Seven times! – 2015.07.19

Seven times! – 2015.07.19

For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again,
but the wicked are brought down by calamity.
Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the Lord will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from him.
Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of the wicked,
for the evil man has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
Proverbs 24: 16-20

(The righteous men are those who had received forgiveness through Jesus and are now standing justified before God without sin.
The wicked are those who rebel against God, or ignore Him. They are against Gods law and order by intention. They are the wicked. The "enemy" is a different person who attacks us and with whom we are fighting.)
Also the righteous men fall, sometimes even seven times a day. They do not fall away from God and from grace but they slide back into sin and bad habits. Or they fall back into misery, hopelessness, and desolation. They fall as they do not trust Jesus and as their faith is weak. They are not able to believe that Jesus really has forgiven all their faults. Surely the Lord says: may be you fall seven times yet I will help you to get up! I know you and confirm: Don
t be afraid, you are Mine!
When our "enemy" falls we are tempted to be gloutingly. It is his fault! God has punished him now. So we feel, but God does not want that. Malicious joy is not the joy of God. It is just a caricature of true joy.
God changes us which we do not notice in the beginning. Some time ago my neighbour had great problems with his car. He has done much evil to me. However, I was able to pray for him silently and did not discover any malicious feelings in me. I truely felt sorry for him. I was very happy about that because once I really had great problems with gloating and now God had totally delivered me from that. I could pray for him wholeheartedly.
God says that for the evil, godless and wicked men eternal death is waiting and that they will suffer punishment for all their missdeeds. So let us pray for them as long as they are living here.
Thank you, Jesus, that You have put me right! Thank You that You are changing my thinking and feeling. You freed me from gloating. You take away malicious joy and give true heavenly delight instead. Thank you that you always lift me up when I fall and stumble. Yes Your command is: Do not fear!
Bible reading: Luke 21: 20-38


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