Love Our Enemy

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… Matthew 5:44

It is most difficult to love our enemies.

But we are to seek another person’s highest good, even when mistreated.

The only method of destroying our enemies is to love them into being our friends.

Let us pray for them, and ask God to bless them and save them.

Life should be sweet, not bitter.

Have Peace With God

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have access by faith
into this grace in which we stand.
- Romans 5:1-2 -

The Bible is about the Lord Jesus Christ and why He died.

God had provided access to His love through the Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe and receive Jesus’ salvation from our sin.

The Bible and God’s love aren’t off-limits to anyone.

Let us receive His forgiveness today.

Appealing to Legal Rights

Acts 22:25

As they stretched him out to flog him,
Paul said to the centurion standing there,
“Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen
who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

The scriptures illustrate responses to persecution in 3 primary ways:

• To flee when it occurs
• To stay and endure, persevering through the challenges.
  
• To appeal to our legal rights for protection from a needless beating.
  

Let us speak out against
injustice and discrimination of brothers wherever it occurs.

Thank You, Lord,
for brave brethren who stand for justice and truth.

Salt Of The Earth

Matthew 5:13
You are the salt of the earth.
But if the salt loses its saltiness,
how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything,
except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the salt of the earth. This is a statement of fact. We are to be what God has made us to be.

Christians are to take their stand for God in the society.
That stand for good renders society
infertile for the growth of evil and ungodly influences.

Christians are to live and work in places where their influence may be felt. The light that is in them can then be most fully manifested to others so that they may see that the light of real Christian goodness. It is a light not of this world but from God, and may in consequence be led to give honor and praise to its Giver.

Let us resolve to live our lives for Jesus in a way that will positively salt our community.

Help me, Lord,
to stand for the good
and be a salty influence for You
in the world around me.

Forgiveness

Luke 23:34a

Father, forgive them
for they do not know what they are doing.

Forgiveness is to be given even when it is not asked for.

On the cross, forgiveness was one of the first words of Jesus.
The soldiers doing the crucifying had not asked for forgiveness,
but Jesus realized their need of it.

Forgiveness can only be truly accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. But when given, it communicates most powerfully the love of God. And we are called to be like God, to bear God’s family resemblance.

Forgiveness is a personal transaction that releases the one offended from the offense. The forgiveness required by the scriptures is more than detached or limited forgiveness; it is full and complete forgiveness in which there is a total cessation of negative feelings toward the offender and the relationship being restored has the possibility to grow.

Let us show Christ’s love
by forgiving those who do not even ask for forgiveness.

Let us burn hatred and
spread the flame of Christ’s love.

Oh Lord,
may I be like You,
and through the power of Your Holy Spirit,
forgive completely those who bring offenses against me.

God Refining Fire

Malachi 3:3

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.
Then the LORD will have men
who will bring offerings in righteousness…

It sounds easy to say we will always forgive others.

But what happens in your heart when it happens to you?

Can you accept the terrible consequences when it happens to you?

But know this: God's hand is behind every event of our lives. And there is a purpose to everything God does. It is just that it takes us time to see God’s hand in it all.

Everything in our lives is part of God’s plan. God’s refining is at work in us!

Let us live in the awareness of God’s refining plan for His Kingdom’s expansion.

Oh Lord, purify Your Church and help me to accept whatever consequences this will have.