YOU ARE INVITED, THE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN: JESUS HAS EXTENDED THE INVITATION, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED IN TO SPEND THIS LIFE AND YOUR LIFE AFTER THIS WITH HIM. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND HEART SO HE CAN SAVE YOU, MOLD YOU INTO A NEW CREATION. WILL YOU ACCEPT, WILL YOU SAY YES TODAY?
INTRODUCTION: THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE: YOUR HATERS/ENEMIES NEED LOVE TOO!
Matthew 5:43-48
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
As human beings, we will have enemies. These people are definitely against your happiness and progress. They want you to fail, and they try at any opportunity to hurt you. When you are successful, they are miserable and jealous of you. The scriptures are very clear; God wants us to love everyone. That includes your family members, friends, strangers, and enemies. What matters is faithful obedience from the heart.
God requires us to do this and we should want to do it because we are loved by God and we love God. Col 1:21. We all were once alienated from God and were enemies in our minds because of our evil behavior.
Loving our enemies doesn’t mean allowing them to continue to hurt us. Loving Your Enemies Empowers You, show that Jesus is the Lord of your life, you do what God wants you to do, and put you on your knees more often in prayer. Often enemies start as friends, and something goes wrong in the relationship, such as marriages, friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors, and other Christians.. Some describe an enemy as a "bad friend". Your enemies are here to make you more like Christ
“We cannot pray in love and live in hate and still think we are worshipping God”. -A.W. Tozer
On November 17, 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. preached a sermon on loving our enemies, and here are some things he mentioned in the sermon:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
a person “to discover the element of good in his enemy, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there
“hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. . . . The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. . . . and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.”
SCRIPTURES TO LIVE BY:
Proverbs 24:17-18- “Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them”!
Proverbs 25:21-22- “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. 22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you”.
Romans 12:14- “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them”.
NEXT WEEK, WE WILL CONTINUE WITH THE SERIES: THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE: OUR LOVE FOR JESUS REQUIRES OBEDIENCE!
Next week read: John 14:15
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REMEMBER MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS, IT TAKES GRACE TO MAKE IT!
Remember my sisters and brothers, it takes GRACE TO MAKE IT!