When you are a Christian it is foolish to think that life will be easy and care free because you choose to follow Jesus. You should not be surprised that the world will start to attack you. The more you stand boldly to live and speak the truth of Jesus, the more the world will come after you.
When the world accuses you of horrible things, remember that everything in God's Word is profitable. You will find your strength and courage there. You will realize that it means that you are doing what is right. It will never be easy, but your attitude toward persecution can change your perspective and affect your joy.
Through God all things are possible, but that does not mean that all things are profitable. You may endure accusations to give you the opportunity to bring others to Christ. You may never know who is watching how you live your life.
When you are enduring persecution you have the opportunity to see miracles and province of God. God created this world perfectly. People are the ones that destroyed it. People's sins brought the curses placed on this world that include natural disasters. We turned God against the natural world because people made it unnatural. However, God still loves what He created and you can still see Him work beautiful things in this world.
When Paul was in Jerusalem his fellow companions (the Pharisees) tried to kill him three different times. He was such an advocate for the Pharisees that if he can be turned into a Christian, then they are at risk of loosing all their power. They did not want that, so that means that Paul needed to be silenced.
Everything that made Paul such a good leader of the Way and opened doors for him that others could not cross, also made him more vulnerable to attacks. He was a natural born Roman and a Jew. That gave him influence in different cultures. After three missionary journeys to show the Gentiles the way, Paul returned to Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, he disrupted the theology in the home of the theology. This is the Earth's holy city and Paul dared to challenge the way people viewed God. That was upsetting to the leadership of the Torah. They truly thought they were in the right, but they were so far from seeing the truth. Paul knew how the system worked, but he did not back down. He used what he knew to serve God.
Paul was just trying to help everyone in love to see Jesus for who He is. He no longer cared about position or power. He wanted people to understand and have a relationship with God. Paul understood that if he was in horrible circumstances, then that means that God allowed it to serve a purpose. He did not back down or get angry at God. Instead He embraced it and used it as an opportunity.
He was a prisoner in Felix's home for two years and he would speak to Felix all the time. Felix never did become a Christian, but it was not because Paul didn't try. People have to make their own choices.
Matthew 24:4-14, Mark 14:55-59, Acts 24:1-23, Romans 8:26-30, & Revelations 2:8-11
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