Acts 8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

When the going got tough for the Jews, many of the people left the area and scattered themselves throughout the surrounding areas.

We see this happening today with many people fleeing from persecution and wars to try and at least live a normal life somewhere else in the world.

But the apostles and many devout church leaders stayed behind to make sure the Gospel was told to the people. They were willing to face the persecution rather than leaving people without hope.

God calls us to stand up and trust Him. That is very hard when the world around you seems to be going mad!

Luke 11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

I like to think of these words as encouraging us not to use the wrong stuff to try and do the right stuff with.

We can use a metal dish to mix things up with and even place in an oven, but we cannot use it in a microwave. We need to choose our tools and choose the time to use them correctly.

When we come forward to discourage people from doing wrong or following evil, we should not use evil to try and accomplish that with.

Mark 9:40 For he who is not against us is on our side.

Just because someone is different does not mean they are doing it all wrong or working against you; it just means they are different.

The disciples came to Jesus and were upset that someone else dared to cast out demons just as Jesus had asked them to.

His response was not to discourage them for not being their own disciples but to allow them to continue doing things because they were doing it in the name of Jesus.

Working for Jesus Christ comes in many different guises and we all work together fulfilling God’s will.