hate

October 10, 2020

“Hate What Is Evil”

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. —Romans 12:9b NIV

The word hate seems almost totally opposed to the rest of Scripture. But we are told in Ecclesiastes, that there is a time to hate. It is hard for us to imagine God hating anything.  I think that is because we cannot comprehend the depth of His love for us and the price He paid to redeem us. God hates sin, but He loves the sinner. We are to follow His example in this. In our world, we are subjected to so much evil that we are losing our sensibilities to it. We must be very careful in our use of hate. satan will try to trick us into hating the sinner as well as the sin.As C S Lewis says in his book “The Screwtape Letters”:
“The demonic objective is to convince the hater that his/her hate is justified. The people who are being hated, deserve to be hated. Satan will even pervert the scripture in the cause of hate.”
Hating the sinner is never justified. So, after Paul tells us to hate what is evil, he immediately reminds us to “cling to what is good”. We must keep our focus on Jesus, if we are to cling to what is good. If we learn to truly hate what is evil, there are times when we will have to speak out against it. We need to pray without ceasing for discernment and boldness to do just that. Jesus shows us this example when He chased the money changers out of the temple.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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October 9, 2020

“Really Love Them”

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. – Romans 12:9-10 NLT

Unfortunately, the English language has one word for “love” so it can be confusing as to what we mean sometimes. To say we “love” our family, “love” our car and “love” ice cream, we use the same word, but the depth of feeling for each category would not be the same (at least, one would hope not). So, what does sincere love mean and how do we show it?   The Greek language has five or more words that can be translated “love”. The Greek word used here is “agape” which means affection, good will, love, or benevolence. So, the definition gives us some hints of what it is and how we can show it. Affection means to show tenderness or warmth to others. There are instances of people who have broken into tears because someone has tenderly touched them.  The human touch is an amazing thing and it is one way we can show sincere love.  Just as Jesus touched the lepers, we must be willing to touch the “untouchables”.  We can show sincere love with our benevolence. This can, but does not necessarily, include monetary gifts. Jesus said a cup of water given in His Name was showing your love for Him. It can be as simple as a smile or a hello or it can be complex, as shown in the story of the Good Samaritan. Either way, it requires us to be involved in the lives of those around us. One study has shown that  it takes at least seven touches to lead someone to Christ. We can show sincere love by being one of the seven.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

June 9, 2020

“Love Each Other”

17 This is my command: Love each other. – John 15:17 NLT

John 15:16-21 NLT

Are you getting the feeling that we are stuck on this “love” theme. Love the Father, love me, love each other? We are and we should be. After all, the author of the Bible is perfect, complete Love.

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.–1 John 4:8 (NCV)

​The world is full of hate. Those that walk in the flesh despise people that love. We have been chosen out of the world, but as long as we inhabit this fleshly tent, we will remain in the world. While we are here, it is our job to show the world love. Some of them will be drawn to Jesus through that, others will not be so kind. The name of Jesus is powerful. Every time a person hears that name, they have to make a decision. They will either be for Jesus or against Jesus. If they are against Jesus, they will offend and persecute us. We hear about it in the news every day. You can talk about religion all day and nobody cares, but just mention the Name of Jesus and there will be, there must be, a reaction. It gets personal because it is personal. It requires each of us to build a relationship with a living Savior that is founded on and built with LOVE!

March 19, 2019

“Loss of Temper Leads to Harm”

8 Stop being angry!  Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm. — Psalm 37:8 NLT
Psalm 37: 1-9 NLT
Considering all that is going on in this country and around the world, this is a very timely message.  Every day we see the wasteful results of those that choose to express their anger with violence and illegal acts.  God gave us our emotions and one of those is anger.  There is an anger that comes from righteous indignation when we see the evil being done to others in our cities across the world.  But that anger must be controlled and pointed in the right direction.  Our response must be to hate the sin and love the sinner.  Unless we are expressing our feelings about sin and evil actions, we should never use the word “hate”. Jesus has set the standard.  We are not allowed to pick what we will love or hate, He has already shown us the right way.  We are all guilty of allowing our anger to control us at times, so we need to learn to pray before we react to any situation.  
We must pray for those that have been deceived into thinking that violence is a solution to their issues.  Each of us needs to set aside a few minutes of each day to pray about this issue and for praying especially for the cities that we call home.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 03-19-2019

August 5, 2018

“Disorder and Every Kind of Evil”

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16 For wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. – James 3:16 ISV
 
James 3:13-16 ISV
Wisdom is defined as “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight”.  So, what we consider wisdom is largely determined by whatever belief system we adhere to.  Since worldly religious systems are based on beliefs that do not believe in and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord are laid on an erroneous foundation, then any wisdom based on those beliefs will have error in it. So, it is very possible to be religious, have tons of knowledge, be worldly-wise and still be wrong.  Such wisdom is considered foolishness by God.

 

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” — 1 Cor. 3:18, 19

This difference between beliefs in worldly wisdom and Christianity is used by satan to create chaos and violence. The people committing the acts of violence do so because in the “wisdom” of their religion it is “just judgment” to those who do not adhere to their beliefs. This “wisdom” does not come down from heaven. . The wider and deeper the differences in Christianity and any particularly world religion, the more problems and issues it will create. Some worldly religions teach their followers to hate and destroy the enemy.  We should be thankful every second of every day that we serve a Savior who teaches us to love.  His love for us not only requires that we love Him, our family and our friends, but also our enemies.  

 

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. — Matt. 5:43-45

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
Post 08-05-2018
March 16, 2018

“Cling to What is Good”

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Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. —Romans 12:9b NIV

The word hate seems almost totally opposed to the rest of Scripture. But we are told in Ecclesiastes, that there is a time to hate. It is hard for us to imagine God hating anything.  I think that is because we cannot comprehend the depth of His love for us and the price He paid to redeem us. God hates sin, but He loves the sinner. We are to follow His example in this. In our world, we are subjected to so much evil that we are losing our sensibilities to it. We must be very careful in our use of hate. satan will try to trick us into hating the sinner as well as the sin.

As C S Lewis says in his book “The Screwtape Letters”:
“The demonic objective is to convince the hater that his/her hate is justified. The people who are being hated, deserve to be hated. Satan will even pervert the scripture in the cause of hate.”

Hating the sinner is never justified. So, after Paul tells us to hate what is evil, he immediately reminds us to “cling to what is good”. We must keep our focus on Jesus, if we are to cling to what is good. If we learn to truly hate what is evil, there are times when we will have to speak out against it. We need to pray without ceasing for discernment and boldness to do just that. Jesus shows us this example when He chased the money changers out of the temple.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 03-16-2018

November 12, 2017

Hate Is Without Reason

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25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.-John 15:25 NLT

Jesus says that if He had not come to earth to tell us His story then we might have a reason to sin. But now we have no excuse to continue living a sinful lifestyle. If we hate our neighbors, we will also hate Jesus and our Father, God. Still, every day we hear about more violence and more persecution. Christians are being beaten, and they are being thrown out of their homes just because they won’t deny Jesus. In North Korea, when a person accepts Christ, the pastor always makes sure that the person accepting Christ understands that they are signing their own death warrant. Even though, Christians are bringing a message of life to a dying world, very few people want to hear about it. Why? Because satan roams the world looking for those he can destroy. Just as God is perfect, complete love, satan is total, complete hate. satan’s motivation and weapons are envy, deceit and hate. Why do others hate Christians? Jesus made it very simple, they do not need a reason, a hater is going to hate.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 11-12-2017

July 28, 2017

Mercy Mixed With Fear

even-smaller-bug-light123 Take others out of the fire, and save them. Show mercy mixed with fear to others, hating even their clothes which are dirty from sin. ​ – Jude 23 NCV

We live in the times Jude is describing in these verses. Everyday, we read more and more articles and hear more comments about people who either disrespect Christianity or refuse to believe in God. They are becoming much more militant in their actions each day, demanding more and more rights but at the same time wanting to limit the rights of others. They use all manner of deception and false claims that others are mistreating them. We must stand firm in our beliefs and refuse to compromise the truth that is laid out in the Scriptures. God has not changed His mind about what He knows to be sin. After all, does the Creator not know what actions will harm the creatures He so lovingly created? Which of us can say to the Creator, “hey, you made a mistake”? After all God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient. We must encourage new believers to stand firm and grow in the faith. We do this with love and mercy, just as God has shown love and mercy to us. We “snatch others from the flames of judgment” by witnessing to them about Jesus. We must do this also with great love and mercy, not judging them for their sins, but showing them a different way of life. We must love the sinner and hate the sin just as God does. As we do this, we must be sure not to allow the sins to contaminate our lives​.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 07-28-2017

January 24, 2017

What Voice Are We Hearing?

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5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. — Romans 8:5 NLT
Romans 8:5-9 NLT

How can we know if we are being led by God’s Spirit or by our flesh? If we are giving in to the flesh, we will be prideful, we will harbor hate, anger, resentment and bitterness. The acts that our flesh produces are illicit sex, perversion, promiscuity, idolatry, drug use, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambition, conflict, factions, envy, drunkenness, wild partying, and similar things. If we are Spirit led, we will show others love and respect. God’s Spirit produces (in us) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should all take a few moments alone with God and examine our actions for the last few days. What voice are listening to? Who are we following? Flesh? or Spirit?

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
Post 01-24-2017
January 18, 2017

“I Once Was Lost in Sin…”

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3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.

— Titus 3:3 NLT


We all know that we once lived disobedient lives. We did foolish things and our minds were filled with covetous and unkind thoughts. We were envious of others and always complaining about our situations. We were convinced that others had it so much better than we did. Satan tries to get us to remember, so that we feel condemned, but God wants us to remember so that we stay humble. So, God revealed Himself to us through His Spirit, we were convicted and repented of our sins. He washed away our sins with the blood of Jesus. Not because of some wonderful, powerful act that we did, but simply because of His mercy and grace. We should ask God to fill us with the same kind of compassion that Jesus had for others and gently lead them to Christ. We must remember to remain humble because we were once in that same sinful condition.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 071-17-2017