Wednesday: Blessings 3

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to SALVATION Wednesday. Oh yes, Mid-Week prayers for the unsaved and for we who are saved to help bring in the lost. Folks, this is not just a request from me for you to help with this, it is a COMMANDMENT from our Lord Jesus. Mark 16: 15/16 - 15 - Hi (Jesus) said to them (His disciples which we are if we love Jesus) "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be SAVED, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (NIV)

Prayers also today for Pastor Tony Mayeski and his dear wife Ruby. Pastor Tony has trouble seeing and is "slowing down". He is truly a pastor's pastor, one who a pastor can sit down and talk to and pray with. Believe it or not, pastors need lots of prayer and other pastors to talk to and share with. Please also pray for Pastors Larry Hale, Kevin Brown and Rich Cline, also pastors that I can sit down and talk to. For Pastors Larry, Kevin and Rich, they are in good health as far as I know, I just want to flood God with prayers for them. Pray today for the Kennedy family in the death of Senator Ted, and pray for a believer in life will get appointed to his seat in the Senate.

Did you see the news today, beer companies are making beer in cans with college names on them. Are schools of higher education just a big place to drink? Our beloved Penn State is the number one college in the nation. Oh, I left this out, it is the number one PARTY college in the nation. Think about it, most all on the campuses of our schools of higher education are underage to drink.

Blessings 3: Romans 12: 14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (NIV)
Romans 12: 17 - Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. (NIV)
Romans 12: 26 - "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. (NIV)
Romans 12: 21 - Do not be overcome by evil, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD.

Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, loving your enemies and those who curse you might be the very hardest thing that we are commanded to do by our Lord Jesus. But brothers and sisters, if we do not do this we are really not showing love for your Lord Jesus. As a child I was taught by my loving mamma and dad that I needed to do this and also anything that we did was a reflection on them. Listen to those words again from my parents. "anything that I would do would be a reflection on them." If I showed love, others would see it, if I showed hate, others would see it. If I were to curse and others would hear it they would think and even say to each other, "did you learn that at home." Yes brothers and sisters, how we act is a refection on our upbringing and how our children act is a refection on us. Even if you raised your children correctly and they go wrong, it is a reflection on us. So let me plant this in your mind today... We go out and tell everyone that we are Christians, and then we are heard cursing or we are out drinking and getting drunk, people will look at us and say to each other, "if that is how a Christian lives, I surely do not want to be like that."

Now I want you to really think about that. We are to witness for our Lord Jesus and there is no place in the Bible that I find we can take a day off from being a good witness. Even on the day of rest, a day our Lord set aside for us to rest up our bodies, it does not free us from being a good witness. How many people go to church on Sunday morning and then after church drive like a NUT on the highways? Have you ever been cut off in traffic by someone with a Jesus bumper sticker? And yes, even being a Christian I will think or say to Dolores if she is with me, look at that person, they claim to love God but show no respect to others on the road. AND IF YOU are not showing respect to others you for sure are NOT SHOWING RESPECT FOR JESUS. Just the other day I took a few people to a viewing. In the car one dropped the "F" bomb and another cursed using the name of the Lord. Both said they were sorry to me, but what about Jesus? It is He who hears ALL we say and SEES all we do.

Folks, to get back to the message about blessings, it is maybe the hardest things our Lord wants us to do and that is to bless those who really hate or dislike us, those who curse us, those who gossip about us. And brothers and sisters, we need to really work at giving them nothing but good to say about us, but we do slip once in a while and that is what those who hate us will pick up on... OR they will go back to before you were saved and changed and try and bring up your past and throw it in your face. God has forgiven you, but others will bring it up. I have heard many a person say this about me... "I remember him from way back" or "I remember his past." And then, and most of them say they are Christians, they start to tell the others about my past. Oh it sure would have been nice if I would have listened to my parents and the way I acted sometimes after I left the homestead would not please them and was a reflection on them. But think about our Lord, please, please, when you are about to do things, run it through your mind and say this to yourself, will this please God? And if it pleases God, that should be good enough for all others. So today please, please BLESS OTHERS BY loving them and by doing things that will please God. If someone curses you, and you hear it, say this to them... "I am going to pray for you today," and then do it. Then consider doing this, send a hand written note to them that might read like this... If I offended you in the past, I am sorry, if I have upset you, I am sorry, I truly am. And be sincere about it for most people can see through someone who is not sincere and for sure God can see through it. How many people have said to Jesus "I love You" when they really do not?

Dear Father in Heaven, help us to love those who hate us, who gossip about us, and try to destroy us just because we love You. Help us to grow deeper and deeper in love with You and to help bring those who spit out evil to come to You. Lord, most of all keep us from going to them, for Satan would just love that. Protect us this day and all the days to come. Lord, bless pastors Tony, Ruby, Larry, Kevin and Rich today and let them know that they are truly loved. Lord, heal up Pastor Tony so he can still be teaching and preaching. And Lord please, please heal his eyesight so he can see the words of Yours in his Bible. Lord, how these folks love You. Lord, be with Don Saylor and his family and with Vicki and her family and Lord, be with Leslie and her family. Lord, help us in concert today and please Lord touch my dear Aunt Romaine so that she can understand things again and hear us today as we sing for You, for others and for her. Lord, thanks for protecting this line, and I ask that You keep blessing us with that protection.. Lord, how we love You, and Lord, help us to to live so that it reflects good on You and let me ask for a clean slate today to get that started. Yes Lord, forgive me of my sins today for I know that I am a sinner saved only by Your wonderful grace. Help us this day to work Your fields of Harvest bringing in the lost to Your feet to be saved. Lord, we know we can save no one, but we want to work for You, from dawn to our own setting sun, work for You until You call us home. In the name of Jesus, I pray... Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings, and brothers and sisters, I ask you this today... Please share your blessings with someone you know who does not like you, or someone who has put you down. Bless a neighbor with some home grown veggies or something you made, maybe a neighbor who does not talk to you or does not talk to you very much.. Take a bottle of water to someone at work or at your break area. Carry an extra bottle of water with you at all times, rotate them so it is fresh, and give it away. Offer it to someone at break. Do it like this. Before you open yours, offer your bottle to another, if they say no, tell them you have an extra. Share those blessings and reflect good today on God for if you share in faith, He will bless you even more... love ya, dan.