
Today's Devotion
From Dr. David Jeremiah
Hated!
April 17, 2026
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.
Matthew 5:11-12, NIV
Recommended Reading:
Matthew 24:1-1224 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all[{{f}}] these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,[{{f}}] and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
Matthew 24:1-12
Paul Schneider wouldn’t stop preaching. Hitler took it personally and sent him to Buchenwald concentration camp where on three occasions he was whipped with 25 lashes. When asked what he would do if released, Schneider said he would go on preaching. For that he was suspended by his wrists for hours, feet off the floor. He kept preaching the cross, and he died in Buchenwald at age 41.1
That was decades ago, yet persecution against Christians is greater now than ever. In His sermon on the Last Days, Jesus warned: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9).
Even if we aren’t tortured, we’ll find ourselves hated by the world. Jesus told us to expect that. So if someone dislikes you for your faith and biblical worldview, rejoice!
Do not deceive yourselves, you cannot participate in Jesus’ glory and victory unless you, for His sake, take up the holy cross and go with Him along the path of suffering and death.
Paul Schneider

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