September 12 Devotion - ABCD

If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُخَاصِمَكَ وَيَأْخُذَ ثَوْبَكَ فَاتْرُكْ لَهُ الرِّدَاءَ أَيْضاً.41. وَمَنْ سَخَّرَكَ مِيلاً وَاحِداً فَاذْهَبْ مَعَهُ اثْنَيْنِ.

42. مَنْ سَأَلَكَ فَأَعْطِهِ وَمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَقْتَرِضَ مِنْكَ فَلاَ تَرُدَّهُ.    وَسَمِعْتُمْ أَنَّهُ قِيلَ: تُحِبُّ قَرِيبَكَ وَتُبْغِضُ عَدُوَّكَ. ⁴⁴ أَمَّا أَنَا فَأَقُولُ لَكُمْ: أَحِبُّوا أَعْدَاءَكُمْ، وَبَارِكُوا لاَعِنِيكُمْ، وَأَحْسِنُوا مُعَامَلَةَ الَّذِينَ يُبْغِضُونَكُمْ، وَصَلُّوا لأَجْلِ الَّذِينَ يُسِيئُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَيَضْطَهِدُونَكُمْ،

Matthew 5:40-44

At one of my work assignments, the organization encouraged people to go beyond their job descriptions and their objectives. When a person did that they got an ABCD award. Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.

How can we get an ABCD award in our Christian life when the bar is as high as Jesus puts it? On our own we cannot because we cannot even meet the bar that Jesus has set. In my opinion these verses are there to teach us three things:

·     One lesson is: that is the nature of God. That is how He loves and treats us.

·     The second is: to show us that on our own we cannot but through The Holy Spirit we can.

·     The third is: that we can never do enough works to enter heaven, we need the Grace of God demonstrated by the justification we experience through the death of Jesus in our place.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, thank You for Your gifts from the lowest pulsation of life to the highest powers of action and of continued existence. God, I acknowledge my constant and absolute dependence on You for in You Lord I live and move and have my being. Acts 17:28 Lord, strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being to go the extra mile and to be generous toward others. Thank You Jesus that you sympathize with my weaknesses and that You are my high priest to whom I take my needs, and through You Jesus I can come boldly to God’s throne of grace. Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. Psalm 16:1 Let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over us that those who love your name may rejoice in You. Psalm 5:11 Give ear to my words, O Lord, Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. Psalm 5:1-2  Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:10. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever, and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein