Feeling Persecuted?

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:43-45 NKJV Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Often, people we think are our friends are in fact, not. And, often the people we see as our enemy turn out to be good for us. GOD uses seemingly bad situations to grow, refine, and distinguish us--not to harm or destroy us. The events of our lives--whether good or bad--shape us into the person we are. If we exercise faith and put our trust in GOD, He will walk with us through the trials of life (Isaiah 43:1-3). Nothing and no one who opposes us can overtake us. His Word tells us that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39) and that all things work together for good for those who love GOD (Romans 8:28). Proverbs 2:6-13 offers much wisdom, "For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;" When we feel we have been treated poorly, used, abused, taken advantage of, or completely wronged in any way, it is hard to feel anything other than animosity towards the person who hurt us. However, the above text, the very words of Jesus Himself, instruct us to bless and not curse--to love and not hate--to pray for those who use or persecute us. In our humanity, this is a complete impossibility. However, if we heed the words of Paul to the Galatians in Galatians 5:14-16, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." We must diminish our flesh and feed our spirit in order to overcome our own human nature. Where do we begin? We start with worship. When it is the most difficult to worship is when we need to worship the most. It is easy to be thankful & worshipful when things are going well. The true test of our faith is when we can worship and trust GOD when times are hard & the future seems uncertain. It is easy to become distracted by the cares of this life and forget that this life is indeed temporary & the next is our eternal state, a time we will spend in joy & bliss as we and countless believers along with the angelic host worship GOD in Heaven for all eternity. We need to be practicing for it now. So, whatever your situation, whatever forces seem to be opposing you, regardless as to how hopeless things may seem--WORSHIP Him, trust Him, claim His promises for your life & use words of faith to speak life over yourself & those you love. Proverbs is filled with wisdom in this area. "From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward." Proverbs 12:14 "From the fruit of their mouth a person's stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied."Proverbs 18:20 "From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence." Proverbs 13:2 "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence." Proverbs 10:11 Our words have power. Need I say more? Something to think about... Blessings! Tony