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Greetings,
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Sincerely,
TC AVEY

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

It is through Death that you find Life: Letter from Pastor Saeed



I wrote briefly about the persecution of Christians around the world in my new book, The Precipice. One such hero currently enduring sufferings for Christ is American Pastor Saeed. He is a prisoner in Iran and needs your prayers…as do his wife and children.

Despite his physical anguish and his desperate longing to be reunited with his family, he had a message to share with Christians around the world this Easter. A message that focuses not on his own sufferings, but on the need for us all to suffer for Christ in order to know the true meaning of Freedom found only in the Cross.

Few of us can comprehend the persecution some Christians face for their belief in Christ, their dedication to His call, their selflessness, their willingness to suffer, their ability to give all for His glory. 

We think them giants of faith.

They aren’t giants, they simply trust in a Giant name Jesus.

They believe His Word. They claim it as their own.

They are willing. They are obedient. They are blessed.

Yes, they are blessed in the midst of their suffering.

This point was driven home as I read Pastor Saeed’s Easter Letter he wrote from his hospital bed in Iran.

I pray you will take the time to read the entire letter by clicking here, it’s a short letter and will bless your heart as it challenges you to reflect upon your own devotion to our Savior.

Here’s a short exert of it:

On the Eve of Good Friday and Easter I was praying from my hospital room for my fellow Christians in the world.  What the Holy Spirit revealed to me in prayer was that there are many dead faiths in the midst of Christians todaySome times we want to experience the Glory and resurrection with Jesus without experiencing death with HimWe do not realize that unless we pass through the path of death with Christ, we are not able to experience resurrection with Christ…A Glorious life with Christ starts only after a painful death (to self) with Christ…Pastor Saeed Abedini
Prisoner in the Darkness in Iran, but free for the Kingdom and Light.”
(emphasis mine)

I pray you will read this and take it into your soul.

Our time on Earth is short. 

We aren’t promised our next breathe.

What are YOU doing for God today? 

Does it bring Him honor? 

You will probably never be called to endure such suffering as Pastor Saeed, but you should be willing to do whatever God has purposed for your life.

If you don’t know what that is, take the time to ask God. 

He will tell you. One step at a time.

Had Pastor Saeed known where his journey would take him, he might not have taken that first step. But thank God he did take it—lives are being changed. He is impacting the Kingdom of God and shaking the forces of darkness by shining God’s light. 

Are you? 

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t be. Take it one day, one moment at a time. Remember, we are in the “need to know” basis with God. Trust Him to complete what He’s started. 

“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?Luke 9:23-25 NIV


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