Let me begin with a poem entitled: And God Said “No”
I asked God to take away my pride, and God said “no”
He said it was not for Him to take away, but for me to give up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, and God said ”No”
He aid her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience and God said “No”
He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation, it isn’t granted, it s earned.
I asked God to give me happiness and God said ”No”
He said he gives blessings, happiness is up to me
I asked God to spare me pain, and God said “No”
He said “Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to ME “
I asked God to make my spirit grow, and God said ”No”
He said I must grow on my own, but HE will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked God if He loved me, and God said “Yes”
He gave me His only Son who died for me and I will be in heaven someday because I believe.
I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me, and God said, “AH, finally you got the idea.
It’s my prayer that we all get the idea of what God wants to develop in us that is to love others with our will, and not with just our emotions .God lavished His love on us, that He gave His Son Jesus to die for us, and it’s because of His love that we are all here learning on how to handle His word accurately
Matthew 5: 43 – 44
43. You have heard that it was said, You shall love you neighbor and hate your enemy. 44. But I say to you, love you enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
In this passage there are 4 things that Jesus wants us to learn:
1. To love your enemies
2. To bless those who curse you
3. To do good to those who hate you
4. To pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Notice these are all action words therefore it requires an effort on our part. Let me ask you these 2 questions: 1. Do you think God is asking the impossible from us? 2. Is it possible for us then to love our enemies?
Let’s have a look at the meaning of love; unlike the English language it has only one word for love. But the Greeks interpreted love in 4 ways and use 4 words to describe which kind of love was meant:
1. ERROS – where erotic love come from, love that arise from infatuation, passion, sexual love. It is the love of man for a woman.
2. STORGE – brotherly/familial love, love between parent and child.
3. PHELEO – the love of deep affection and feelings towards those who are very near and very dear to ones heart.
4. AGAPE – is a sacrificial love that cares, gives, and works for another person’s good no matter how the person respond. It is a love that demonstrate kindness, benevolence and esteem even in the midst of stormy situation. It is a love more by choice; it refers to the will rather than emotion.
The devil can counterfeit everything we do, but love is the only thing he cannot imitate or counterfeit because it’s the only thing that the children of God are capable of loving people who have wronged us because we’ve received the love of God, as we freely received God’s love, freely we can give. Amen.
As per the testimony of a Nigerian witch who came to know the Lord, he says that the devil cannot even touch the children of God who walked in love.
Here is the definition of “enemies” from Oxford Dictionary:
ENEMIES – is a person or group actively opposing or hostile to another.
So our enemy is not only a person who has done great offense against you but it could be anyone who irritates you or opposes you or even hostile to you
In this decaying world we’re living in wherein people’s hearts are filled with self-centeredness, selfishness, bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness, the usual thing that people do is to love only whom they think is deserving for their love, cares, and attention .And Christians tend to fall on the same trap by doing the same thing .We also tend to avoid people who have wronged us and irritates us. We as children of God, recipient of His love and forgiveness we’re not supposed to conform with their ways, instead we’ve to rise up with God’s power and make the difference. I know it’s difficult to love people whose attitudes are unbearable but God has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us to love them the way He loves us. How are we then to show love to our enemies?
JESUS commands us to love our enemies by doing 3 things:
1. To bless them. What exactly does it mean to bless, Bless in Greek “EULOGEO” – to invoke divine favor upon, means speaking out loud with the mouth, only what is good and edifying. We are not just to think good things about our enemies, but to speak them openly.
2. To do good to them. “Do” in Greek is “PRASSO ” - to practice. That means we have to do it repeatedly. So for every opportunity that you can do good to your enemy just do it, though you know this person is doing to you evil, yet your focus is not in your hurt but, on the deception of your enemy’s soul. You should be the one initiating reconciliation though you’re not at fault.
Romans 12:21 says “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. “
Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
Brothers/Sisters, for every “sandpaper” people you’ve been meeting every day, thank God for them because God is making us beautiful inside out, He is removing every rough edges of our character that we may grow and mature in His love and become more and more like His Son JESUS.
3. To pray for them. We are to pray for our enemies, tearing down every walls of lies and deception, pulling down every strongholds that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ over their hearts and minds, taking captives of their thoughts in obedient to the Lordship of Christ. As we continue to bless them, do good to them and pray that the Lord will convict them, they may come into their senses and repent and they may will experience redemption of their souls, the results may well be a repentant sinner and a new brother and sister in the Lord. Hallelujah.
In conclusion
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you shall be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Perfect here doesn’t mean sinless but maturity in task and purpose. The word as here is not a note of equality but of likeness. So we who profess God to be our Father ought to be like Him who displays His love without discrimination. Just as He is, so we are. In order for us to conform to our Father’s likeness we’ve to renew our minds with His words and take every effort to apply it in our daily life, as God open doors and opportunity for us to put His words into action.
Here’s a story of a Baptist Pastor during the American Revolution, His name was Peter Miller who lived in Ephrata Pennsylvania and enjoyed the friendship of General George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman an evil minded person who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the Pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller travelled 70 miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. “No, Peter”, General Washington said, “I cannot grant you the life of your friend”. “My friend?” exclaimed the old Preacher, “he is the bitter enemy I have”. “What!” said General Washington, “you have walked 70 miles to save the life of an enemy, that puts the matter in different light, I will grant your pardon”, and he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata no longer an enemy but a friend.
Praise the Lord for the life of this Pastor who displays God’s unconditional love. I know the commandment to love is easier to embrace if you have not been offended by someone else, but what about if you have been evil spoken of, rejected, cheated or betrayed, will you choose to shine for JESUS by forgiving and loving that person anyway, and make the difference thus, giving glory to God or will you glorify the devil by stubbornly holding on to your bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness.
Mga kapatid, you’ve already been set free by the blood of JESUS, live your life in freedom knowing that you are the child of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Know your identity of who you are now in Christ, what you have and what you can do through HIM. Amen. In our workplaces how we deal with our colleagues, in our homes how we get along with our families, in the community we’re living, as Christ representative are we reflecting the clear image of JESUS, or are we reflecting to them a distorted image of our Lord because of the way we conduct our lives. I want us to reflect on this, and if there’s any hurts, resentments, bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts that we’ve been holding for so long, that hinders the work of the Holy Spirit, let’s just repent and ask the Lord to forgive us and help us to let go of these things so that His Holy Spirit can move freely in us, to empower us to reach out those people around us who are hurting and who badly needed the love of God. Remember that God did not pour out His love on us for us only to enjoy but he wanted us to pass it on to the people regardless of who they are, whom JESUS died for.
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