November 8th 2015 Have you overcome evil with good?

Reading: Romans 12, Jeremiah 52, and Ezekiel 1

Scripture: Romans 12:20-21, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Observation: These are some of my favorite verses, not that I feel I have lots of enemies but the idea that being nice to some one can teach them a better lesson then retaliating. The Old Testament and the world teach us to repay a wrong done to us with something equal, a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye.  The Gospel of grace is not just that we were given a great gift though the love of God though the sacrifice of his Son on Calvary, but also that we are to love and have grace for those around us. We are to fulfill the needs of all who are in need around us. I love the image that I have heard depicted by many different teachers and preachers of us passing out what little we seem to have to those around us and God sitting there with a great bag ready to fill our little basket so that we never run out.

Application: Not only are we to share what we have with those we like or have done us no wrong, but also to those who wish to hurt us of have wronged us in the past. Matthew 22:37-39 says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Your Neighbor is not just the one you like but also the one who hates you. I believe that this second command is the hardest command in the Bible, to love someone in this way is not the western touchy feely love, it is to put their needs above your own.

In our relationships we all start out with the western definition of love towards the person we are in that relationship with but once those first exciting months or sometimes years (if you are lucky) are over then you have to make the choice to put their needs before your own and that is true love. God calls us to have that love for everyone especially those who hate us, not that we can see ourselves as better then them but to allow God to work on their heart because God will heap those coals directly where they need to go so that his work will be done in their lives.

How Prayer: Lord we thank you again for another day to worship and seek your wisdom though your word. Lord I lift up our enemies to you and ask you to work on their heats though us, Give us the words to say and the strength to love them as you love them.