The Christian life is not the way of the world. In fact, God Himself, Abba Father said so in Isaiah 55:8. Thank God, for that ….that His way of thinking, doing things and dealing with matters concerning humanity is not the corrupt, narrow-minded and incorrect thinking of all mankind. By the way, thank the Good Lord also for what He has done. If it were not for His Grace, Mercy and Longsuffering and patience with us, no one on this planet would make it to adulthood. He is a good, good Father.
It is this mindset, of a loving patient Father, which allows
each of us who were perishing in our sins to be even alive to be forgiven, if
we ask Jesus to be the Lord and Master of our lives and to forgive of all our
sins. There is a reason He said immediately in Mark 1:15: “The time is
fulfilled. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel”.
This shows us the urgency of our redemption, since we who
are saved can grasp this bold truth. It is this positional truth which gives us
the latitude to be magnanimous towards those who hate us, who will always hate
us and who will never come to faith and repentance as we have. We are
heirs of a Kingdom of the One Who forgave us and then commands us to pray for
our enemies.
There are those who will never like us on a personal level
and as human beings. There are those who offend us in the world of the corrupt
culture; media; academia and political leadership. We are called to pray for
them, even those who promote abortion and every abhorrent anti-God thing out
there. We are in the age where every man does what is right in their own eyes.
God will deal with those things and its by-product. Our job is to pray for them
especially for those who harm us.
It is not easy, to be perfectly honest. I had one of my
supervisors who hated me for almost a decade. This person hated how I looked,
the color of my skin, my wife and my lifestyle. I had to put up with
blood-curdling rants with eyes building and spittle flying and not respond with
a single word of anger or self-defense. Instead I prayed this person constantly
into the most capable Hands of the Lord. The end result of all of this, turned
out to be a rare positive. The super used to asked me to pray for her family
whenever there was an emergency. She ended up getting saved after her husband
passed away and is now a regular church goer. This is a rare occurrence
resulting from “praying for those who hate you”. A broken widow coming to the
Lord after a life of hate and bitterness is a rare and wonderful thing.
However it is not so for the majority. They perish in their sin and apparently
seem to prefer this, rather than submit to the Lord of creation.
What is beneficial to the Christian is this – obey the Lord
and pray for those who hate us. We do so not because we want “burning coals" on their heads, but
because He says so and we want to be obedient. No matter how disgusting and
evil those who have wronged us may be, when we pray for those kinds of people,
we are being Christ –like just like our Lord Who looked down from the Cross and
said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. Our enemies know
what they’re doing….but so does God and unless they eventually find His
forgiveness and grace, they will have been storing up wrath for themselves, for
a Day to come, while we remain above the fray, safe in the Arms of our God.
Father, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, help us to see beyond the immediate, even the hurt and pain caused by those who despise us, destroy us, degrade and deny us. Give us the wisdom to know that it is better to follow Your Word and Your counsel completely and to pray for the salvation and forgiveness of those who have done us wrong, no matter what they have done.
We pray that by doing so, You will give us a true peace which passeth ALL understanding and bring us to a place where we can rest under the shadow of Your wings, knowing that our position in You is not only secure, but that You, in Your Power, Might and Sovereignty – have this situation under control. We can rest in this, my God and my King. Thank You. We bless and praise Your Holy Name and ask for the strength and courage and yes, unconditional love to love like You love us, so that many will see, including our enemies and come to the Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is in His Name, we pray, amen.
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