Recently, there are several verses that have been resonating within me.
The first is Ephesians 6:12 which says, “For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.”
This verse is helpful because it points us to the fact that, as believers, our fighting is not against blood and flesh. Instead, our fighting is against Satan and his minions.
This means that, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, our prayers and our aim is always directed against God’s enemy, and we’re cognizant of the fact that the accuser is the one behind the scenes stirring up every problem.
The next verse is Matthew 5:43 which says, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”
This is one of those verses that’s easy to say while being much harder to live, yet it’s one of the charges the Lord has given to us. As kingdom people, we need to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, which is the pattern the Lord set for us on the cross.
So how can we do this? The only way is by opening to the Lord, opening every situation Him, and allowing Him to come in.
In ourselves, we don’t love our enemies, and we don’t want to pray for those who persecute us. But when the Lord was on the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
This forgiving One now lives inside of us, and we can love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us by opening ourselves to His life and allowing Christ to live in us and to come into every situation we find ourselves in.
The last verse is 1 Peter 2:23 which says, “Who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously.”
Isn’t Christ so wonderful? He was spat on, beaten, and mistreated by His creation, yet he didn’t revile or threaten in return.
What a pattern this is. As we go about our lives, we may find ourselves in different situations where we’re reviled or mistreated. But we have Christ living inside of us as the One who was reviled yet did not revile in return.
May we all open to the Lord like never before to allow His life to fill us and to allow Him to live in us as our person.
As kingdom people, our fight is not against blood and flesh, the Lord charged us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, and we have the Lord as our pattern of one who was reviled yet didn’t revile in return.
Let’s open ourselves and all of our situations to Him so we can live Him, express Him, enjoy Him, and properly represent Him on the earth today.
Testimony by J. P. on, We love our Enemies, Pray for those who Persecute, and Not Revile in Return.