Three Christmas Wishes from the persecuted church
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What do I wish for you this Christmas? What can I say to you, who live in the free world? The Lord gives us everything we need for our lives. “God did not keep back His own Son, but He gave Him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32) So here are my three wishes for you:
“I know everything you’ve done,” says Jesus to the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:2, “including your hard work and how you have endured… But … you don’t have as much love as you used to.”
I wish you to rediscover your first love for the Lord. If you ever felt this love, I pray that you will feel it again!
The Lord has made us for Himself. We live and breathe for Him. But Satan tries to lies to us that we have to live for ourselves: for work, other people, sex, and wealth, but not for God. It’s a lie! We are alive and will live for Him. Don’t forget it!
I wish your every breath, every work, every movement would be just for God and His glory!
His coming is very near – nearer than we think. Soon and very soon we will see Jesus! One brother has said: “There are two kinds of tests in the church: persecution and peace.” Many churches in Russia were under persecution and when peace came they couldn’t stand. Our churches are experiencing the test of persecution. Yours are experiencing the test of peace.
I wish you will stand strong in this test and remain faithful to our Lord.
Christmas is a time when we give presents to each other. It’s the day that our God Himself gave the biggest present to us. He came to us in the flesh. He gave us a future and a hope through Christ. May you feel the joy of Christmas this year!
Your brothers and sisters in Central Asia
www.opendoorsuk.org Serving persecuted Christians worldwide