example we have in Scripture is that the work of God continues in the face of opposition. "Every day Jesus was teaching at the temple". We see in Acts that the apostles, on two occasions, gave a direct reply to the religious leaders who opposed the work of God: "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20); "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29).
Keep preaching.
Keep praying.
Remain in line with the apostolic mandate: "(we will) give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word" (see Acts 6:4).
LORD God, give us grace to continue in Your work even if some people don't like it.
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