My devotion took me to Matthew 5 this morning. A chapter I am very familiar with. Last week I had someone that I do not know send me an email and he made comments to me that were not nice to say the least. He had actually dropped some F Bombs on me. I did not do anything wrong, he is just responding out of his wound. It still hurt though never the less. Okay … let's be honest … for a moment it made me so mad I wanted to go to his work and whip his ASS! (Just for a moment) It took me a couple of hours to get over this, and I did. I had to continue to tell myself that it was not personal. I had two different people tell me "It is not you Kevin but the Jesus in you that he is mad at." This morning as I am reading I come across this.
Matthew 5:11-12
"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. NASB95
Matthew 5:44-46 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? NASB95
So my question is this. Have you been persecuted lately and if you have ….. How did you react?
I have not been persecuted of late for the name of Jesus, but when I can get out and go witness on the streets, in love and compassion and loving kindness, it happens every single time. No offenses are taken. I don't assume, WHY they are and I don't put significance to the resposes. Oddly enough, not as in the past, the reaction or response was love, not judgment. I guess this great book that was recommended to me by a friend has helped me in this area in a tremendous way. : )
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