SCRIPTURAL EXIGESIS FROM A LAYANON – my take on what Q is telling us with these verses
Q has posted all or part of 1Corinthians 13:4-13 and Ephesians 6:10-18 on May 20th and on August 15th
The Corinthians passage is all about Love and answers the why question for any actions we take. Jesus said that the first and highest law is to love God with all our hearts, minds, soul, and strength and the second is like it- to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. “But who is my neighbor?” you ask- short answer -everyone- even Hillary and Hussein.
Easier said than done – but necessary—and not so much for them but mainly for me it is important for me to forgive and pray for my enemies.
Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies even when they despise us and do all manner of evil against us. In forgiving them and praying for them, and yes even loving them, the Bible says we heap coals of fire on their heads.
Does He even know how hard that is to do—to forgive someone who abuses children?? –Uhm- yeah, He kinda does. As He was dying on the cross at the hands of ignorant savages who beat Him and spit on Him and mocked Him – He asked His Father to “forgive them for they do not know what they do”
Forgiving them (and me) was why Jesus came to us in the first place so many years ago- it was His reason for living- to be the perfect sacrifice needed to take away sin perfectly.
Ephesians passage deals with the “who” of this fight we are in—who is the real enemy?
As much as I personally dislike what Hillary or Hussein, Soros or the Pope are reported to have done—those are all flesh and blood men and women and Paul tells us that our fight is not against flesh and blood—it is against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil.
Do not misunderstand me—I believe we need to stop the cabal and those who are guilty need to be punished – some even deserving of capital punishment—bring it on! But strangely we are commanded to pray for them while we are defeating them. Not praying for them to succeed in their evil schemes but praying that maybe they would have a change of heart—repent and turn from their sins—confess to the world what they are guilty of – seek God’s forgiveness and mercy—and through that action the world would heal a little more each time. How about praying for John J. Normal to see the light of reason—to abandon his death grip on willful ignorance and disobedience- turn to God and ask for wisdom to see the truth.
So the real victory will come when we as a people put on the full armor of God together – which you cannot buy or make that suit yourself—it is a gift from God when you put your faith and trust in Jesus—no other way to protect yourself from Satan and eternal separation from God than through Jesus. When Paul talks about a “breastplate of Righteousness” that is only available from God—He alone is Righteous- same with the “helmet of salvation” or the “belt of truth”—-you don’t find these things lying around or get to make them yourself by being “a really good person”—you HAVE TO GET THEM FROM GOD– AND IF YOU HAVE NOT– DO NOT TAKE ON SATAN ALONE—YOU WILL BE DESTROYED!!!
Put your trust in Jesus – ask Him to save you from your sins and guide you through life and into the next one after this—then you will be given the whole armor of God and you can join the real fight that is being waged—welcome to God’s army—
TL;DR
Get saved – you will thank me later
Pray for everyone even the black hats- they are not the real enemy
Do everything in Love – it makes a difference
Read the Bible-God wins