📜Luke 6:27 (KJB) But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
💭Wow, what an amazing thing the Lord reminded me of this morning when I heard His voice through the reading of the scriptures, re-read vs.27, “But I say unto you which hear…”. The question I pondered within my self was, “Did I really hear what I just read? Did I really listen to what was just said? Did I really receive into my heart the words of God, or just let them go in two eyes and out two ears? The concept of “hearing” is deeper than just audibly processing verbal communication into our brains from an outside source, but receiving them into our heart that would cause us to do something in response to those words. The statement Christ made reminds me of the following verse;
📜Proverbs 2:1 (KJB) My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee.
Jesus expressed this same notion in other words when He said the following;
📜“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear”, Mt 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:23, 7:16.
💭What God desires of His hearers is not just to audibly listen to the speaker in the pages, or simply read with the eyes what was recorded, but to then take those words and hide them in our heart that would cause us to respond in action to those words (Luke 8:15). When I was meditating upon the Luke 6 passage I posted earlier, I thought within myself, did I actually listen to Christ by actually doing what He stated? In this case, love my enemies, maintaining goodness to those around me (whether or not they be good or bad in return to me). I must confess, I am only human too. I often measure how much I should benefit others with my goodness by how they did so to me; but Christ teaches me something different than what my feelings say in this passage; Christ actually wants me to do good unto others regardless of their lack of goodness to me in return. So, as I examine my own faults, I truly can see that my spirituality still has so much growing to do, since I don’t naturally feel like obeying His sayings in matters like that. But, after meditating upon the passage carefully, I then purposed within my heart to respond in obedience, to exercise this to those around me today. This is challenging to do I must say, especially as a minister over the members of my congregation, when I don’t “see” mutual response to my expectations of them for their involvement with me in the ministry. I must remind myself that, I serve the Lord Christ, not the lord Carlos. Whether or not they do, I must do good, since that’s the example of the God and Father of my Lord Christ that is shown both the thankful and unthankful.
With love, Brother Carlos.🙏😊
