Thursday Reading: Luke 6:27-28
Key Verse: Luke 6:28
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.
Devotion:
Boy this is one thing that we all struggle with but it is something that we need to address before we can continue in our earnest prayers with God. How can we be asking one thing from Him and living something different in our lives? How can we be asking Him to look after us when we are living our lives with hatred for others? “But how can I love someone who hates me?” is a typical response that we may raise when confronted with these verses. The answer is with God’s love. If we do not have God’s love then we cannot ever hope to love those people who make it hard for us to love them. We cannot hope to be able to love our enemies if we do not have God in our lives!
If we exclude God from our lives then we will find that we do have a great ability to brew up hatred within our lives because without God’s love within us all we have a very crumbly thing we like to call love. It will only be after you know the love of God that you can figure out the true love that you can have for other people. Whilst we may well still find it hard to extend that love towards those that hate us, we will begin to understand how it is possible! Were we not God’s enemies when we did not know Him? And yet He was willing to show His absolute love for each one of us!
One of the best things that you can do is to start praying for your enemies and I am not talking about praying to God that they will get out of your life but rather the opposite. Try asking God to show you how you can make a difference in their lives so that they may see you as a friend instead of an enemy. Why not ask God to allow you to know His love so that you can share that love with all other people and not just those few that you care about. Whilst it is very easy to pray for those people that you love in your life, praying for those other people will be something that will change the way you look at them and may even change your heart toward them too. With God, nothing is impossible!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you pray for most in your life?
Do you seek God’s help in your love for others?
Key Verse: Luke 6:28
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.
Devotion:
Boy this is one thing that we all struggle with but it is something that we need to address before we can continue in our earnest prayers with God. How can we be asking one thing from Him and living something different in our lives? How can we be asking Him to look after us when we are living our lives with hatred for others? “But how can I love someone who hates me?” is a typical response that we may raise when confronted with these verses. The answer is with God’s love. If we do not have God’s love then we cannot ever hope to love those people who make it hard for us to love them. We cannot hope to be able to love our enemies if we do not have God in our lives!
If we exclude God from our lives then we will find that we do have a great ability to brew up hatred within our lives because without God’s love within us all we have a very crumbly thing we like to call love. It will only be after you know the love of God that you can figure out the true love that you can have for other people. Whilst we may well still find it hard to extend that love towards those that hate us, we will begin to understand how it is possible! Were we not God’s enemies when we did not know Him? And yet He was willing to show His absolute love for each one of us!
One of the best things that you can do is to start praying for your enemies and I am not talking about praying to God that they will get out of your life but rather the opposite. Try asking God to show you how you can make a difference in their lives so that they may see you as a friend instead of an enemy. Why not ask God to allow you to know His love so that you can share that love with all other people and not just those few that you care about. Whilst it is very easy to pray for those people that you love in your life, praying for those other people will be something that will change the way you look at them and may even change your heart toward them too. With God, nothing is impossible!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you pray for most in your life?
Do you seek God’s help in your love for others?