Open Heaven Devotional 1st November 2022 (Tuesday)

MESSAGE: Open Heaven Devotional 1st November 2022

God’s standards sometimes appear tough to live by, but when you adhere to them, you would soon discover that they ultimately work in your favour. One of such standards is in Matthew 5:44: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

He said you should love your enemies. Believe me honestly, if you really have enemies and know them, you will agree with me that loving them would be a hard thing to do. Nevertheless, you must love them. In verse 45 of the same Matthew 5, the Lord said: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

In other words, if you don’t love your enemies, then you are not a child of God. If you laugh at your enemies in their day of calamity, then you are not a child of God. That is why you cannot make fun of your enemies when things are going badly for them; it is an attribute of the devil. Worse still is if you are cursing the fellow and praying that things go bad for him; you cannot do that and still call yourself a child of God. In Romans 12:14-15, the Bible says: Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

That passage did not say rejoice when your enemy is weeping, or weep when only your friends are weeping. Should there be days when your enemy is weeping, be there to comfort him or her. Pray for them that their weeping will end soon. Don’t be happy at the fall or calamity of someone else; that is not an attribute of a child of God. The Bible reading says that if you rejoice at a person’s downfall, God would be displeased with you.

Don’t annoy God.

KEY POINT:
Don’t laugh when your enemies fall.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Luke 13-14