Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
A story is told of Peter Miller, a plain Baptist preacher of Pennsylvania, in the days of the Revolutionary War. Near his church, lived a man who maligned the pastor to the last degree. The man became involved in treason and was arrested and sentenced to be hanged. The preacher started out on foot and walked the entire way to Philadelphia roughly seventy miles away to plead for the man’s life. George Washington heard his plea, but he said, “No, your plea for your friend cannot be granted.” “My friend!” said the preacher. “He is the worst enemy I have.” What!” said Washington, “you have walked nearly seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon.”
Like this precious pastor, although we don't go out looking for enemies, we somehow seem to acquire them just by doing the work of the Lord!
I'm sure many of you are experiencing your share of enemy assaults too and can relate to what I'm saying! But how should we react to these assailants? Should we curse them and hunt them down to get our revenge? This pastor had every earthly right to be satisfied with this man's sentence. After all, this man probably destroyed his reputation -- perhaps even his entire ministry! But this wise pastor saw right through the man. He realized that the offense committed did not originate with the man who slandered him. This man was merely a pawn in the hands of a cruel and crafty adversary, Satan himself. Clearly, it's our ultimate enemy, Satan, who is out to slander us, to steal from us, hurt us, lie, kill and destroy us and he'll use any means possible to do it.
In the same way, we must realize who is truly our enemy and come against him the best way we can -- determine to press forward for God's Kingdom even more than before!
When we strive to do the work of the Lord, we will undoubtedly gain some enemies! But we must ambush our archenemy who is manipulating these people and situations! How? By praying more! Learning the word more! Sharing the Gospel more! Forgiving more! Becoming wiser and stronger in the Lord! Becoming more like Yeshua (Jesus)! Press forward toward the Kingdom of God today -- your great reward will be with Him!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]If you were to visit Paris, you could see the statues of two men, both named Louis.
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Knowing He was about to depart, Yeshua (Jesus) left His disciples with a final command: stay in Jerusalem, and wait…for the promise. Of the thousands who had witnessed His miraculous ministry and heard His amazing teaching, and the hundreds that had actually seen Him after the resurrection, we read in Acts that only 120 stayed and tarried until the promise arrived. But these 120 were steadfast. They waited the full term…
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.