Rejoice and Leap for Joy!
We had a great Men's Bible Study this morning at 5 AM. The group of 10 men was ready to study Luke 6 and apply what we learned in their lives. It excites me to see this desire. I know it pleases the Lord, and He honors that kind of heart.
We continued in our discussion of the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus made sure to emphasize how we are blessed by God for being hated, excluded, and reviled for His sake. He said for us to "rejoice and leap for joy." Now, I have seen a lot of reactions to hatred, exclusion, and being reviled, but I have not seen that type of unbridled joy very often. What was Jesus trying to get across? We must not be men pleasers, because most people are going down the broad road to destruction, as they think and do the opposite of God's will. We must be focused on pleasing God, and when we do, many people will lash out at us, because of the guilt of their sin. However, when we stand up for Jesus, He will make sure we receive His blessings here and in Heaven.
In fact, we need to know that we are in a bad situation if all people speak well of us, because that is how people react to false prophets. We don't want to be in that group. We want to stand with the prophets of God who speak the truth in love. Oh yeah, that was the end of the study today. Jesus went on to add that we are to love our enemies, and do good to those who hate us. We are to bless them and pray for them. Man, what a life! Rejoicing at persecution and acting in a loving way toward our enemies. If we do that like Jesus did, we will definitely stick out in this world, and people around us will take notice that we have been with Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 30-31 and Philemon.
We continued in our discussion of the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus made sure to emphasize how we are blessed by God for being hated, excluded, and reviled for His sake. He said for us to "rejoice and leap for joy." Now, I have seen a lot of reactions to hatred, exclusion, and being reviled, but I have not seen that type of unbridled joy very often. What was Jesus trying to get across? We must not be men pleasers, because most people are going down the broad road to destruction, as they think and do the opposite of God's will. We must be focused on pleasing God, and when we do, many people will lash out at us, because of the guilt of their sin. However, when we stand up for Jesus, He will make sure we receive His blessings here and in Heaven.
In fact, we need to know that we are in a bad situation if all people speak well of us, because that is how people react to false prophets. We don't want to be in that group. We want to stand with the prophets of God who speak the truth in love. Oh yeah, that was the end of the study today. Jesus went on to add that we are to love our enemies, and do good to those who hate us. We are to bless them and pray for them. Man, what a life! Rejoicing at persecution and acting in a loving way toward our enemies. If we do that like Jesus did, we will definitely stick out in this world, and people around us will take notice that we have been with Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 30-31 and Philemon.