Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I ask that you take the words in this blog and breathe life into them. Apart from your anointing they are just words on a page. I ask that you quicken our hearts to hear, see, and act upon what you are trying to teach us by the Power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Romans 12: 14-18 (NLT).
“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them, pray that God will bless them. 15Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all. 17Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”
What the Word is Saying
These verses are hard to follow, we all have a need to defend ourselves when we are wronged. Look at the disciples when confronted at the garden of gethsemane their first reaction was to fight. One of them cut off an ear but, Jesus said no and healed the man. It is in our DNA so to speak to defend ourselves. We want to stand up to those who wrong us. Curse those who persecute us. Imagine the payback that God will give them for harming His beloved. It is often why we cannot get along with each other and with the ungodly. We have difficulty in showing deference to each other and are in competition with each other to take our place in the world. This is why the inclination of many is to shy away from the poor, weak, and needy. We are happy to pay someone else to live and care for them, but often not willing to stoop down and help them ourselves. We think too highly of ourselves and don’t want to be counted among those the society has deemed lowly. We also are enamored with our intellect and our gift of speech our ability to argue points of view and assert our beliefs on others. However, the Lord has said all these things are things we should not do. We want to pay back those who have harmed us with equal or greater harm. In so doing we forfeit our opportunity to show honor to everyone and live peaceably with them.
The lord commands us to live peacefully with everyone. Why is that so difficult for us. This is especially true when we are right. Think of the lengths we will go to, to advance our political agenda. We are portrayed as idiots or unyielding zealots unable to conform to what the world has said is acceptable. Jesus has asked us to be secure even when these insults are hurled against us. Blessing those who curse us. Showing love and honor to those who show us hate and disdain. Does this mean we do nothing? May it never be, but we must understand that we can do nothing in our own strength. We need the favor of God to accomplish His will. We cannot change hearts and minds, but He can. What it comes down to is faith. Are we going to trust that God’s plan is better than ours. Certainly, those who lived in the days of Jesus had an idea of what the Messiah was going to be and do. I can guarantee that none of them thought it would be His death on a cross. He was going to come in like a lion and lead the Jewish people to victory in war over their enemies. The thought of a gentle servant come into the world who would show deference to their oppressors was shall we say unthinkable. So, it is with us today. We have an idea of what God wants to do and we stand beside Him, well in front of Him to accomplish those tasks. We don’t trust Him to do them without our help. But He is not unaware of what is occurring in the world. He knows the atrocities that are happening and where evil had been made acceptable. His plan for us though in these situations is to trust and show love to those who persecute us and repay evil with good. This does not mean we do not voice our opinion. It means we do it in a way that is honorable and glorifying to the Lord.
IF you do not yet know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, I encourage you to seek him right now. Pray this prayer with me, right where you are, say these words aloud: “Jesus I confess to you that I am a sinner, I ask you to forgive me and make me new. I confess to you that You are Lord of all and that you came to this earth, lived a sinless life, suffered and died on a cross, were buried in a tomb, and rose again from the dead three days later. I ask that you send your Holy Spirit to live within me and lead me into all truth. I thank you that the blood that you shed has washed me clean and ensured I will spend eternity with you. In Jesus Name, Amen.” If you prayed that prayer, I encourage you to contact us. We would love the opportunity to pray for you and stand beside you as you begin your journey with the Lord Jesus Christ. I also encourage you to find a church. A community of believers in the lord Jesus that you can learn from, lean on in times of struggle, and assume your place in the body of Christ.
Thank you for allowing me to provide some insight and teaching for you today. It has been a pleasure to learn together with you What the Word is Saying to us Today!
“Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.”
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