Persuading With Love, Persuading With Christ. (Original Work)
Good Morning Thursday.......
Father thank You for this NEW day. You have blessed us with another WONDERFUL day to see your WISDOM and TRUTH. May we use this day to show this dark world Your Fruit, Your Light, and Your Glory TODAY!!!
- Persuading With Love, Persuading With Christ
Daniel and his companions dealt with some pretty heavy stuff. All the while they never were bitter, angry, or showed animosity against their captors. They didn't treat their oppressors with contempt or treat them as "enemies." Instead, they prayed for, cared for, gave good advice to them, and most importantly... they Loved them. They persuaded with Love and Christ.
We as Bible Believing Jesus Followers are called to do the same as Daniel and his friends. We are called to go into the entire world and not only spread The Message of Our Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ, but to also teach and obey.
Many times we as believers can take The Great Commission in the wrong way. Our Messiah Taught Us, Loved Us, and Obeyed Our Father Perfectly. His perfect example is supposed to be our ultimate litmus test. Is there anywhere He shows us to impose our standards on nonbelievers, preserve a particular culture, or create a Christian Nation? There isn't. Believe, Repent, Obey, and Love Unconditionally... That is The Message of The Gospel. Our Father and His Son Are The One Who Creates.
Our Father and Our Messiah want us to win over the lost, show kindness, mercy, and teach Truth. We are to persuade gently and with kindness those Our Father Has Placed In Front Of Us To Witness about Him.
Rome had no problems with persecuting Christians and letting every other pagan nation run wild. This is the setting the first century church was raised up in to change the world. No morals, values, sexual perversion was the norm, and only the wealthy and elite received anything close to what we would call justice. Just take a look at every apostle except one dying a martyr's death, and even the one that survived was boiled in oil, to see the injustice that flowed like a river.
All these horrible things happened in the early church and remarkably The Message and focus is still firmly planted in changing people's hearts and minds... not governments, culture, policy, or man's laws.
Spiritual Warfare; that is the battle we face. When we encounter a nonbeliever, it is not the physical we battle, but the unseen battle we are fighting. Our weapons are The Fruits of The Holy Spirit, and knowing those attributes, we should act accordingly. Nonbelievers are not the enemy and our enemy is not flesh and blood. Nonbelievers are the victims of the enemy. When we see a victim of an unfortunate event, we save... not obliterate. Let's take a look at what God's Word has to say about the issue:
“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
II Timothy 2:24-26
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12
We are sent forth to show mercy, give witness to The Truth, Our Savior, and call others to repentance. We are to persuade, not to persecute. Our Father has Peter state it wonderfully:
“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”
I Peter 3:13-17
We may be living in a figurative, and maybe even literal Babylon or Rome, but we don't have to be Babylonians or Romans. Our goal is to introduce others to Yeshua, Jesus Christ Our Savior and He Does The Changing Of Hearts and Minds. It is Christ in us that those Babylonians and Romans will see and that is our ultimate goal.
It is unfortunate that many of us, myself included, have missed the boat many times when presented with persecution. As our culture grows closer and closer to the Babylon and Roman cultures of old, the more bitterness, gossiping, falseness, and ruthless criticism grows. Sometimes it is hard to deal with, but we must continue to be disciplined. We must be the ones to show Christ, His Ways, and His Kind and Gentle rebukes which He Gave to nonbelievers and believers. This is in complete contrast to the ways of the world and it is how we are to Persuade With Love and Persuade With Christ.
We must remember that Our Messiah only blasted the religious hypocrites of the day that were pointing sinners to the wrong way. While many might point to these rebukes of Jesus to justify their actions of extreme criticism, it is prudent to point out... he didn't rebuke the sinners who weren't hypocrites. He just persuaded them. If we focus on Our Savior giving the Pharisees their due rebukes, we may be missing the point.
Whether it is Our Messiah, The Perfect Example, Daniel, His Friends, Joseph, or The Apostles, we must be prepared to: "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” If we do this, we are properly Persuading with Love and Persuading With Christ.
God Bless Everybody and have a Wonderful God-Blessed Day.
The Persuasion of Christ The King and His Love:
““But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”
Luke 6:27-36
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