“Our Daily Bread”
http://odb.org/2012/09/22/i-just-saw-jesus/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
1 Peter 4:8… And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (NKJV)
Fervent love for someone else is not just a…“I like this person”, kind of love… Some synonyms for the word fervent, are…blazing, devout, heartfelt, passionate, and intense… This is the kind of love a person has to have for the Lord, in order to become a Christian to begin with… Jesus gives us His 1st and 2nd most important commandments, in…
Matthew 22:37-40… Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (NKJV)
As Christians, if we could just get these 2 commandments down pat… everything else would fall into place… If every part of our being loved the Lord; our hearts would be filled with the love of Christ (John 14:15-17)… We would be walking with the Lord; doing our level best to live and do what Jesus calls us to do…
This would include our loving even those that are screaming in our face… These instructions come right from Jesus Himself, in…Matthew 5:43-44… “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 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,” (NKJV)
The opening scripture reveals that if we “have fervent love for one another”, this love “will cover a multitude of sins”… The world is filled with any number of sins the Christian must be able to contend with… Persecution for our beliefs…wrath or anger in our face…false accusations…gossip behind our backs…and hatred for our beliefs…are just a few of the sins we must bare… As Christians we are called to look past the faults and sins of those around us…
From my own personal experience, this is not possible in our own strength… It is only through the supernatural strength of the Holy Spirit living with-in the Christian, if He is in allowed to be in total control of what we say and do…which can help us to still show love even to someone yelling in our face…
If we are Christians in God’s eyes, and we want to be walking with the Lord as His obedient child…we must confess and repent of any and all sins…1 John 1:9…If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (NKJV) By doing so…God will deem us righteous in His sight; and we will again be filled with the Holy Spirit to help us love even our enemies…
Heavenly Father, If we are truly one of Your children, Your Word tells us that we should be able to love even our enemies… Help us Lord, to humble ourselves by submitting to Your will and Your ways… I pray for this righteous condition of spiritual peace and joy for all of Your children…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
God's group 