Luke 6:27-28
As we have studied the
last couple of days, today’s devotional deals with the fact that as a Christian
we are held to a higher standard or way of living… Today’s message echo’s our
focus this week which elaborates on the fact that you are to love your enemies and do good to them which
hate you… Understand today that
how you handle people is a direct example of who you feel Christ has dealt with
you… Remember today that you were undeserving of His love, grace and mercy just
like the people who irk your nerves; however, we have to model Christ and
continue to love others even if they don’t know how to love you in return… Again, as we have studied throughout the
week, know that as believers in Christ we are held to a higher standard… We must go the extra mile and extend hands of
kindness to those who may not be grateful… In this journey of life we must speak words of encouragement to
those who may be gossiping about us and we must stay focused on exalting God
through our living… Jesus gives us instructs that we are called to live by
today; we are not called to extend helping hands to just believers in Christ;
we are called to see each and every moment in our lives as a chances to display
our faith and God’s faithfulness… We give not expecting anything in return, we
give showing that we are of Christ and that we want to bring praise and honor
to the name that is above us… Jesus goes on in this chapter to say what good is
it to give to your brother, even sinners do that… If we were just focused on
living within the church we wouldn’t be able to bring others to Christ and the
church wouldn’t grow… Jesus called disciples from all works of earth and from
every religious background of position… Matthew was a tax collector, Peter was
a fisherman and Nicodemus was a Pharisee… It didn’t matter what you were when you encountered Jesus, but
what you became after you walked with Him… Know that we are called not to judge people, but to allow them
to encounter Christ through the beacon light that He has placed in us… A child
of God is a person who continues to grow under the guidance and direction of
the Lord… The key to your Christian walk is growth and one of the biggest
forums that your growth is displayed in is how you treat your enemies… We all
have heard the saying that “not everyone will
like you;” however, the challenge
is put forth by God’s calling upon our lives to be able to extend a hand of
love to any and everyone that we come in contact with… Luke says that we are to
love our enemies, bless them that curse you and pray for those who despitefully
use you…
An enemy is one who
simply opposes you, they constantly go against the grain and challenge you
daily; we are called to love that person, continue to try and lift them up,
continue to try and show them the right way, continue to try and impact their
lives… To bless means that you consecrate, approve or exalt… When someone curses you, you in turn bless
them by exalting their name before the Lord; you bless them by covering them in
the blood of the lamb and not retaliating according to the errors of their
ways… One of the most
difficult things we are asked to do as a Christian is to pray for those who
abuse us (mentally or physically)… Prayer is a conversation between you and the
Lord, when we pray it is very hard to put our own desires aside and left up
another person, especially if this person has wronged us and has evil
intentions… Prayer takes time and focus, as a child of God we must put aside
anger, malice and evil thoughts to bring about repentance, peace and God’s
love… When we can love, bless and pray; we are growing in Christ and are a
child of God… Time and time again you have heard me talk about how this walk as
a Christian is not easy, today is more evidence to that statement… God calls us
to be His child, with that calling we are called to go above the norm, be
better than we were and achieve greatness within His will… In order to accomplish these things we must be
able to overcome the snares of the devil which can be a person who is your
enemy or who curses you or who despitefully uses you… Luke reminds us that as a child of God we are
to simply love unconditionally; we are to embrace our enemies and do good to
those who hate you… This is much easier said than done, but this is a measure
of your faith within the will of God! Many times we allow relationships to end
and terminate people from our lives because of mistakes that have been made,
when this occurs we are allowing the weight of sin and bondage to be placed in
our lives and the lives of others! By not forgiving and seeking resolution we
allow this conflict to fester and ultimately guide our footsteps in a way that
removes us from the will of God… Remember the grace that God bestowed upon you when you were His
enemy and bestow that same grace upon your enemies as a child of God…
BE BLESSED!!!
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