Isaiah 65:3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;

Many times in the Old Testament we find the prophets having to give harsh words to the people to remind them of who God is!

Despite all of the history and how the Jews tried to ensure God’s Word was always remembered, many times the prophets came back with words like these.

This is not limited to history books or ancient times; we are much the same still. We continue to make things happen according to our own ways and leave God out of it.

Make sure you try to include God in everything you do!

Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

When Jesus was speaking these words He was talking to the disciples and warning them they should not expect to be kept safe from all reproaches in life just because they were disciples.

Bad things will not just be people hitting you or other physical things, they come in words and actions which bring emotional ill feelings as well.

The evil one will use any and every opportunity to discredit things we do in the name of Christ. We need to be careful and be alert at all times and trust God for direction.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials

It may sound strange to say it is a good thing when we fall into temptation; but the temptations being talked about here are not those which bring you grief and trouble.

If you find yourself being targeted by others because you are upholding or promoting the Gospel, then that is a good thing.

It means you are being noticed and others who do not want the Gospel promoted are the ones making things happen right in front of you to see if they can trip you up!