LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

Good Evening to All!

Believe it or not I just spent the last three count them three hours on my post. I have been having trouble with the satellite connection again, and was able to bring up "blogger.com" through Bing. (for some reason it was too slow to connect through Firefox or Hughesnet). Anyway, I was successful through "Bing".

I finally got my thoughts typed out, the devotional typed out and then tried to save it. It wouldn't save. I thought maybe it automatically saved while I was typing, so I went to look for pictures and it wouldn't let me do that either. I checked on the "manage you post" list and it was NOWHERE to be found. Needless to say, I am a bit frazzled and upset, so I am going to do the Devotional I had planned and leave it at that for tonight. I have another post scheduled to come up at 10:am tomorrow for a book review, so don't miss that one. I think you'll like it.

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I was kind of surprised to open my Devotional Book (Joyce Meyer's "Hearing from GOD Each Morning" to today's Devotion (although I sometimes skip around if God doesn't speak to me about that certain subject). The reason for my surprise was because last night, I read a post on one of the blogs I follow about a preacher in her town who, to show how he felt about Sept. 11, he planned to burn the Quran. She was letting people know that he was not representing the town's sentiment. I thought that was very classy of her, but unnecessary because She has no control over what this "preacher" does. Anyway, I made the comment on her blog that a person would think that he being a preacher should know what the Bible says and adhere to it, as he is supposed to be the shepherd of a flock. The following Devotional says what he as a preacher should be doing as an example . I just wish he would think things through and realize that he may be causing more harm than he intends. It may just be a way for him to vent his hurts and frustrations, but it can turn tragic very quickly. Besides that, Hitler already tried that by burning books and Bibles. It didn't curtail the Jews from loving God, it made their faith stronger I would imagine.

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Devotional:

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. (Matthew 5:44 KJV)

One of the most powerful prayers yo can pray is a prayer for your enemies. If you want to see someone who is mighty in prayer, look for the person who will intercede for an enemy. I believe that God blesses us tremendously when we intercede for those who have offended or betrayed us.

Remember Job? He had to pray for his friends after they had really hurt and disappointed him. But immediately, after he prayed, God began to restore his life. In fact, god gave him back twice as much as he had lost (see Job 42:10)! Praying for someone who has hurt us is so powerful because, when we do,k we are walking in love toward that person and we are obeying the Word of God.

We can hear God's voice in the verse for tonight. What does Jesus tell us to do in this verse? He instructs us to pray for our enemies. When you think about the people who have used you, abused you, harassed you, and spoken evil of you, bless them; do not curse them. Pray for them. god knows that blessing your enemies is not easy and that you may not feel like doing it. But you don't do it because you feel like it. You do it as unto the Lord. Choosing to pray and bless instead of curse is very powerful in the spiritual realm, and God will do great things in your life as a result.

God's Word For You Tonight: Don't let mean-spirited people bring you down to their level by tempting you to act like they act.

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I know this devotional sounded more like it was for "enemies in our own back yard" (acquaintances, ex- friends and so on), but an enemy is an enemy. A domestic enemy can be just as dangerous as a "war enemy". So I believe that God is talking about both types .

Even Jesus made a statement to God while he was looking down at his murderers. He said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do".

Good night to All and May God Bless!