I was listening to a man named Keith Green for a reason I'll leave to remain hidden, and he was talking about the part where the Samaritans wouldn't feed them because He wanted to go to Jerusalem, and so a few of the disciples said, Do you want us to command fire to fall from heaven and consume them? And Jesus rebukes the disciples, saying, "You do not know what kind of spirit you're of, for the Son of Man came not to destroy man's lives, but to save them," meaning, He's not saying, "You don't know what kind of mind you're of," or, "what you're talking about." And pointed out that the disciples believed that they could do this, from walking with Jesus. But Jesus tells them, no... You don't say that by the Holy Spirit.
At Wal-Mart, I always seem to have trouble with the customers. That's the hardest part of my job. They badger me, they complain, they glote, they have proud hearts... Their sin-nature is open and viewable... And knowing the truth I have problems enduring it all. Seeing the world's problems... It's too much. So when someone wrongs me, I'd say something of God in my mind, if it got to be too much. Or I'd say something like, "My God is so much greater than you," or, "The Lord rebuke you." He'll get them. He'll fix them. Vengeance is the Lord's: He will repay.
But no! Jesus came to teach to love your enemies, like the Lord does. Not to be ready to kill them, like the disciples. I can't spirit-fy my own bitterness and anger any-more. Will He not repay? He will! But it's up to me not to go and get so angry in my mind. It's sin I'm angry with. I have to love even my enemy right in front of me to please God. My Lord. It's not like I'm hating them: if I hated, I'd be a murderer, and I'd be FAR from the Lord. No, no. I just get very disappointed inside when someone does me evil, which happens many times within a Wal-Mart day. Well, no more. I wont justify my anger and spiritualize it, but I'll be just like Jesus. I can't "strangle them for Jesus," but I can pray. Nice prayers, not ones about veangence. Wont the Lord do that as He sees fit already? And judge them accordingly?
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