Romans 12:20-21 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Between the years 1861-1865 the United States found itself in the midst of a bitter civil war over the issue of slavery, and several other serious disagreements. By the time the North won the war nearly 620,000 soldiers had perished. There were many in the North who were so embittered that the South had dragged them into such a deadly conflict that they wanted the South to pay dearly.
At the end of the war, a group of Southerners gained an audience with President Abraham Lincoln. His gentle, kind and friendly personality quickly softened the hearts of his once-hardened foes and the Southerners left the interview with a deep respect for the man who had been their bitter enemy. Not long afterward, a northern congressman criticized Lincoln for "befriending the enemy!" He suggested that he should have had them shot for being traitors instead of welcoming them!
I love Lincoln's response. He said, simply , "Am I not destroying my enemies by making them my friends?"
If you're serving the Lord –- you can expect your share of enemies. Don't let a root of bitterness grow up because of them –- but rather, seek to win them over with gentleness, kindness, and even love. Show your enemies the Lord's grace and His peace through your Spirit-controlled response...and in so doing, you'll "heap coals" upon their heads! Satan wants to provoke you through their hatred and opposition. Don't let him! Instead, shock your enemies –- not with angry retaliation...but with Spirit empowered LOVE! Win them over; with so much work to be done, we need all the help we can get.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]I don’t know about you, but it seems that the tests we’re going through are getting harder and harder. Do you remember when you took tests in high school? At the time they may have seemed hard. But imagine if you had to take an elementary school test when you were in high school. You’d probably think – oh this is so simple.
Over the past month, it seems that we’ve been dealing with different internet issues … and hopefully, these issues will be resolved sooner rather than later. Being that the bulk of our ministry is based upon the internet, it can be problematic at times, especially when you’re suddenly disconnected from the web!
As we continue this study of the Dead Sea scrolls, authorities announced the discovery of several more scrolls as their extensive search for more hidden caves and treasures continues. Given the “coincidence” of the events described in previous devotionals, God’s providential involvement in these developments becomes clear. His Word tells us what is about to happen, and new discoveries of Biblical texts seem to be directly related to modern prophetic fulfillments.
As we continue this study of the Dead Sea Scrolls we jump to 1963 and the unearthing of Masada.
Flavius Josephus the Jewish historian recorded the tragic events at Masada in “The Jewish Wars.” Masada was ignored for years as it reminded the Rabbis of the failures of the many false messiahs that appeared after Yeshua (Jesus).
As we continue into the historical and prophetic significance of the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, I take you back to 1948. Professor Eleazar Sukenik discovered that Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem purchased several of the Dead Sea scrolls. So Professor Sukenik visited the archbishop and took several photos of the scrolls which were then sent to William Albright, a Biblical archaeologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
As we’ve been travelling around the U.S., we’ve been trying to take extra care of ourselves, taking vitamins and disinfecting our hands regularly as not to get sick.
A grindstone is a revolving disk made of stone which is used for grinding, polishing or sharpening. It can commonly be seen grinding down wheat or sharpening and polishing metal for various purposes.