...But God

Matthew 5: 10-12

Creators & Guests

Host
Chad McBeam
Business Leader, Foster Advocate and Fighter of Human Trafficking, Chad enjoys hosting this podcast channel as a way to spread and highlight the great examples of those who live out their faith daily. He can also be seen on occasion on your TV or Film Screen or be heard narrating one of your books as his love of acting has stuck with him since his childhood.
Writer
Aaron Marcarelli
After getting his under-graduate degree from Cal State University San Bernardino where he played college baseball and received all American honors. he was a graduate assistant baseball coach at both Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville, Tennessee, and at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.  He received his master’s degree in Teaching from Whitworth, with plans to someday be a head baseball coach at a university.  However, God had other plans.  Aaron started teaching English and History and coaching baseball and other sports at the high school level and found out how much he loves high school kids, and he has been doing that for the past 27 years.     Personally, heI has been married to his wife Sharon for 32 years, they have one daughter, Amanda Parrish, who has been married to Austin Parrish for 2 years. Aaron also has two grandsons Travis age 2 ½ and Aden who is 13 months and are blessed to have another on the way due in May. Aaron loves reading, golfing, and spending time with his wife and grandkids.
Designer
Linda Cowen
Linda Cowen of San Antonio Christian School is our gracious and talented art designer for the But God, weekday morning devotional series.

What is ...But God?

A weekday morning devotional series written by Aaron Marcarelli and hosted by Chad McBeam

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:10-12 NASB2020
Jesus says many things that are difficult to hear or do not make sense to us in the Western World. These couple of verses in particular are difficult to hear. Because we all want to get along and because of the fact Jesus just said we are to be peacemakers. Who wants to be persecuted? Who wants to be made fun of and ostracized for what we believe?
Again context is valuable to understand. Jesus is speaking to Jewish people. They have been used to persecution and being separated from others. It had been happening since Moses. They knew it was part of being Jewish and following The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The people that Jesus was speaking to would have known about the persecution of the prophets they knew about Jeremiah; Jeremiah 20: 1-2 tells us “When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief overseer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord.”

But They also knew about Zachariah and what God told him would be their reward for facing so much persecution in His name. Zechariah 2: 8-10 says “For the Lord of armies says this: “After glory He has sent me against the nations that plunder you, for the one who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. For behold, I am going to wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent Me. Shout for joy and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord.”

We Christians in the west want the Kingdom without the work, without the hardships, without the persecution. When the difficulties, struggles and discourse come, so many western believers tap out and move on.
Jesus says we are blessed when we go through persecution, hardships and the difficulties of life. We are blessed so much that our reward is the greatest kingdom ever built. A kingdom created by the maker of the universe. A kingdom that has no boundaries and that is as far as the east is from the west.
If we are following Jesus we will have difficulties and strife. We will be persecuted for what we believe. In fact it is how we know that we are truly following Him.
Lord, we thank you and we praise you for your gift of an eternal kingdom. Help us to navigate through the storms of persecution and strife that come with being a follower of you. We pray all these things in Jesus Name Amen.
Shalom Blessings and Press In and Press On!