Overcome Evil

Overcome evil with good, this is very easy to say but not always easy to do.  It seems to me that many people try to overcome evil with guns and violent reactions.  I truly think in some situations you have to use force, but in other situations you need to speak to people with a gentle answer and a calm voice.  Did you ever read or hear this before, a gentle answer turns away wrath?  please read Proverbs 15:1-4, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise treats knowledge correctly, but the mouth of fools spouts folly. The eyes of Adonai are everywhere, observing the wicked and the good. A healing tongue is a tree of life, but a deceitful one crushes the spirit.”

It seems like since President Trump took office there has been devastation all over the world, in the churches and in the streets.  A great divide has taken place just because of who he is or what he is doing, or both.  It seems there are ‘never Trumper’s,’ who dislike him so much they would never vote for him, or those that are undecided or those that seem to love him.  Maybe some of us need to be reminded that President Trump is just a man, a rich man, but just a man.  Some people seem to treat him like he is a god.  His past and some of his actions and tweets are not something to be desired or anything to write home about, but then think of this, many of us have a past that has been somewhat shady and something many of us are not proud of, if we were honest about it.  Now think of this, should we ever hold a man up as a god regardless of who he is, I think not.  I am not even sure if he is a true believer or not, one thing I do know is that he is not our Savior or a god and no one should mistake him as one.

This reminds me of when they tried to make Paul and Silas gods in the word of God in Acts 14:11-19, please read, “Now the crowd, seeing what Paul had done, lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ‘The gods have become like men and come down to us!’ And they began calling Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes” (because he was the main speaker). The priest of Zeus, whose temple was before the front gate of the city, brought bulls and garlands; he wanted to offer a sacrifice with the people. But when the emissaries Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out among the crowd, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We too are human, just like you! We proclaim the Good News to you, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations He allowed all the nations to go their own ways. Yet He did not leave Himself without a witness—He did good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with joy and gladness.’ Even saying these things, they barely restrained the crowd from sacrificing to them. But Jewish people came from Antioch and Iconium; and after they won the crowd over and stoned Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.”  

I wonder how many of us would have acted the same way Paul and Barnabas did.  I wonder how many would have acted like the words of the song that says, “I get the grace, He gets the glory.”  How many of us would have been tempted and allowed these people to worship us, instead of responding like Paul and Barnabas did, giving the Lord all the glory?  Think about the people that hunger for love and acceptance just like Judas, who betrayed Jesus, who hungered for money because he loved it and helped himself to the money he carried for Jesus that he was in charge of.  

Temptation comes in many forms and evil can be around every corner.  It is very important that we overcome evil with good!!  If you want to overcome evil with good, start loving and praying for your enemies instead of attacking them. In order to accomplish this and be an overcomer, we need to resist the Devil and he will flee from us!!  We need to draw closer to God and He will help us in our daily walk, praise His holy name.  We need to seek God’s kingdom above all things and not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may know what God’s good and perfect and just will is!!  So, let us overcome evil with good, by loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves and the other things I have put in here plus putting God the very first priority in our lives!!

I hope this has been a help and a blessing to you.  May the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy and health and happiness and if you haven’t yet, give the Lord some thanks and praise for He is worthy!!