Enemies.

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 

Mat_5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Luk_6:27)

Yesterday we talked a little about serving those we love, today let's talk about serving those who hate us.  I couldn't say- loving those we hate- because let's be honest, we are not to hate others. The worst of the worst, the worst we could ever imagine- belongs to God's judgment, not ours. No, I'm not saying we don't lock up in prison or mental health facilities those worst of the worst, I'm saying we do not judge their eternal life.

In the news very recently was an article about a man hugging a woman in a court room, the man was the brother of the one the woman killed, and he was hugging her because he was forgiving her for killing his brother. There was quite the uproar in the media about the judge allowing the hug, and giving the convicted killed her Bible.

Will the hug or the giving of the Bible stopped the woman from serving time in prison for her crime? No.

Loving our enemies, and out of that love we can be called to serve our enemies. People often asked women and men alike, why they stay in what others believe are abusive (mentally, and possibly physically) relationships. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes it is done knowingly by the abused because they truly are loving their enemy. NO, I'm not saying women or men should stay in abusive relationships, I'm saying sometimes people do stay in them because they feel called to love their enemy in that manner- suffering under the abusers hand. And sometimes, NOT always by a long shot, the abuser will alter their ways because of the long suffering of their partner. And yes, sometimes the abused are killed by their abusers, and vice versa.

Jesus tells us to - Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Love our enemies- yet we are often filled to overflowing with hatred for them.

Bless them that curse us- yet we are often cursing those cursing us.

Do good to them that hate us- yet we are often plotting our own ways to get revenge against those hating us.

Pray for those who despitefully use us- we often do not pray but rather curse and seek retribution against those using us despitefully.

Pray for those who persecute us- yet we often pray for revenge using the hatred we feel towards those who are persecuting us.

Our natural inclination is revenge, retribution, returning hatred for hatred, cursing for cursing. Some times our knee jerk reaction is to give back the abuse we are given.

I see it all the time on the messages in various groups I belong to on Facebook- there the so called 'Trolls' come out and attack what people are saying with snide, awful remarks and in turn those who don't consider themselves trolls become the revenging defenders of the ones being hurt by the trolls- giving that troll just the same if not more abuse than the troll gave out. Hate for hate, not love for hate. However, to be honest, I have seen plenty of people taking that higher road and ignoring and pitying the trolls.

Loving our enemies.

Who is our enemy?  It isn't like we have clear cut lines drawn such as those found in wars where you know the enemy your fighting against by their nationality. The Americans fought the Germans- our enemy- Germans unless you were German and then your enemy was American. Distinct lines and it was easy to simply classify all soldiers from the opposing country are enemies. 

As we live day to day in a time of peace or rather a place where there is no active war going on, do we still have enemies?

Dictionary definition of enemies - somebody who hates or seeks to harm somebody or something.

Yes, we still have enemies. There are people who hate others based on race and it has nothing to do with the individual but the color of their skin. There are people who hate those who are rich, poor, a different gender, have a different sexual orientation. There are people who hate those who are smart, snobbish, shy, nerdy, fat, ugly and the list goes on. There is a lot of hatred in our world, and there are a lot of enemies.

As a Christian your enemy could be any non-Christian, or other Christians with different beliefs.  An enemy could be a member of your own family, or a friend who decides they no longer want friendship.

Jesus wants us to LOVE those who hate us and seek to harm us. And that love is HIS LOVE.

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!

We would be sealed by God's angel

James
{5:7} Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth,
and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
{5:8} Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth
nigh.


Hosea
{6:3}Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD:
his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain,
as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth.


Heb.
{8:10} For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts:
and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people:
{8:11} And they shall not teach every man his neighbour,
and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
{8:12} For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.


Rev. {14:6} And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
{14:7} Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him;
for the hour of his judgment is come
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
{14:8} And there followed another angel, saying,
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
{14:9} And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,
If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
{14:10} The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation;
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the Lamb:
{14:11} And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever:
and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image,
and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
{14:12} Here is the patience of the saints:
here [are] they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus.
{14:13} And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write,
Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;
and their works do follow them.


Joel
{2:23} Be glad then, ye children of Zion,
and rejoice in the LORD your God:
for he hath given you the former rain moderately,
and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain,
and the latter rain in the first [month. ]
{2:24} And the floors shall be full of wheat,
and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
{2:25} And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,
the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm,
my great army which I sent among you.
{2:26} And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the LORD your God,
that hath dealt wondrously with you:
and my people shall never be ashamed.
{2:27} And ye shall know that I [am] in the midst of Israel,
and [that] I [am] the LORD your God, and none else:
and my people shall never be ashamed.
{2:28} And it shall come to pass afterward,
[that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions:
{2:29} And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
{2:30} And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
{2:31} The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
{2:32} And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:
for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.


Rev. {7:3} Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. {7:4} And I heard the number of them which were sealed:
[and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.


Eph. {1:12} That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
{1:13} In whom ye also [trusted,] after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise
{1:14} Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory.


Sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.


All glory and honor, all praise to the Lord our God the maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is!


Praise be to God that we are not left without comfort- Heavenly Comfort.


John {14:16} And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may abide with you for ever;
{14:17} [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
{14:18} I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you


The Spirit of truth dwells within us, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter from Heaven. Jesus prayed that the Father would give the Comforter to those that Love Him.


Does having a Comforter mean we'll feel no pain? On the contrary, having a Comforter is the Hope of a future beyond the pain of existing in the world we live in. No matter the pain everyone has pain. The Spirit of Truth brings us comfort and hope, the truth as it is found in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. He preached of the coming world, of His return, He knew He had to leave and yet He wasn't abandoning anyone. Just as a good parent provides a care giver for their children when they have to leave, Jesus provides for us a care giver while He ministers in Heaven and prepares a place for us there. The Holy Spirit is real, as real as Jesus, as real as God. Can we know the ways of the Holy Spirit? No, no more than we can know the ways of God.


All praise to God!


If the Holy Spirit is to be poured out in a way exceptional to the every day offer of the promise of His being with us, may we be ready to receive whatever the Spirit can give us through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.


We would be sealed by God's angel, sealed unto Christ, completely marked as His and His alone! We offer all we are to God, and we long for the out pouring of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter.


Please Lord, have us Yours.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior now and forever.


Amen.