AN ADDENDUM TO YESTERDAY'S BLOG

After re-reading yesterday's blog, already published, I realized I had forgotten the most important information about Sunday's sermon which suggested the need to pray for our enemies. This info is a direction from the Lord Himself.  God Almighty is the core of today's Hebrew's thinking, and beliefs.  I can't completely quote it to you, as I don't know the exact place it is found in our bible.  It is called the Shamah (spelling?) and it is said twice daily by all Jews.  Our pastor agrees that it should be said by our congregation in the same way; it should be the core teaching for all of us, everyday.   It goes like this,   "Love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.  Keep this in your heart and all things will go well by you."  Jesus, remember, was a Jew, and said this Shamah every day of His life. But, Jesus didn't stop there!  His teaching was even more radical! He taught His disciples the 10 commandments and added two to the list. First, He added the Shamah: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind,' and for the second part, 'And love your neighbor as yourself.' Then, began the puzzle, 'Who is your neighbor?'


Here is the great discussion. Who is our neighbor?  Jesus' answer was to love without exception; to even love your enemies. Our neighbor is not just the one in need!  Christ says to love our enemies! And He also says to Be perfect, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect!


Therefore, we add to our list of praying for salvation...our enemies.  Lord, we don't completely understand, but we pray for our enemies who right on this particular day are the ISIS people.  We pray for better understanding on our part of why they hate, and we pray that you will enter their lives in a substantial way that they will know you are not the enemy.  We pray for their loved ones whom they have lost. We pray for forgiveness of our own hate for them and also for them, for the callous way they have treated the innocent. We pray that you will know how difficult this is to show love to those who show such hatred, and ask that you continue to teach us how to live in love, even with those who hurt us.  Thank you for your incomparable love for all of us.  In your most Holy Name, Amen.


There you have it!  God's love supercedes hatred.
Jo NMN