HOW TO DEAL WITH OUR ENEMIES THE BIBLICAL WAYS

HOW TO DEAL WITH OUR ENEMIES THE bIBLICAL WAY.

How to deal with our enemies the biblical way


God sees everything and one of the realities He observes is people that are angry without a cause to us. More often than not this offense ends up becoming a persecution. Jesus said, "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." Matthew 18:7.

If a person or group is after us we have an obligation to try and set things right even if we were not wrong. The problem comes when the individual or group won't listen and they decide to make our life miserable which is a certain type of trial that many people just can not bear in their life. Perhaps they came from a warm home and what they are facing is so foreign to them that the burden is to heavy to bear.

Usually there are seasons of persecution because even a contaminated soul gets tired of his or her own foolishness but this varies depending on how much of a controlling spirit he or she possesses inside of them. I remember I was going through a suffering and tried talking to the person but realized it is pretty hard to speak to someone that has several demons in him.

The Bible has some precepts for us to understand about this subject but perhaps I should start with the most positive verse so we all can start off this article with a positive tone before I go over some of the more heavy duty verses. "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7. That is a calming verse but this may take some time. "And shall not God avenge His very elect, which cry day and night unto him, though He bear long with them." Luke 18:7.

Did you ever notice that when a group of unbelievers who hate God come together to persecute Christians they always fall in the end? We like to focus on the persecution and just shake our heads but the Bible says, "Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake." Isaiah 54:15. God is bigger and stronger than they are but what really gets me is they think their team is smarter than God. How foolish.

There is an end to a new beginning when we are put through a suffering. God would never even allow it in the first place if He did not have something in mind for our life and eternity. "That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear." Luke 1:74. The hand of our enemies is a test but it is for the purpose of serving God in this world and in heaven for all eternity without fear. When we personally witness being delivered by God in His way and timing the fear dissipates and our focus is on Jesus Christ and we want to obey His plan for our life.

If we are being attacked by a person or a group of people the worst thing we can do is retaliate back even in our minds and hearts. If we want to make the situation worse just do that and see how far we get in our endeavor of solving the problem. Now we have pie all over our face. By the way they are laughing even harder if we approach the problem that way so we might even be labeled as an informal comedian but the humor could become hostile. People can be very mean.

I actually know two people who had a gun pointed at them and they both quoted the same Old Testament passage. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 54:17. The same scenario happened identically with both individuals. A gun was pointed right at them, shots were fired at the person and the bullets went all over the place and missed the Christians by a mile so to speak. They claimed the promise but God is in control. It still amazes me when people want to hurt other people they think there is power in that whole thing. The one thing they want is control but that is the exact reality they will never get because evil would eventually overthrow God and that is just silly in light of what the Bible teaches.

God helps His children and if a person comes up beside us to assist our plight then understand that Jesus Christ will help them so we should never focus on those that have distain for us as we travel through life." The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I keep my desire upon them that hate me." Psalm 118:7. The Bible is very specific on giving us instructions on people that treat us bad or are chasing us in an evil way. The person being persecuted is not called to hurt anybody. We are to be very specific in our response and understand the role God plays in our suffering.

If we are being persecuted by our enemies just let God hid us in His secret place. "For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hid me, He shall set me up upon a rock." Psalm 27:5. I remember in some of my more unwise moments I would take matters in my own hands and show them whose boss but I made my situation at least five times worse. My motive was anger, it was uncontrolled and there is something about evil that understands they just won a victory. Never underestimate your enemies because they are strong in ways you could never even imagine. Never overestimate your enemies because we are not trusting God if we take that response.

When I write about this subject understand that an individual or group is set against us but we are innocent and tried to do everything we could to reconcile the problem. There is nothing more we can do so now our response is at the next step of a satanic circumstance. If we don't deal with this hodgepodge of ungodly emotions and sins properly we will not get to the next verse which is the result of our obedience to God because our enemies are not letting go of something that should have been thrown out in the beginning stages of the situation.

"And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing praises unto the Lord." Psalm 27:6. It was the plan of God all along for us to rise above the persecution and be lifted up in His tabernacle with joy. Wow that sounds like the opposite of what we were going through so all I can say is what a wonderful God we serve. We are singing praises unto the Lord. This would have to be an obvious point but does it look like God is persecuting us when we are in His tabernacle? No we are expressing our love for Him and Jesus Christ is loving us in return because He first loved us.

If this is happening to us we have to go to battle but we don't do the fighting. "For the Lord your God is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." Deuteronomy 20:4. "Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies." Psalm 60:12.

In Psalm 27:6 I showed that we as the children of God actually go in the tabernacle of the Lord but there is a verse that explains there is actually a dwelling place that the wicked go to and they are clothed with shame as opposed to the glory of God. "They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought."Job 8:22. I think if we were given spiritual eyeglasses the things that would be seen would intrigue us at the very least.

Of course I have to go over the entirety of this subject because that would not be fair to any of us trying to apply the biblical principles of responding to our enemies. Regarding this subject the Bible says we have three responsibilities before God that we are to put into practice everyday.

The first is we are to trust God. This simple means that we are to have belief in Jesus Christ that He will do His part in His timing. "And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him. "Psalm 37:40.

The next two responsibilities we have before God regarding our response to our enemies is (1) loving the Lord and (2) hating evil. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. "Psalm 97:10. When we are going through a persecution our souls need to be preserved by God (protected) but the next part of the verse is so comforting because it says ... "He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked." We are under the property of Jesus Christ not the devil.

God knows we are human and can become very fearful. I know I have been in that place. The Holy Spirit gives some very comforting words to us Christians. "But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid." Jeremiah 39:17. The real truth of the matter is God wants us fearing Him in the proper way because the Bible says, "But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 2 Kings 17:39.

We need to be grounded in the word of God and let Jesus Christ rule our life because sudden fear could come upon our lives." (25) Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. (26) For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." Proverbs 3:25-26. We don't know what is going to happen in our lives but we can determine to be strong in our Savior and Lord. We don't want to live our life on sinking sand because if a storm comes then we will have no root and we could be sweep away so prepare now in the Person of Jesus Christ.

If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord you really do not have any real protection in life from your enemies. I hope you do not want to be on the side where you are persecuting good people because the Bible says God is against you if that is the case. A wise man or women will repent of all their sins and invite Jesus Christ into his or her heart and live for Him. I certainly hope you made that all important eternal decision today/tonight wherever you are because God wants to show you His love and protection not only on earth but for all eternity.

God Bless,
Bob D.