Dream, Persecution, Testimony

THE ANTIDOTE FOR PERSECUTION IS TO REMEMBER THE CANDY – Dana R

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THE ANTIDOTE FOR PERSECUTION IS TO REMEMBER THE CANDY

June 14, 2022 12:37 PM
Dana R

On 4/13/2022 I saw a vision of people throwing rocks at me. Then on 4/25/2022 I saw a vision of kids throwing candy at me. End of visions.

On 5/12/2022, I was forcibly evicted from my rental property. The sheriff said that if I did not immediately vacate the property, he would arrest me. So, under threat of arrest, I grabbed my most important possessions – my Bible, my God journals, and my cat – and drove away as the landlord changed the locks on my property so I could not re-enter. All my worldly possessions were then locked inside and inaccessible to me.

According to Missouri law, a landlord can evict a tenant FOR ANY REASON. The reason I was evicted was because the owner wanted to sell the house to make a quick profit in the current bonanza seller’s market.

I was never late on my rent. In fact, I frequently prepaid my rent months in advance. Prior to the eviction, the landlord told me I was a model tenant.

After the eviction, I went from motel to motel searching for a place to stay. One after another, they turned me away because of my cat. Even motels that said they allowed pets said no because apparently that meant they only allowed dogs. After about 8 rejections, one motel finally said yes.

One day I called my mom to talk about the eviction. During the conversation she became very upset with me. Since things were escalating, I said that we needed to cut the conversation short. She apparently thought I had hung up, but I hadn’t.

Suddenly I heard her angrily say, “You are such an a—hole!”. I replied, “Did you just call me an a—hole?” She exclaimed, “Why are you still on the phone?”

That night as I was contemplating my situation, it dawned on me that my plight and King David’s were remarkably similar. He was forced to flee the palace to avoid a violent confrontation with his son. I was forced to flee from my rental home under threat of arrest.

King David was pelted with rocks, cursed and threatened as he fled his home. My mom called me a derogatory name at a time when all I wanted from her was a little compassion.

As I meditated on Shimei pelting David with rocks (2 Samuel 16:5-13), I remembered all the visions the Lord gave me of people throwing rocks at me. Then I remembered the vision of kids throwing candy at me. Suddenly I realized that my perspective on persecution was all wrong.

When people persecute me, instead of seeing them throw rocks, I needed to think about them actually throwing candy at me. Why you ask?

Because in Matthew 5:11 it says “Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12REJOICE, AND BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD: FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN: for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.”

So, when my mom called me an a—hole, she was actually throwing candy at me.

WHOA!

Great is my reward in heaven. So instead of focusing on the short-term pain, my focus needed to be on the LONG-TERM GAIN.

So, the antidote for persecution – the thing that relieves the sting and makes it bearable – is to REMEMBER THE CANDY!

So, when my mom called me a derogatory name, she was adding to my rewards in heaven. The property manager, who smiled and laughed at my distress as the sheriff was forcibly evicting me, was increasing my heavenly rewards. So, all I needed to do was to remember the candy.

Can I just say that there has been a lot of “candy” thrown at me in the last few years. “Candy” against my health, my cats, my family, my computer, my finances, my dwelling place, and my writing. But you know what? It will all be worth it in the end.

Hey, is that an incoming Snickers bar heading straight towards me?

Scriptures

2 TIMOTHY 3:3 Yes, and ALL who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

JOHN 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

MATTHEW 5:11 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

2 SAMUEL 16:5-13 5And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed continually as he came. 6And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, you bloody man, and you man of Belial: 8The LORD has returned upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son: and, behold, you are taken in your mischief, because you are a bloody man. 9Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head. 10And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so? 11And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my own body, seeks my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has bidden him. 12 IT MAY BE THAT THE LORD WILL LOOK ON MY AFFLICTION, AND THAT THE LORD WILL REPAY ME GOOD FOR HIS CURSING THIS DAY. 13And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side opposite him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

ISAIAH 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked out the beard: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8He is near that justifies me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is my adversary? let him come near to me. 9Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall grow old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
Definition of “Antidote”: Something that relieves, prevents or counteracts.

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