Christians Will Be Persecuted
"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted," - 2 Timothy 3:12
Mehdi Dibaj was born in 1934 in Iran into an extremely
wealthy Muslim family. He came to Christ as a teenager and
went to seminary and became an Assemblies of God minister.
In 1979 he was put in jail for 68 days because of his faith.
In 1984 he was arrested again and for the next nine years he
was regularly tortured. On December 21, 1993 an Islamic
court in the city of Sari condemned him to die.
During the trial, Dibaj said the following in his defense:
"Life for me is an opportunity to serve Him, and death is a
better opportunity to be with Christ. Therefore I am not
only satisfied to be in prison for the honor of His Holy
Name, but am ready to give my life for the sake of Jesus my
Lord and enter His kingdom sooner, the place where the elect
of God enter everlasting life, but the wicked to eternal
damnation." World opinion pressured Iran to release Rev.
Dibaj in January 1994. For the next five months he
encouraged other believers in Iran. Then in June 1994, he
was mysteriously abducted and suffered martyrdom.
Mission experts estimate that 1 out of 200 Christians
throughout the world are martyred for their faith. Today in
prayer, thank Christ that the small price for living a godly
life is persecution. Pray for those Christians whose lives
are threatened because of their faith in Christ.
"What a privilege to live for our Lord and to die for Him as
well." - Mehdi Dibaj
God's Word: "Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant
is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they
will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they
will obey yours also." - John 15:20
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN 2 TIMOTHY
pkennedy@devotional.com