Epilogue to 'The Happy's'

"14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."   Romans 12:14   NKJV

It would be an injustice, if I didn't offer an epilogue to our recent study of 'The Happy's' So I want to concentrate on Matthew 5:11-12 and Romans 12:14-19, just to reinforce a few issues.

Jesus made it very clear that, He had come, not to make life easy, but to make us great. He said in Matt 5:11-12, 'Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.' Do you know something? It is so difficult to be able to do this, especially when you have been treated like a doormat and walked all over; or been made a laughing stock in front of people you know and thought, supported you. It is so hard to brush aside hurt such as this. But Jesus says, 'great is your reward in heaven.' Think about it, Jesus is telling us that it is possible to rejoice and be exceedingly glad, so it has to be possible, but, only in God's strength. The more you try to do this on your own, the more likely it is to fall flat on your face. Therefore, we need God's help and this means, staying connected to Him through prayer and His word.

Moving on to Romans 12, we see in verse 14 'Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse'. Again, let us be honest, when we have been wronged badly, it is difficult not to

curse someone, either by colourful language or saying something bad about them. If we curse someone, it is not necessarly the type of words that could do them harm; it may just be detrimental about them - which is bad enough. Verse 17 tells us to 'Repay no one evil for evil' This was Jesus redefining the OT standard of. 'an eye for an eye' to turning the other cheek. But, watch this, v18 says 'If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men.' One person may want reconciliation but the other one doesn't. God does not hold us responsible for this but, expects us to at least try to put things right. If we try and it fails, we have done our best in God's eyes; so, don't beat yourself up.

Finally, do not try to avenge yourself, you will never be successful, and may even make it worse. No, leave it to God. He is the one who will avenge. As Paul writes in 12:19 ' Vengeance is mine, I will repay.' God has said this so, leave things to Him. You have done your best.

So there we have it, there is much more as I wrote yesterday so, try and dig into this study and let me know by email, how you get one. I'd love to hear from you grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

Lord Jesus, I have sinned   

I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out