February 12,
2016
Week 5 ~ Day 5
Read: Luke 6:27-28
SOAP: Luke 6:27-28
S:
“But I tell you
who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who
curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.”
O&A:
Oh, my Yah. Your Word is so rich! I haven’t even gotten past “hear” in my
studies, but I am listening to Your Ruach, and will address my learning of that
shortly.
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those
who mistreat you. What I am receiving
from these words of wisdom is to do what is contrary to our flesh! What do we want to do in these
circumstances? I can’t answer for anyone
else, but especially before following Yeshua, I would rather do nothing to
those who hate me, I probably didn’t want to bless those who cursed me, and if
I prayed for those who mistreated me, it may not be a selfless prayer. I certainly didn’t love my enemies.
Fast forward to
today’s times à
What is a standard
response to getting hurt? You step on something
(Legos are the worst); do you want to kick it away from you? There have been times I may or may not have
threatened to burn all Legos that I step on.
What about if someone steps on your toes in the theater as they sidle
past to their seat? Or your dog rakes
his claws across your bare toes? (Sorry
for all of the toes being mentioned here - I inherited my mom’s sensitive feet,
plus I have some nerve issues from the junk going on in my back, so they are
totally over-receptive to pain, and therefore providing a great platform for
teaching AGAINST the flesh.)
What about someone
who spews mean and hurtful words at you like venom? Is our natural response, “Bless you! Love you!”
If it is, we should make certain it’s not the Southern mannerism of
“Bless your heart”, which everyone knows doesn’t always mean the speaker has
your best interest in mind. Same with
“I’ll pray for you.” Will we really pray
for them, asking Abba to have His way, or are we being facetious? The point is, we tend to have an inclination
to lash out when we are offended, or hurt, almost like a defense
mechanism.
Yeshua is seemingly
telling us (those with ears to hear, who are willing to listen, and understand,
and discern what He is REALLY saying), “Do what is contrary to your flesh. Don’t hate your enemies, don’t do bad to
those who hate you, don’t curse those who curse you, and don’t speak/think bad
about those who mistreat you.” Don’t
give in to what your flesh thinks is right, because the flesh is generally at
odds (best circumstance) with YHVH’s Spirit within you, or completely opposite
the Ruach within you.
If we have ears
that don’t hear, we are spiritually deaf.
Sometimes it’s a missed opportunity, and other times, maybe it’s more selective
hearing. What we hear isn’t what we want
to hear, so we pretend not to hear it, or say, “That part is not really
for me.” We have become our own masters
at that point. We are dividing the Word,
but not rightly so, as outlined in 2 Timothy 2:15.
As a mom (my boys call me Eema – Hebrew for
mom), I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of selective
hearing. As a homeschooling Momma, I
double-dog know it. “Come on fellas,
time to start math!” -crickets- “Guys, come on, y’all, it’s your night for
cleaning the kitchen.” -quiet grumbles
(sometimes, not always)- “Sons, y’all
want to have some –“ – can’t even finish the question because they know there’s
a treat in store, lol. (Disclaimer: I’m
totally not bashing my kids, just using these as examples. They are learning to hear and obey,
physically and spiritually, just as their parents are.) Selective listening
isn’t just for our children, but as His children, do we sometimes still
practice it? How about the selective
spiritual hearing?
In order to hear
what Yeshua is saying, we must stop listening with only the holes on the
sides of our heads, and listen with the spirit that YHVH put in us. Pardon my bluntness, but if the hearing were
only for the physical ears, then a person with physically limited hearing, or
no physical hearing at all, would never have the opportunity to receive
Messiah, nor the Word of Elohim!!! This
is specific to me, because I do have issues with my ears. I almost lost my hearing when I was around 6
years old. I had constant, chronic ear
infections for a long time, and had to have P.E. tubes put into my ears. Even now, at somewhere in the vicinity of
specifically 36 years of age, I still get really bad ear aches, sometimes
infections, and I still have a hard time hearing at times. I have difficulty hearing my husband when he
speaks in lower tones, can’t hear anyone if I’m in the kitchen and the water is
running, have a hard time hearing voices on the phone that I’m not familiar
with, etc., etc., etc., and when I go to the Dr., they always ask me if I knew
that I had such terrible scarring in my ears.
I might be discouraged if it were the case that I could only hear Abba
with these flawed ears! But
praise Him! That is not our only means
of hearing Him!
Look past the
physicality, and into the spiritual meaning.
Do we have a teachable spirit?
That’s what He is looking for.
You can’t teach someone who won’t listen. Spiritual ears mean understanding with the
heart, and turning to follow Yeshua in the Words and teachings of YHVH. Ears to hear.
Eyes to see. Let him hear à put the words of Messiah into action,
rather than just listening to them.
Don’t just sit in the assembly or fellowship and receive a temporary
fullness of Messiah. Take what is
learned, and apply it, share it, help transform lives by sharing the besorah –
the Good News. Live out the Good News by
the spiritual hearing of Yeshua’s teachings, and the physical doing of His
words.
P:
Abba, You have
really deposited a lot into me this morning, and I praise You! Abba, I pray that those who are willing to accept
Your teachings, Your ways, Your right-rulings, and Your Son as their Messiah
will have ears to hear of Your Good News on the very day that they are reading
this. I pray that we, Your people, will
stop selectively hearing Your word, and be totally teachable by You.
Abba, I lift up in
prayer all whom I have hated and even disliked, those I have cursed, those I
have mistreated, those I have spoken ill of, and I ask You, Abba, in Yeshua’s name,
that You would forgive me, no matter how far back those offenses reach. It’s not that I’ve never asked this, but I
seek severance, Abba, of unfruitful vines, withering vines, and when these
things come to mind, I give them to You.
I praise You, Abba, and I thank You, for there is none like You. I can’t go back in time and erase my deeds,
but You are able to speak into hearts and change outcomes.
You are forgiving,
and loving. Abba, I ask that You would
change my heart so that I would love my enemies, that You would show me how to
do good to those who hate me, that I would rightly bless those who curse me,
and that I would pray for those who mistreat me, as Messiah loved those, did
good to those, blessed those, and prayed for those who gathered around while He
died on the crucifixion stake, because in my own strength, I am not strong
enough to do these things. It is only
Messiah in me that makes me able.
Protect our hearts, and enlarge Your Ruach Kodesh in us as we are being
transformed by Your word, Abba.
In Yeshua’s name,
Amein.
S: "Don't lay up treasures for yourselves on the eretz, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
