Blessing Those Who Curse You
Blessing Those Who Curse You
No matter how we feel, what we think or how another person responds, God always has Love for that person…even when we don’t.
* “The Lord’s loving kindness indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.” Lamentations 3:22
The meaning of life lies in relationship. First and foremost is our relationship with God, and then our relationship with each other. LiFE is more then about just “ME”.
* “We love, because He first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
*Agape – Love is Giving
*** Love of God is what makes us known to other people. It sets us apart from non-Christians. This is our badge, our love for one another. We care and respect others and pray that they do succeed in their purpose God has called them too.
** Real Friends encouraging us to keep the word. Jesus laid down his life for his friends. Friendship based on Agape love will last forever!! GIVING to another,(not just what’s in it for Me attitude) this is how it is recognized.
When we are motivated by Love, we are joyful in what we do.
What are giving forth, giving up and giving is what Agape is about.
**”Like” is not the same as Love.
**Action is borne out of commitment. God is relentless in his pursuit of us as his children. We have to be that relentless in our pursuit of him.
** Our actions will define our love for God by obeying his commandments.
“Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.” – 2 Samuel 16:11-12
As David’s enemies were increasing and he was fleeing the city from his son Absolom who was seeking to take his throne, a man named Shimei began heaving rocks and cursing him as he passed by.
Cursing the king was against the law, so David had every right to cut off the man’s head — as his generals were encouraging him to do.
Here we see the difference between Saul and David in their response to those who would seek to do them harm. **This is the defining difference between a leader who seeks to lead through a vertical dimension with God versus a horizontal fix-it mode.
God knew David as a man after His own heart. Yet, David was a murderer, adulterer, and had failed in many areas of his life. But one thing separated this leader from all the rest: He had a heart that sought to please God and be in His will. When David blew it, he repented.
What is the purpose God desires to accomplish with the estranged relationship you may have with someone?
* Has He brought this affront to find out what is in your heart today?
* Will you seek revenge and solve the problem yourself?
*Or will you find the grace to allow God to carry out vengeance in His time if it is needed?
When I learned this lesson to stay vertical with God and avoid the trap of fixing things in my own energies, it was a day of freedom. God is the Perfect Judge and no matter what— in His Kingdom, Justice is served! No longer was it my problem.
We must examine our own heart in these matters. But if we are clean, then this affront is for character building. It is the only way God builds the deepest level of character in His saints.
God actually rises up storms of conflict in relationships at times in order to accomplish that deeper work in our character.
*We cannot love our enemies in our own strength. This is graduate-level grace.
**The gospel of Jesus is the source of Christian grace, and true Christian grace is ever shaped by the message of the crucified Messiah for sinners. Look for Jesus in all the Scriptures. Be on the lookout for God’s costly grace in every book of the Bible.
God knows the stubborn human heart. He knows that if He is to accomplish His deepest work, He must take us into the desert in order to give us the privilege to be used in His Kingdom.
In the desert God changes us and removes things that hinder us. He forces us to draw deep upon His grace.
The desert is only a season in our life. *When He has accomplished what He wants in our lives in the desert, He will bring us out.
He has given us a mission to fulfill that can only be fulfilled after we have spent adequate time in preparation in the desert.
*Fear not the desert, for it is here you will hear God’s voice like never before.
* It is here you become His bride.
* It is here you will have the idols of your life removed.
* It is here you begin to experience the reality of a living God like never before.
Someone once said, “God uses enlarged trials to produce enlarged saints so He can put them in enlarged places!”
John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
***We can do nothing by ourselves, but the Lord will do nothing by Himself.
Eph. 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
** A lack of understanding this has caused many people to miss God’s blessings.
They pray and desire God’s best, but wait on God to move independent of them.
**There are things that we must do to fulfill the righteousness of God in our lives.
*God will allow you to enjoy pleasures but your purpose will be delayed.
*Will you allow God to fulfill your purpose or will you let your vices rule?
*Stop allowing what you like to do affect your purpose in life.
* It takes great humility to recognize the call of God on your life and let Him use you.
We can see in many relationships nowadays that love is not pure. Its more about the physical feelings than of the heart. Only if JESUS is the center of any relationship can it be pure.
Let the Lord make us more like Jesus and give us a pure heart so that we will be able to love like Him. As we see in Galatians 2:20, we should die in our flesh and live like Jesus did for He lives in us. Thank You Jesus for loving me First. Lord true surrender is hard and at times I don’t want to do it. Please continue to give me strength to give it all to you for Your Glory!! In Jesus Name, Amen