God Comforts

 God Comfort

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  
For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.  
If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.  
And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Paul here says consolation, compassion and encouragement flows for God when we go through troubles. It should also flow from other Christians to those among us who are going through trouble. No matter what those troubles are. Be they an illness or family troubles or persecution from a government or other groups.
We as Christians are told by Jesus,
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 
                                            Matthew 5:10-12.
Persecution is not fun.
The church in the west particularly in North America, with all our freedoms need to be not only praying for the persecuted church around the world, but petitioning our political leaders to help the persecuted church.  
We need to try and do what we can to help those of our faith that are suffering for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.
Christians are the most persecuted people in the world.
In December of 2013 the United Kingdom parliament heard that one Christian is killed every eleven minutes for their faith.
“MP Jim Shannon said the persecution of Christians is “the biggest story in the world that has never been told”
He said that although the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there are many countries in which these rights are not given.
Shannon alleged that 200 million Christians will be persecuted for their faith this year, while he said 500 million live in dangerous neighbourhoods.”
In early November, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Christianity is "the most persecuted religion in the world." 
Kelly James Clark writing in the World Post give this account
“Consider apostasy laws in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Iran, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Sudan and Malaysia. By apostasy, read "Muslim convert to Christianity." Of the plight of apostates, Ziya Meral, a London-based Turkish scholar, writes: "Apostates are subject to gross and wide-ranging human rights abuses including extra-judicial killings by state-related agents or mobs; honour killings by family members; detention, imprisonment, torture, physical and psychological intimidation by security forces; the denial of access to judicial services and social services; the denial of equal employment or education opportunities; social pressure resulting in loss of housing and employment; and day-to-day discrimination and ostracism in education, finance and social activities."
According to a report in Reuters news the top ten countries in which Christianity is persecuted in are, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Maldives, Mali, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea.
We in the west can only imagine how bad day to day life for persecuted Christians is around the world. We need to speak out for them in our community in our country.
We need to bring their plight to the attention of our politicians and have our churches do what they can to help them.
Think about it.