“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:32-36
I wonder how many were loving to people at the mad sales tonight/tomorrow, if they really checked their hearts and watched their words.
I wonder how many of us exclude those that need our love the most because we see them as 'sinners' not worthy to receive our love until they repent......when Jesus walked the earth He loved them, went to their place ate and drank with them. He did not stay in 'safe' places, only Christians around Him all the time.
How can we do this? show our love for them, Christ's love for them, when we tend to keep to our own 'circles' ?
We have gotten so use to those we 'hang' with that we forget to reach out to others. We forget where we came from (I know some had a Christian background so they've always been 'saved'). It's something the Lord needs to give us/me revelation on.
God has been bringing to my mind just how lost I was and what my lifestyle was like.....what Christian in their right mind would want to spend any time with me??!!
But you know what, there were some that did just that, they were so sound in their walk with Christ that they were able to love me in the midst of my sin.....it was their love for God and their taking time to talk to me (to my hubby and me--living together at the time).....that peaked my interest, stirred my soul.
"because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
Because of my past, I know that some, if not most of those that seem ungrateful and wicked or hateful are really hurting on the inside, they are scared, alone, unsure of who they can trust. Shouldn't we me merciful as our Father is merciful? Shouldn't we be kind?
I don't really know where this came from tonight, I was just sitting her talking to the Lord and this came out. My hearts desire is to reach people by showing them the love of Jesus, not to condemn them. I believe when they see how I,- how my husband and I live- (even the part where we need to repent because we sinned--we will not reach perfection until the day we enter Heaven but because of our robe of righteousness the Father sees Jesus when He looks at us) that it will give hope and later conviction to someone who will in turn begin to seek the Lord and learn His ways.
Why would the Bible say to confess our sins to one another if we never sinned after accepting the Lord and being baptized? He shed His blood, died a horrible death on the cross so our sins would be covered. He knew it would be a journey and the neat thing is He knows our HEART. He knows if it's just lip service. Are we saying 'don't do .......' and then we turn around and do it? My point here is......we have all sinned, so why do we see our sins of less consequence over those that are still in the world? How many Christians have lusted with their eyes? or told a lie? .....
I've been praying the Lord will show me where He wants me and that He will reveal to me How he walked, sat with, ate with and was merciful to the 'sinners'. He said -- "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Show me Lord, how and what you said and did to open the eyes of the lost; to bring hope to the hopeless; how You stayed strong in the midst of the 'sinners' you sat with. I'm sure they did not watch how they talked, dressed or acted and yet there You were in their midst, Your heart so full of love for them, longing for them to accept Your Truth. How do You want me to show Your love to them today? Where do you want me to go? I desire to be Your Light to a dying world.
In Jesus Name I Pray........Amen
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