Forgive Your Enemies

Either Jesus means what He says or He’s the biggest phony that has ever lived! He told us to live by the Golden Rule:

Luke 6:27-31 (CPV)

Love your enemies, deal kindly with those who hate you, give your blessings to those who give you their cursing, pray for those insulting you. When somebody slaps you on one side of the face, offer the other side too. And if a guy takes your shirt, don't stop him from taking your undershirt. Give to every beggar, and don't ask someone who takes your stuff to bring it back. Just as you want people to act towards you, you act the same way towards them.

God won’t command us to do something if He doesn’t mean it! What God commands He also obeys.

Luke 23:34 (MSG)

Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don't know what they're doing.”

God wouldn’t command us to do something if we couldn’t do it!

Philippians 4:11 – 13 (AMP)

¹¹ Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am.

   

¹² I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want.

¹³ I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

(KJV)

¹³ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Once again, there’s no need for comments by me!

References:

King James Version (KJV)—Public Domain/ 1604, King James I of England

Amplified Bible (AMP)—Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

The Message Bible (MSG)—Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson

Retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/ BibleGateway.com © Copyright 1995-2010 Gospel Communications International Amplified Bible

Cotton Patch Version (CPV)—Copyright © 1968 by Clarence Jordan Cotton Patch Version (CPV)—Copyright © 1968 by Clarence Jordan—Retrieved from http://rockhay.tripod.com/cottonpatch/index.htm

Email: classicdevotionals@gmail.com

1 + 1 = 1

When does one plus one equal one? Figure this out and you will figure out the secret of the universe!

Mark 10:5-9 (MSG)

Jesus said, "Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."

“God created male and female to be together. . . no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity.”

This is how love works!

The Message Bible (MSG)—Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson

Retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/  BibleGateway.com © Copyright 1995-2010 Gospel Communications International 

Email: classicdevotionals@gmail.com

Pain

Do you ever feel like you just can’t stand the pain anymore? I sure do. The other day I had some treatment using a new electronic gadget and it stirred up all kinds of toxins in my body that had been lying dormant for years. I felt was far worse after the treatment than before. The doctor knows what is best for our recovery, even if he brings pain. This also applies with our Heavenly Physician:

Hebrews 12:10-11 (MSG)

God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”—C.S. Lewis

The Message Bible (MSG)—Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson

Retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/  BibleGateway.com © Copyright 1995-2010 Gospel Communications International Amplified Bible

C.S. Lewis— The Problem of Pain – 1940

Email: classicdevotionals@gmail.com

Time is flying by

Doesn’t it seem like time is flying by?

It seems like just yesterday I posted my last blog. When I was young the old timers would say that as you get older time would fly by, but I don’t think this is what they meant. Jesus said,

Matthew 24:22 (AMP)

And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would endure and survive, but for the sake of the elect (God's chosen ones) those days will be shortened.

I thank God that the days are whizzing by! But it causes you to stay up on your toes; to-do-lists need to be done as soon as possible or else they will never get done—don’t put them off!

(AMP)—Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

Retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/  BibleGateway.com © Copyright 1995-2010 Gospel Communications International Amplified Bible

Email: classicdevotionals@gmail.com