Saturday, July 31, 2010

"But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek." " You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate." Luke 6:27-28, 36


Can we really talk about our enemies without talking about the amazing grace of the one who displayed the ultimate expression of love towards His enemies.

From the time Mary delivered Jesus He was hated. And guys His enemies were very open about their hate towards Him. They questioned His intentions, integrity, and who He was. They even tried to kill Him several times. And the worst part is they did it straight to His face. Now imagine that for a moment.

I am just going to tell you straight up, it is hard enough when you know there is animosity between you and someone else and it is even harder when that person deliberately goes out of their way to be ugly to your face. 

But can I just tell you, when you start putting things in perspective according to the cross and the persecution, accusations, and name calling that Christ endured, it will make you realize that what you are going through does not even come close to what Jesus had to go through.

And if the Son of God could endure through such hatefulness and still show unfailing love to His enemies, so can we, because we are the children of the Most High, who are filled with His spirit.

Doesn't that excite you? Oh, it does me! So much that I am running full force towards Satan with the word of God yelling, game over serpent, the victory is in Jesus!

 I was once told by my best friend that at the time made no sense what so ever, but now makes absolutley perfect sense. She said,  it is up to us to do what is right and it is up to Christ to deal with the consequences of our obedience.

In other words, if you have done what the Lord has told you to do and done it with the right heart then step back and let the Lord deal with the rest. Let Him deal with the consequences of our obedience by dealing with the actions of our enemies. Make sense?

My precious friends remember showing acts of kindness and love towards others is a daily process. You can't just pick certain days you want to show love to your enemy. Jesus didn't!

It is all about imitating Christ in every aspect of our lives.

Prayer: Lord today we ask that You clothe us with peace that is loving, gentleness at all times, mercy, and the willingness to yield to others. Thank You Jesus for being the perfect demonstration of love. Amen