God's ways and thoughts are higher than man's (Isaiah 55:9). That is why an unredeemed person might scorn or dismiss a passage like Luke 6:27-28. Yeshua's instructions would seem unreasonable:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
It is human nature to recoil at offenses. But as partakers of His divine nature, God equips His talmidim (disciples or students) to deflect and defuse personal attacks. Yes, we battle our flesh and make mistakes. In a war of words we say things we later regret. Yet we can ask Adonai to conform us to His likeness, which is reflected in His command above. The Holy Spirit empowers us to walk a new way.
That new way is expressed in the Greek word for love, agapao, and its corresponding noun, agape. According to Vine's Expository Dictionary, agapao describes the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being toward unworthy objects, an idea previously unknown in Greek literature. It also fosters reverential love in them toward the Giver, and a practical love toward those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others seek the Giver. When Adonai calls us to bless an accuser, He doesn't mean a half-hearted response like, "bless you, friend," and you move on. Luke uses the Greek word eulogeo for bless, from which we get our English word eulogize. It means to speak well of or invoke a benediction. Think of it: we are slandered in public or private and God demands that we praise or extol the person. And mean it.
Expressing agape love to an adversary is impossible without an imparting of God's Spirit. Carnal man cannot manufacture it. The enemy described in Luke is the other extreme. He targets the believer with insults and false accusations. His heart is devoid of mercy. Yet Yeshua commands us to stand down, swallow our pride and serve as a buffer between darkness and light, good and evil. When we bless, we are blessed. Verse 35 says our reward is great, for we become sons of the Most High. What could be better than that?
Good word from an unknown author. Hat tip to Rinah Shalom:
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our mobile phones and use it as much as our mobile?1) What if we carried it around on our belt, in our handbag or pockets?
2) What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
3) What if we flipped through it several times a day?
4) What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
5) What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
6) What if we gave it to our kids as a gift?
7) What if we used it as we traveled?
8) What if we used it in case of an emergency?What if God showed us how many minutes a month have we devoted to read the Bible compared with how many minutes we have used our mobile? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our mobile phones, we don't ever have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Yeshua already paid the bill!
Posted by Jeff King at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)
When I was young the only people sporting tattoos roamed in biker gangs. Society viewed them as outlaws and misfits. Today it is an artform in America. You're a misfit if you don't have one. Teenage girls walk in public with tattoos etched across their lower back, visible only because they delight in exposing their midriff. It is a universal symbol of cool.
What's even more troubling is that many of these young people claim to be Christians. Perhaps they have never read or considered God's warning to the ancient Israelites in Leviticus 19:28 – "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD." Commentary from the Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts:
Inculcating reverence for the human body as the work of God, the Torah prohibits tattooing . . . cutting the flesh and tattooing the skin were closely connected with idolatrous usages among the Canaanites. In their demonstration of grief and bereavement, they gashed and mutilated themselves, offering their blood as a sacrifice to the dead."
Yeshua offered His blood as a sacrifice so you and I might live. As such, we should listen and obey the Word so that we do not offend the One who delivered us from death.
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Yeshua HaMashiach – Gal. 1:11-12
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16), but what kind of prayer should a tsaddick, the Hebrew term for a righteous person, offer to God? Forget the Prayer of Jabez, Osteen or Hinn. The apostle Paul nails it in Ephesians 1:17, praying that believers receive "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." The Greek work for revelation, apokalupsis, can be rendered disclosure or appearing.
Our faith is dead without revelation knowledge of Adonai. We can't know him personally. His attributes remain hidden. That is why Paul's prayer to the church at Ephesus should be a model for all Christians. As a chosen generation, royal priesthood and holy nation, may we see our Redeemer in all His fullness and glory.