| Devotionals from the Upper Room |
| This is the part of the website where I will keep the devotionals from Wednesday Nights at The Upper Room. At any given time I will probably only have 8 or 9 devotionals posted up here. But I will make a list of all the devotionals I have so you can e-mail me to recieve the ones that are not posted on the website. |
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| Love Your Enemies Read: Luke 6: 27-32 In these verses Jesus is talking about how you should love your enemies and not fight or argue back with them. In verse 29 it says, �If someone strikes you one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak (your jacket), do not stop him from taking your tunic (your shirt).� The first thing I thought after reading these verses was �Why not?� If someone was hitting me why give them another chance, or if someone is taking something of mine, why not get it back? That question is answered in Matthew 6:14 where it says, �For if you forgive men when they sing against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ASW sinners, we are constantly in search of the earthly reward. One thing that probably every one of us has thought about in our lifetime is, �What�s in it for me?� But, in Luke 6:35 it says, � But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.� According to this verse, we should forgive our enemies and we will be rewarded someday in heaven. But how many times should we forgive someone? What if our enemies don�t car about their actions and continuer to hurt us? In Matthew 18 Peter comes to Jesus and asks, �Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times? Jesus answered, �I tell you, you must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.� Forgiving our enemies may not be easy, but as Christians, we are required to obey Gods commands. Pray for your enemies, forgive them, and love them, just as our heavenly Father does every day for you. |