Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:35 “ But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”-

It is not within human nature to love someone who hates you and is out to make life miserable for you. Loving your enemies requires a divine act of God. It requires that we say “No” to hate and “Yes” to love. It is a choice we make. We take sides with that which is good and holy. Being tempted to retaliate when someone does us wrong is a normal reaction as we try to defend our dignity and self worth. Being hurt and being tempted to hurt back is the part of the human nature that Jesus tells us that we must resist. He reminds us that Love conquers all and loving those who despitefully use us is possible when we know that God also shows mercy and forgiveness. Forgiving is not forgetting, but it does take resentment out of the heart and puts a love that passes human understanding. We love, because God first loved us.

Dead to the World

Col. 3:2,3  “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”-

Dead to the world means that the world no longer holds any attraction. We hold on loosely to the material things of life and the temporal. Prestige and earthly power is but a vapor when compared to life in eternity.  Being “dead” in Christ implies that we have been to the cross. Once again, we have made the choice to pick up it up and follow Him, even the death of the cross. Our sins have been nailed, the old man has been crucified, and we are now made alive, a new creature. Being alive in Christ means that our desires and affections are focused on Christ and the teaching of His word. We find pleasure in serving Him and doing His will. Tho the earthly pleasure of this life have some appeal, they are nothing compared to what God has to offer. For in Him is life and the reason we live.

Conforming to the Cross

Phil 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death,”

Conforming to the cross of Christ implies that one also comes to realization that the sin of self must die. The Cross, the emblem to those who bare the marks that they belong to Jesus. “Pick up your cross, and follow me” are the words Jesus spoke to those desired to see God. The cross is not some magical amulet, that we carry around to ward off evil and danger. The cross is an emblem that reminds us that Jesus died for us, giving us the hope of eternal life. We too can take the way of the cross, giving up sin and the things of this world that are in opposition to the way God wants us to live. We go forth daily baring the cross of Jesus showing others that the cross is our hope and salvation. It is the cross, the blood of Christ that was shed on that cross that empowers us to live victoriously. We conform to the cross in our lives, so when others see us, they see Christ.

Talking to God

2 Chron 6:19 “Have respect therefore to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which Thy servant prayeth before Thee:”

Basically, prayer is just talking to God. When we say, “I’ll be praying for you”, we are telling that person that we will talk to God about them and their needs. Prayer implies that there is a relationship established. It is not likely that we would be approaching strangers and start up a conversation. That is not to say that we never do, but it is not something we normally do. But, if we see someone we know, we visit and talk about what is happening. Having a relationship with Jesus, gives us an open door to talk to Him at anytime of the day. Continue always in prayer is to continue to speak to Him no matter where we are or what we are doing.  Depending on our needs, this conversation with God can take on different facets as we enter into conversation. God desires us to come to Him and make our needs know, He hears our voices as we lift them up heavenward. It is good to take time out of the our busy day to talk to God, putting aside the busyness of our day and just have an intimate talk with Him. May we always have an open heart and listen to the voice of God and take time to stop what we are doing and have a quiet visit with the lover of our soul. 

Be Anger, and Sin Not

Eph. 4:31.32 “ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Becoming angry is seen as an out of control emotion. Normally when one becomes angry it is because someone else has inflected pain or has treated us wrongly or carelessly. Becoming angry can also happen when we see an injustice take place, someone is hurting or abusing someone else. Anger is a normal human emotion, but God’s word says to put away anger. In the work of holiness, or sanctification, God deals with us about our carnal anger that stirs within our heart when things don’t go our way, or when someone has treated us wrongly. The Holy Spirit removes carnal self from the throne of our life and put the love of God that constrains us to treat others with love and kindness. Not all anger is carnal, but we must always beware of the reasons we are angry and allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in our actions and behavior. We can be anger at what sin does and how it destroys lives, but we must be careful to direct our anger toward the sin, and not the person, who God loves and desires to save and forgive. “Be angry, but sin not”

A Prisoner set Free

Psalm 146:7-8“…the Lord looseth the prisoners…The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind; the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down;…”

Sin is binding, it shackles us with chains that keeps us from being free to serve God the way we should. A prisoner to sin, we live in bondage to Satan who keeps us trapped by deceiving us into thinking that leaving the pleasures of sin will take the fun out of living. The carnal nature enjoys the lust of the flesh, but the fulfilling the lust of the flesh drive us further into a prison that keeps us trapped. Sin leads to a life style that keeps us from serving God in righteousness. Jesus came to set the prisoner free, He has the keys of life that will give us real freedom. Freedom to worship God is the Spirit of holiness. Freedom to be what God wants us to be. His grace, causes the chains of sin to loosen and break. We don’t have to be a prisoner of sin, we can be set free if we choose to live in truth. He is truth and the Truth shall set us free.

No Longer Strangers

Debt. 10:17,18 “ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a fearsome, who regardeth not persons nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment.”

We often take caution when a stranger is seen. We don’t know anything about this person, we don’t don’t know anything about their character. They have not proven themselves to us, so we approach them with caution. Caution is good, but rudeness is uncalled for by anyone who names the Name of Christ. We our representatives of God’s house and are to treat all people kindly without regard to their station in life. It matters not who they are or what they have to offer, the love of God constrains us to reach out and give to others who are in need or in want. Let us put aside our prejudice and judgement and execute compassion to those who are strangers among us. May they seen the love of God and turn their hearts toward Him. No longer strangers, but friends among us.