Picture this: you’re walking along, minding your own business. All of a sudden, you are grabbed and held at gunpoint. The person holding you hostage, asks if you believe in God. If you answer that you do believe in God, they may kill you. What do you do? Do you tell the person that, yes, you believe in God and you die for it? Or, do you take a chance to live and renounce your faith?

It really makes you think hard about what you would do in that situation, doesn’t it? You can’t really wrap your mind around that scenario unless you’ve actually lived through it yourself.

This is one of the worst-case scenarios, but it offers all of us a vivid picture and description of what Christians in other countries go through on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, these are real scenarios that people face, not only in the U.S. ( i.e. the Columbine school shooting in 1999, as is depicted in the book She Said Yes by Missy Bernell). This also occurs in other countries, such as Turkey and Iran, where women, men and even children are killed, prosecuted and imprisoned for their faith.

This life is full of many distractions. One of the biggest distractions is deciding how to resist the temptation of turning away from your faith. This world has been taking God out of the equation by taking faith out of our schools, our government and many other aspects of our lives. There are even times when God is not included in some sermons at church.

It appears that no one wants to be offended by the subject of God and faith or anything related. Therefore, the government, schools and even the cinematic and TV personnel, think that they're doing the right thing by taking God out of the conversation in every way that they can.

This world is full of reasons to not believe in God. Look at how many horrible things have happened because of people's faith. Christians all over the world are getting persecuted, imprisoned and even killed and burned at the stake as martyrs because of their own personal faith in God. Look at how many Christians have lost their lives, just for claiming to be a Christian in countries such as Turkey and Iran.

It is never easy to be a Christian and this life isn’t easy, period.

It is even harder to be a Christian in this day and age with so many distractions telling us not to believe in God. There are our friends, who seem to pressure you into questioning your belief in God, even if you’ve been a Christian your whole life.

There may be circumstances that could cause you to doubt your faith, such as, the passing of a loved one, or even simply watching the news. The chaos of this world can bring you to forget your faith.

Some may think, “why worship a God that allows bad things to happen to people who believe in Him?”

That is both a very difficult and very simple question to answer. On the one hand, look at how much turmoil is present in so many lives. With constant death and destruction, it can be very difficult to even believe that there is a God. However, on the other hand, God is, and always has been, present in our lives, even when we don’t feel His presence.

He allows us to suffer through these challenges in order to bring us closer to Him and to know whether or not we turn to Him or away from Him.

If we deny our faith in God, God will deny us the privilege to go to Heaven. Mathew 10:33 states,

“But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

That's a pretty serious statement and we should take it to heart and never turn away from God. Why would anyone want to turn away from Him after everything he has done for us, anyhow?

Also, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states,

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

What people don’t realize is that if they denounce or renounce their faith, then they are giving up the ultimate gift of eternal salvation. The world can make it hard to stay focused on God and on your faith. The pressures we face can easily make it seem easier to do what everyone else around you is doing.

The most perplexing issue is that we are free to worship God in the United States, yet Christians in other countries are being put to death for telling people that they believe in God and spread their faith, without fear.

One instance of a Christian being persecuted is Pastor Behnam Irani, an evangelical Christian leader from Iran. He is already serving 6 years in prison and has reportedly been hit with eighteen new charges, including a charge of "Mofsed-e-filarz", or "spreading corruption on Earth," which carries the death penalty. Irani went missing for nearly 3 weeks in June and was feared to have been executed without notice by Iranian authorities, but was finally returned to prison.

"Present Truth Ministries", which has been campaigning for Irani's release, said that he had been allowed to get back in touch with his family. He was unable to say where he had been taken or what they did to him, the group reported at the time.

People are dying for sharing their faith and beliefs, and in doing so, they will inherit eternal life. Yet, if you renounce your faith and denounce the Lord, you may live but you will no longer be given the ultimate gift of salvation.

What would you rather have? Salvation, even if that means you will die for keeping that belief, or eternal damnation in Hell because you don’t believe in God?

Hopefully, you will never have to face a life-or-death situation that forces you to deny your faith. No matter what you may face, never back down to those who try to take away your beliefs and stay true to your faith.