Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

Is your faith strong enough to hold up under persecution?  Or do you falter or run at the first sign of pain, suffering, or intimidation? In this "new world" of ours, only those who have been previously battle-tested will be able to endure, to stand, in the face of what is to come. Personally, the Lord has been preparing me for these last days for over a decade now.  It has been hard.  Very hard.  He has put me through His toughest tests, trials, and tribulations.  Why did I stick around?!  Because where else can I go?  The world offers me nothing.  The "medications" of the world are powerless to save (drugs, alcohol, etc.).   There is no Savior besides Jesus.  He is the One, That is why I stick with Him no matter what. I have discovered a little bit of just how He was treated when He walked this earth.  I have met with the cruelest of hatred for no reason other than I am a Christian.  I have battled evil plots and schemes that came against me.  These too came at me

Jesus tells me... Keep loving people so matter how they treat you. Love is not a feeling.  It is a choice.  It is action. I chose and loved Judas knowing from the start he would betray Me.  But he was a crucial part of the Father's plan. So when your enemies "send you to the cross," so to speak, since everything that comes your way must be approved by Me first, I am allowing it for your ultimate good. Though the cross is excruciatingly painful - dying to self, to "rights" - it births a resurrection always if you follow through. If you refuse to "go to the cross," then you forfeit the fruit, the rewards. Because it is the cross that eventually gives life.   " And  after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,  who has called you to his  eternal glory in Christ, will himself  restore,  confirm, strengthen, and establish you."  I Peter 5:10 So don't be too quick to complain or grouse when you are mistreated for My sake.  They