Bible League: Living His Word "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 makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."— Matthew 5:44-45 ESV In this section of Jesus' sermon (Matthew 5:38-48), He teaches how to deal with the difficulties we encounter every day. You cannot control what people do to you. If they want to be offensive, rude, difficult to get along with, that's their choice. But you can control how you react to this behavior. The most powerful thing you can do is let it slide right away. Don't keep it in your mind; it's not worth your time, otherwise it will steal your joy all day. Don't think about it anymore; the more you think about it, the more you relive the bitterness and hurt. Don't even tell your friends what they said. Keep your heart pure. Save your emotional energy to live this day to the fullest, to follow your goals, to love your family, to be good to your neighbors. Don't go into the next 20 years letting the same things bother you, the same co-worker gets on your nerves, the same grumpy relative steals your joy. They may not change, but here's the key: you can. Sometimes, in the flesh we train ourselves to respond in a certain way. "If they say that, I'll get upset, I'll tell them this or that. If your crazy relative makes fun of me, I will say so." The problem is that you are letting them control you. If your smart retorts don't work a certain way, it will make your day worse. Begin to take control of your mind by surrendering it to the mind of Christ. Behave well anyway, bless and don't curse. The scripture says, when you are kind to your enemies, it is like heaping coals of fire on their heads (Romans 12:20). You would think that if we treated our enemies as they treated us, that would be a good payback. "If they talk bad about me, I'll talk bad about them. If they leave me out, I will leave them out. If she is rude to me, I can also play in that game. I will be rude to him." This feeling seems good for our flesh, we return it with the same currency. But Jesus said repay with love, not with the same coin. The real way you see favor and growth is to bless your enemies. When you are good to those who are not good to you, not only will you rise higher, but God will administer justice. He will deal with those who are not treating you right. He knows how to gather coals of fire, how to exert pressure, how to make them think differently about you. By Pastor Sabri Kasemi, Bible League International partner, Albania Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingSong of Solomon 4, 5 Song of Solomon 4 -- Behold, you are beautiful, my love NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Song of Solomon 5 -- I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 2 Corinthians 13 2 Corinthians 13 -- Test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; Final Greetings NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.Insight Too often we view prayer as a time for comfort, reflection, or making our requests known to God. But here Paul urges believers to join in his struggle by means of prayer. Prayer is also a weapon in all believers' armor as we intercede for others who join in the fight against Satan. Challenge Do your prayers reflect that urgency? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 149:2 Let Israel rejoice in him.Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that thy gladness has its spring in the Lord. Thou hast much cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing with David, "God, my exceeding joy." Be glad that the Lord reigneth, that Jehovah is King! Rejoice that he sits upon the throne, and ruleth all things! Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of our gladness. That he is wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our own foolishness. That he is mighty, should cause us to rejoice who tremble at our weakness. That he is everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know that we wither as the grass. That he is unchanging, should perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That he is full of grace, that he is overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant he has given to us; that it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect us, ours to bring us to glory--all this should tend to make us glad in him. This gladness in God is as a deep river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more impetuous in its joy. The Christian feels that he may delight himself not only in what God is, but also in all that God has done in the past. The Psalms show us that God's people in olden times were wont to think much of God's actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let God's people now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell of his mighty acts, and "sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously." Nor let them ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to them day by day, so should their gladness in the Lord's loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in continued thanksgiving. Be glad ye children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 104:34 Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.Psalm 89:6 For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD, Matthew 13:46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood-- Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, Colossians 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Mark 7:24 Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. John 7:46 The officers answered, "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks." Psalm 31:16 Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your lovingkindness. Psalm 4:6 Many are saying, "Who will show us any good?" Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O LORD! New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. 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