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Why You Need Your Enemies and Your Enemies Need You--Part 2

  • Dr. Ray Pritchard
    Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, an Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain,… More
  • Updated Mar 11, 2008

We have just posted a new sermon called Why You Need Your Enemies and Your Enemies Need You–Part 2. Here’s an excerpt:

"When faced with someone who has mistreated you, ask God to do for them what you want God to do for you. Seek the blessing for them that you want God to do for you. Think of it this way: The greater the hurt, the greater the potential blessing that will come when we forgive from the heart and by God’s grace bless those who curse us."

"Let me put this in a broader perspective. Let’s suppose you find yourself in “Babylon” right now. Perhaps you feel forgotten, overlooked, downtrodden, misused, and taken for granted. Maybe you don’t like where you are or the people you are around. If so, join the crowd because most people feel that way at one time or another—some of us seem to feel that way permanently.  So here’s the question. How is God going to reach Babylon? His method has been the same throughout history. God reaches the lost by sending his people to the lost. But what if they don’t want to go? He sends them anyway! That’s what he did with Jonah. And that’s what he did with the Jewish exiles. By putting them in the hands of the people they hated, the Lord was really saying, “You are my missionaries in Babylon. Though I put you there as a punishment, I also intend you to be a blessing to your captors.” That’s a remarkable, uplifting, encouraging thought because it means that even when we have really, really, really, really, really, really messed up and when are suffering badly for our mistakes, God continues to use us so that even our discipline becomes an opportunity not only for spiritual growth but for ministry to others."

"That’s liberating!"
"That’s revolutionary!"
"That’s incredible!"

"But you’ll never enter into that “missionary” experience until you begin to bless your enemies."

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

 


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