by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of Jesus’ death, there were Jewish leaders who were glad to be rid of Him. They thought they shut down His voice and His followers for good, but soon found out that they had only stoked a fire that soon burned out of their control and changed the world.<\/p>\n
I believe we wrestle against forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-18) that celebrate when the righteous die. Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), and his people show their true colors when a voice of reason and truth gets murdered.<\/p>\n
I have to self-reflect about “letting your light so shine<\/em>” that people know which side I am on! Can they tell? Are there evil people who would celebrate my removal and righteous people who would mourn it? Am I hiding my light under a basket, afraid to take a stand, fearful that someone won’t like me?<\/p>\n While Jesus did not intentionally make enemies or cause people to hate Him, we must remember that He was perfect in goodness and righteousness. The darkness hated the light, no matter how kind and loving and gentle He was! (John 3:19-20). We cannot do better than Jesus and be so good that everybody loves us. We should be concerned about the reality and strength of our light if nobody knows what we stand for and hates us for it! Our goal is to win people over if we can, but we must also be realistic enough to acknowledge that some people love darkness and hate light. We can do no better than Jesus in changing their commitment to the darkness of evil and sin.<\/p>\n Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you!<\/em>” (Luke 6:26). We need to make such a difference in this world that evil celebrates when we are gone, and the righteous mourn, but heaven welcomes our victory! Stand up for Jesus no matter what!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton In the aftermath of Jesus’ death, there were Jewish leaders who were glad to be rid of Him. They thought they shut down His voice and His followers for good, but soon found out that they had only stoked a fire that soon burned out of their control and changed the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[109,1458],"class_list":["post-90572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-death","tag-remembering"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2982,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-christians-celebrate-birthdays\/","url_meta":{"origin":90572,"position":0},"title":"Can Christians celebrate birthdays?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Questions: Do you guys celebrate birthdays? Why or why not? Why do Jehovah's Witnesses not celebrate birthdays? Answer: The Jehovah's Witnesses believe that birthday celebrations originated in pagan customs, such as blowing out of the candles on a birthday cake. They reject anything connected, however remotely, to pagan practices. They\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/death-and-eternity\/","url_meta":{"origin":90572,"position":1},"title":"Death and Eternity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Royce Frederick What happens when a person dies? On day six of creation, \"the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being\" (Genesis 2:7). Death occurs when the \"soul\" or the \"spirit\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27754,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-righteous-before-jesus-have-to-wait-for-jesus-death-to-receive-the-promise\/","url_meta":{"origin":90572,"position":2},"title":"Did the righteous before Jesus have to wait for Jesus’ death to receive the promise?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does Hebrews 9:15 teach that those that God chose as righteous under the old covenant also had to wait for the blood of Christ for the promise to come into effect? Answer: Salvation to mankind required the offering of a perfect sacrifice for mankind's sins. \"For it is impossible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19750,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-near-death-experiences-reflect-the-afterlife\/","url_meta":{"origin":90572,"position":3},"title":"Do near-death experiences reflect the afterlife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard about different accounts that people have had in the afterlife.\u00a0 I have heard people who were unbelievers say that nothing happened and it was simply dark, but no experience of hell.\u00a0 I have also heard an account of a pastor who was in a car accident\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51733,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-kill-the-egyptian-babies\/","url_meta":{"origin":90572,"position":4},"title":"Why did God kill the Egyptian babies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please shed some light on the angel of death causing the firstborn of all the Egyptian babies to die? I understand to some degree that God in His sovereign will allow this to work out for the freeing of the Israelites from bondage. Knowing that no one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-bible-say-we-will-be-greeted-by-our-loved-ones-after-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":90572,"position":5},"title":"Does the Bible say we will be greeted by our loved ones after death?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, You, so far, are the only person I trust to tell me the truth of the Bible. I am so confused trying to understand it. 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