Love, don’t Hate

Text: Lk. 11: 4
More Lessons: Matt. 22:37-40
Bible Reading in one Year: Isaiah 46-48

A good person will not think of killing any other person. Now the Bible says, Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and… eternal life and murder don't go together: 1 John 3: 15 (MSG). The person who hates has no eternal life and so he is spiritually dead. God equates hatred to murder; hatred is darkness and is of death which is separation from the source of life. And the true source of life is God. Therefore, any man who hates his brother separates himself from God. Hatred is the nature of the devil. The man that is not born again does not have the capacity to love because he does not know God. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. Love is the expression of the new life the believer receives at new birth. At regeneration we receive the ability to love.

A brother shared a testimony of how God healed his mother of a disease. This woman had experienced long years of health crises. She had visited many doctors, spent a lot of money, and visited men of God for prayers but to no avail. Medical science could not diagnose what was wrong with her until the disease reached a terminal stage. People fervently interceded for her, and then she was finally diagnosed of cancer. The doctor said she needed to go through surgery. Then, during a fasting and prayer programme, he Lord revealed to this brother that the cancer was a product of hatred, which the devil used as a foothold to afflict her. It was also revealed to this brother that if she would repent and forgive the person who had offended her, she would be healed. She reconciled with the person and asked God for mercy and then went for the surgery. After the operation, the doctors confirmed that there was no trace of cancer in what they brought out of her. She had been healed. Hatred is a foothold for satan to afflict a man.Hatred is the nature of the devil and it is a mark of spiritual death. A spiritually dead man cannot love because love comes out of life. As you determine to forgive those who have offended you and let go of your past hurts, prophesy today that death will not have power over you.

In the Scripture passage we read, the man came to Jesus to ask him what good thing he would do to have eternal life, and he answer Jesus gave was to keep the commandments. The commandment of God is love. Love is the key to life. Love he Lord your God and love your neighbour, your distant and close brother, your hurting friend and all! Let a new season of love begin today, that we might be forgiven and healed.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to destroy every trace of hatred (little or large) in your heart.
* Ask God to forgive you of every bitterness, hatred, and hurt that you have nursed.
* Ask God to forgive you and heal you wherever you have allowed hatred.

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