Thursday 11 Apr 2013

Thursday Reading: 2 Peter 1:5-7

Key Verse: 2 Peter 1:7
7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Devotion:
Have you ever thought about where this brotherly love should come from; like “how am I ever going to love my enemies?” Well I challenge you that it should start with your faith. When we say that we believe in God and in Jesus then we have to show people that we do. That means that we need to show them faith. That does not mean that we have to show them we can go to church every week because anyone can do that. Instead we have to show that we are true and genuine with our faith, that we believe God in our hearts and that we want justice toward others because of our faith. Our enemies do deserve justice!

Where is that justice to come from? It should come from the only Just God; and that means sticking firmly with the Word of God because it is our anchor that we must hold fast to. The world will pull us like an angry wind but our anchor must remain firm with God in His Word. By continuing to learn His Word we are continuing to hold fast to the truth which will allow us to dish out justice even to those we do not like. But dishing out that justice needs to be done in the moderation that everyone deserves. Going in with both barrels blazing will do nothing toward showing Christian love unless the person receiving is ready to accept both barrels!

Don’t get upset when things do not change overnight. Just because you have changed overnight by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour does not mean that everyone else sees that same light that has been switched on in your own heart! But when you do have that light switched on it should change you so that you can show others that you now know a new truth that they too need to find. When we then find that we have changed we can then start to see how we can help others.

Showing others kindness even when we do not like them is going to speak louder than any words or speeches you may come up with. Politicians’ words are always seen as hollow until they actually make changes in the country; then they start to make a difference. For us to show that we are kind is going to make more of a difference than us simply saying we are kind. When we can show that we want to make a difference we can then carry out our words with love because we can then see the benefit for everyone instead of just our own benefits. Jesus came to benefit the whole world and not just the disciples.

Points to Ponder:
Who do you aim to please?

If you do not aim to please God, how short will you fall?