Love enemies | Do unto others | Judge not | Produce good fruit

I read Luke 6:27ff for morning devotions today.

Once again I'm dumbfounded how anyone could read Jesus teachings and claim to believe & follow Him, yet also behave the ways we often do and support media, business, & political leaders who behave the way they do.

Luke 6:27-45, reminds me of kind, compassionate, & humble people who advocate for the oppressed and oppose bullying.

How if one reads & internalized Christ's teaching in Matthew 5 & Luke 6 could anyone still hold onto a philosophy focused on self interest?

I encourage my non-Christian and skeptical, agnostic, & humanist friends to read just these 2 chapters of the Bible. I'll bet you'll end up appreciating, respecting, even admiring Jesus in spite of how ridiculously hypocritical His followers can be.

I also encourage my conservative and religious friends to review Matt 5 & Luke 6. I'll bet the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to just how much 21st cen American Christians are just like the Pharisees and teachers of the law during Jesus time. My prayer is that God will reveal to you how the media demagogues, political shills and televangelists we listen to and support are just the blind leading the blind.

May knowing what Jesus really taught change all our minds... and hearts.

Love perseveres

So you call yourself a “Christian?”
A “Little Christ?”
“Little Anointed One?”
Set aside for a purpose?

Are you sure you’re ready for His purposes?


Love perseveres.


Are you patient?
Are you kind?
Do you envy?
Do you ever brag?
Pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?
Are you ever rude?
Are you ever self-seeking? Never? No Ambition? Never any ulterior motives?
How easy is it to make you angry?
Do you keeps track? Are you keeping score?
Oh I know you rejoice in the truth, but do you rejoice with THE Truth?
Do you ever delight when harm comes to others?
Do you always protect? Or do you just over protect?
Do you always trust?
Where is your hope?


Love perseveres.


If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love,
if any fellowship with the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love,
being one in spirit and purpose.

Are you sure you’re ready for HIS purposes?


Love perseveres.

Do you do ever do anything out of selfish ambition?
Are you ever vain or conceited?
Are you humble?
Do you consider others better than yourself?
Or do you look after your own interests?
What about the interests of others?


Love perseveres.


Is your attitude the same as that of Christ Jesus?
Don’t you consider equality with God something to be grasped?
Do you make yourself nothing?
Are you a servant?
Do you humbled himself?
Would you be obedient to death?


Love perseveres.


Do YOU love?
Are you joyful?
Are you a peacemaker?
Are you patient?
Are you kind?
I bet you think you try to be pretty good, don’t you?
Are you as faithful as you think?
Do you let your gentleness be evident to all?
You want to control society, but how much self-control have you got?


Love perseveres.


Do you love your enemies?

Do you do good to those who hate you?
Have you blessed those who curse you?
Are you praying for those who mistreat you?


Love perseveres.


"You have heard that it was said,
'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I tell you:
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.


Love perseveres.


He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
So you may as well get used to it.


Love perseveres.


Do you love your enemies?
Do you do good to them?
Do you even give them to them without expecting to get anything back?


Love perseveres.


Believe it or not,
Like it or not,

Jesus is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

While we were still His enemies, Christ died for us.
Would you die for your enemies?


Are you merciful, just as your Father is merciful?

Lord, forgive us,
for we know not what the Hell we're doing to each other.


Believe it or not,
Like it or not,

Love perseveres

---

Matthew 5, Luke 6, Romans 11, 1 Corinthians 13, Philippians 2, Galatians 5, Romans 5

Unless you enjoy dragging all those rocks around everywhere...

John 8:6-11, 15-16

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. ⁷ They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” ⁸ Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

⁹ When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. ¹⁰ Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

¹¹ “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

...You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. ¹⁶ And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me.

Luke 6:36-38

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

---

I don't know- I figure God is God and I am not. It would be pretty arrogant for me to try to do His job for Him. Thank God, we don't have to carry the weight of either saving, fixing or judging the world. I'm not good at throwing rocks and I for one get tired carrying all those rocks around. I'd rather pave roads with them.

It seems to me that anger and indignation do more to erode the one who bears it than to bring about contrition or repentance in the ones it is aimed at. I may be in error, (God forgive me and correct me when I am), but if I am going to err, I would always rather err on the side of mercy and compassion than on the side of judgment, control, or retribution. Law and Gospel should always be in balance, but when the balance tips, I would rather it tip toward the Gospel than toward the Law.

Feel free to disagree with me, most people do.

Light House Prayer

Lighthouse Prayer
Above is a link to a way that you can be a becon, a lighthouse in a dark world, just by praying.

While you're at it,

I think we should pray for our enemies too. Is there some one who makes you angry? Someone who offends you? Or grates on your nerves? How about someone who believes differently than you? Are you a Republican who fears that Democrats somehow can't be Christian? Are you a Democrat who somehow imagines that all Republicans are judgmental or hypocritical?

And what should we REALLY do about Muslim terrorists?

Jesus says, be a blessing to your enemies.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"~ Matthew 5:43-47


"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."~ Romans 12:19b-21

In the ancient Near East people would heap coals on their heads as a sign of repentance. What Paul is saying there is that if we love and bless our enemies, the Holy Spirit can work on their hearts to convict them of their wrong doing or their hard heartedness.

But don't be surprised if praying for them, and blessing them changes YOUR heart too. You might even discover that they aren't enemies after all.

See also Luke Chapter 6:27-36

So lets take the "Oh, that you would bless me indeed," line from the Jabez Prayer as our cue to ask God to bless EVERYONE, even people that we've pre-judged as beng downright evil.