Why We Should Love Our Enemies

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” (Luke 6:27)

There are two main reasons why Christians should love their enemies and do good to them.

One is that it reveals something of the way God is. God is merciful.

“He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10).

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

So, when Christians live this way, by God’s power, we show something of what God is like.

The second reason is that the hearts of Christians are satisfied with God and are not driven by the craving for revenge or self-exaltation or money or earthly security.

God has become our all-satisfying treasure and so we don’t treat our adversaries out of our own sense of need and insecurity, but out of our own fullness with the satisfying glory of God.

Hebrews 10:34: “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property [that is, you didn’t retaliate against your adversaries], since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” What takes away the compulsion of revenge is our deep confidence that this world is not our home, and that God is our utterly sure and all-satisfying reward. We know that we have “a better possession and an abiding one.”

So, in both these reasons for loving our enemy we see the main thing: God is shown to be who he really is as a merciful God and as gloriously all-satisfying.

The power to be merciful is that we have been satisfied with God’s mercy toward us. And the ultimate reason for being merciful is to glorify God, that is, to help others magnify him for his mercy. We want to show that God is magnificent. We want our love, by God’s mercy, to make God look great in the eyes of man.

John Piper 

In the middle of a trial?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When something bad happens to us, we may respond, “What did I do? I must have done something terrible.” Then we proceed down the trail of morbid introspection or what I call “navel gazing.” We look inside, taking ourselves apart piece by piece, examining and re-examining. Then we put ourselves back together trying to figure out what we did wrong.

It may be you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, but God is simply testing your faith. If we don’t understand this, we may get discouraged.

Jerry Bridges wrote, “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

ACTION POINT:

The seeds of doubt and discouragement sprout in the soil of ignorance. Claim the promises of 1 Peter 1:3-9 for strength in the midst of your trial.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Go on to the Meal

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8)

To you who say you have never tasted the glory of God, I say, you have tasted many of its appetizers.

Have you ever looked up at the sky? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good?

Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven.

You say you haven’t tasted God’s glory. I say, you have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal. Go on to God himself.

You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself — yes, through the protective and sharpening lens of the gospel. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music.

The best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ. “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the Gospels, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.

That is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away on shadows. God made you to see and savor his glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else. You have tasted the appetizers. Now go on to the full banquet.

John Piper

Do you cringe hearing this?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy. Isaiah 57:15

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Exodus 20:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you cringe when you hear people exclaim, “Oh my God” or type OMG in social media posts?  Some Christians think nothing of saying it.

We all know profanity takes God’s name in vain, but I’ll tell you another way, and that’s using it carelessly or lightly. Ephesians 5:4 mentions “foolish jesting.” Yet even many believers use “Oh my God” almost as a throwaway line.

God is holy. His name is holy. Tozer said, “Holy is the way God is. To be holy, He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard.”

We are never, ever to use His name unless we are serious. It’s repugnant to use the Holy name of God frivolously.

ACTION POINT:

Start this day by meditating on the holiness of God. Begin with Isaiah 6:1-7.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

A People for His Name

Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14)

It is scarcely possible to overemphasize the centrality of the name of God, that is, the fame of God, in motivating the mission of the church.

When Peter had his world turned upside down by the vision of unclean animals in Acts 10, and by the lesson from God that he should evangelize Gentiles as well as Jews, he came back to Jerusalem and told the apostles that it was all owing to God’s zeal for his name. We know this because James summed up Peter’s speech like this: “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name” (Acts 15:13–14).

It’s not surprising that Peter would say that God’s purpose was to gather a people for his name; because the Lord Jesus had stung Peter some years earlier with an unforgettable lesson.

You recall that, after a rich young man turned away from Jesus and refused to follow him, Peter said to Jesus, “See, we have left everything and followed you [unlike this rich fellow]. What then will we have?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus responded with a mild rebuke, which in effect said that there is no ultimate sacrifice when you live for the name of the Son of Man. He said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).

The truth is plain: God is pursuing with omnipotent delight a worldwide purpose of gathering a people for his name from every tribe and language and nation (Revelation 5:9; 7:9). He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the fame of his name among the nations.

Therefore when we bring our affections in line with his, and, for the sake of his name, renounce the quest for our own worldly fame and comforts, and join his global purpose, God’s omnipotent commitment to his name flies like a banner before us, and we cannot lose, even if we must walk through many tribulations (Acts 14:22; Romans 8:35–39).

John Piper 

Where do you take your questions?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

And Jesus answering saith unto them, “Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

I ask some Christians, “How are you doing?” They say, “Okay—under the circumstances.” How did you ever get there?

Circumstances are like a mattress. You’re supposed to be on it, not under it. Under the circumstances, you suffocate; on them you rest pretty well.

The only way you can run the race is to take your eyes off things or people around you and look to Jesus. He’s the author of the race. He’s the goal to which you run. If you look to Jesus to supply your every need for the race, you’ll find faith growing in your heart and in your life. You see, it’s not great faith in God; it is faith in a great God.

ACTION POINT:

Make the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” your anthem today. Elisabeth Elliot said, “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

You Think You Are Anonymous But You're Not

My mother always said "if you can't say something nice, then be quite". 

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me"

No so, words cut you to your core.

They can tear down or build up.

Tear down definition 

To pull apart by force, cause distress

Build up definition 

Praise that boost confidence 

Faceless trolls on the internet are really nasty. 

They bully with words.

Their words cut deep wounds that bleed little bits of who you are.

Sadly, some people will carry the scars a life time.

Those who are insecure in who they are will suffer as if they were physically wounded.

Trolls viciously attack people for being different, in appearance, in looks and because you disagree with their view.

A troll is a person who thinks his deeds are hidden and he can spew his nastiness without repercussions.

They hide behind what they think is anonymity.

Trolls make a habit of spewing hate.

Some will graduate to being a bully.

They will use their fist to inflict suffering.

Their families will suffer.

What is wrong with their soul?

Is it bitterness, evil, inadequacy, stupidity or just foolishness? 

For sure, it is yielding to Satan and the destroying road of sin!

You will be held accountable!

The word of the Lord is very clear about your secrets and your careless words.

Lord, help us not to judge.

15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. - Romans 2:15-16

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. - 1 Corinthians 4:5

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

11 for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 

12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. - Romans 14:10-12

35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." - Matthew 12:35-37

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.  - Proverbs 12:18

My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts- the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.  - Psalm 57:4