Scripture: Proverbs 25; Romans 12.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Proverbs 25:21-22 (NLT)

21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.

22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the LORD will reward you.

Romans 12:19-21 (NLT)

19
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.

20
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

21
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Looking at the subject, one might quickly wonder why we would even discuss how to treat your enemies if we are not supposed to have any. I would encourage you to take a reality check and be honest with yourself, then you will quickly acknowledge that yes there are those that either hate you, or strongly oppose you. In fact, they often act like they are your enemy. This happened in the case of Jesus, so I’m sure that each of you can identify with this, if you are really honest with yourself. Now that we have that part settled, let’s look at the Word to see how we should treat these individuals. God says that we are to treat them with special or particular interest. In other words, give special attention to how you treat these folk. One thing revealed to me as I meditated on this, is that we have no control over how someone acts towards us, or even if they hate us. However, we can do lots on our side to help deal with and even correct the situation. Are we doing something that could be turning the other person against us? Are we doing everything we can to love that person just like the most favorite person on our ‘friend list’? Are we praying for the success and wellbeing of that person? Are we asking God to show us any wicked way in our character so that we will not be a ‘thorn’ in that person’s side? You see, we cannot correct the other person that we feel is being totally ridiculous in hating us, but we can use that as an indicator that we must not be doing something right for them to feel the way they do. Let’s seek God’s guidance on what we might do to put us more in line with His will for our lives, and what we can do to help us be more like Him in all that we do or say.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, there were folk that stoned You, arrested You, beat You and crucified You, yet You would open the gates of Heaven for either of them that would surrender their hearts and accept You as Lord and Savior of their lives. I believe that there are folk out there that also try to trip me up for one reason or another. Please show me my flaws today and give me direction for a walk that will please You in every way. Please help me to treat those that may otherwise despise or hate me, with the love that You displayed for those that often persecuted You. Please help me to love all who will cross my path today.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
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