OT DAY 288 - A True Example of How to Love Your Enemies (Please click here for English podcast)

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Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

        
         For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
                    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12         as far as the east is from the west,
                      so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

               
                                    Psalm 103:11-12

Confession and Repentance

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (Deuteronomy 23:1-25)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+23&version=ESV

7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land. 8 Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.

                   Deuteronomy 23:7-8

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

My Listening

      There are lots of things for us to learn and think of in today's passage. I would like to draw your attention to only one thing and that is how to love you enemies. Jesus teaches us to love your enemies:
      
       43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
                                                                          Matthew 5:43-48

Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

    

     Surprisingly, Deuteronomy takes a softer stance to Edom and Egypt. The prophets often see Edom as the object of God's judgment because of its acts against Israel; Deuteronomy reminds Israel that Edom is its brother. Egypt turned Israel into serfs; Deuteronomy looks behind that to the time Egypt have hospitality to Jacob's hungry family. In other words, Deuteronomy affirms both the principle that wrongdoing is subject to punishment and the principle that Israel should love its enemies. In different contexts, one or the other may have priority.  

John Goldingay. Numbers & Deuteronomy for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.174.

      So, have you learned some new things about how to love your enemies? Are you still angry with some people who hurt you long time ago and you still can't forgive their sins and evil deeds? If so, today's is a good time to forgive them so that you won't be trapped in the darkness of the spirit of unforgiving. Or, take a big step, you can choose to love them instead! 

      What is your choice today? 

Dear Lord Jesus, 
Help us to forgive those who have hurt us or even to be able to love them.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:
1. Have you learned some new things about how to love your enemies today?

2. Are you still angry with some people who hurt you long time ago and you still can't forgive their sins and evil deeds? What is your choice today?

Praise and Thanksgiving

Let's give thanks for God with us. Let us praise Him:

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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