MITN X, Verses 21 - 42

21. But when you begin to colonize the earth with this message of the kingdom (the Nation of Heaven), a clash of cultures will occur here, and chaos will ensue. Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will take a stand against their parents and will have them put to death.

22. Initially, it will seem as though you will be hated by all for My name's sake, but he or she who, in spite of this resistance, perseveres and endures to the end…who stays strong until they see the full manifestation of the Omega of God…will be saved from destruction.

23. But, at the same time, use wisdom. If you need to flee to another geographical location to avoid the persecution, then do what you have to do to survive. But I promise that you will not have resorted to going through all the places of refuge in Israel before the revelation of the Son of Man Comes.

24. The bottom line is this…a disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a servant above his master. In other words, this inevitable persecution only reveals how very connected you are to Me.

25. So if you look at the whole thing correctly, you should be content – even pleased and satisfied – that you, My students, get the very same treatment that I get! Don’t you see the implication here? Obviously, it means that when the public sees you, they see Me…just as when they see Me, they see the Father! And if they have been brutish enough to call, Me, the Master of the House, “Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies from the Outhouse”, what can you expect them to call you?

26. But, at the end of the day, none of that stuff even matters. So have no fear of them…take your cues from me, and refuse to be intimidated by any of it. Eventually, everything that needs to be revealed will be revealed, and truth will triumph!

27. And what I now say to you in the dark, I want you to begin to tell in the light…and what you hear whispered in the ear, I want you to fearlessly shout from the housetops.

28. And do not be afraid of those who can only kill the temporal, physical body, because they can’t touch the part of you that is both internal and eternal. If you were going to fear anyone, you would have legitimate reason to be afraid of Him who has the power to destroy that part of you which is internal, and to then throw the external part onto the garbage dump at Gehenna!

29. So you can be fearless in spite of persecution, because the only One who actually has the power to destroy you is your loving, caring Father! Are not two little sparrows sold for a mere penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's consent and notice.

30. And you are each so uniquely special and important, that even the very individual hairs growing out of your head are actually all numbered.

31. So don’t fear anyone or anything…the Father who keeps inventory of your hairs obviously considers you to be much more valuable than many sparrows.

32. But even though you are so loved, your actions will define your terms with Me because of the universal laws of sowing and reaping. So everyone who acknowledges Me before men and confesses Me, regardless of the repercussions, I will also acknowledge him before My Father Who is in heaven.

33. But whoever denies Me before men in their hour of persecution, I also will deny before My Father in their hour of need.

34. This relationship is a two-way street, so don’t think that I have come to just bring unconditional peace upon the earth. Let me be clear…I am demanding your total allegiance. So, in a sense, I have not come to bring peace, but a sword,

35. because My standard of discipleship, especially during this time of national transition, could potentially part asunder a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother, and a newly married wife from her mother-in-law.

36. The demand that I am making on you could create a scenario in which a man's foes will be the very members of his own household.

37. See, I want you to love me with same abandon with which I love you. So he who loves and is loyal to father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves and takes more pleasure in son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

38. The thought of you possibly having to choose between your family or Me may be as painful for you as a death on a cross. But he who does not take up his cross and follow Me is simply not worthy of Me.

39. Why does it seem that I am making it so difficult for you with such high expectations of commitment? It’s because I want you to walk in a higher, more exalted kind of life. Whoever compromises to find his lower life will lose the higher life, but whoever loses his lower life on My account will ultimately find the higher life.

40. But here’s the payoff for walking in such loyalty to Me. It will give you a place of honor in the kingdom that will create a new reality…a reality in which he who receives and welcomes and accepts you receives and welcomes and accepts Me. And it follows that he who receives and welcomes and accepts Me, receives and welcomes and accepts Him Who sent Me.

41. In this new kingdom reality, he who receives and welcomes and accepts a prophet, simply because he is a prophet, will actually receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives and welcomes and accepts a righteous man, simply because he is a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42. The coming of this kingdom, for which you may, indeed, be persecuted, is going to change everything…so much so, in fact, that whoever gives to one of these “little ones”…one of those who has seemed insignificant and unimportant in the natural world…even a cup of cold water, just because he is My disciple, will be openly and permanently rewarded. When you think of it in this way, you will realize that anything you may go through for the advancement of the kingdom will be worth it!