Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you (Matthew 5:10-12).
In view of what we know about the teaching of Jesus, that the will of God for us is harmony, peace, and joy, and that these things are to be attained by cultivating right thoughts, or “righteousness,” this is a very startling statement . Jesus tells us again and again that it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, and that the way in which we are to receive it is by cultivating serenity, or peace of soul. He says that the peacemakers who do this, praying in “meekness” shall inherit the earth, have their mourning turned into joy, and that, in fact, whatever they shall ask the Father in the manner of this teaching, that will He do. Yet here we are told that it is blessed to be persecuted as the result of our “righteousness” for by this means we shall triumph; that it is cause for rejoicing and gladness to be riviled and accused; and that the prophets and Illumined Ones suffered these things too.
All this is indeed very startling, and it is perfectly correct. However, persecution only becomes an occasion for rejoicing when we are deeply aware of our real nature, our true immortality, and know that the suffering of our bodies can be trascended and even transmuted by our state of consciousness. Persecution can be for us a blessed condition when we realize that in such moments we are really advancing; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life (Revelation 2:10) is a promise that may become a reality right here on this earth.
While we all wish to avoid suffering and persecution, take a moment to think back on times when we suffered or were mistreated for doing the right thing. In this writer’s experience, those are the times when the most spiritual growth occurred. As much as God longs for us to have abundant joy, the fact is that crisis is most often the agent of change.
When we are comfortable and satisfied, there is no real reason for positive change. Crisis is the friend of change, and when we progress, it is most likely to avoid the negative. It is just human nature. It is when we overcome negativity that many of our greatest blessings accrue.
So, take heart brothers and sisters when doing the right thing brings scorn or persecution. It is then that we are being lifted toward God, just a Jesus was lifted to God from the cross. All believers have their crosses to bear, and how we bear them will determine whether we live in God’s garden or the world we created.
In gratitude and thankfulness for our crosses,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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