After many hours of planting, caring for, harvesting and/or purchasing fruit and vegetables that we have canned or frozen we are now able to enjoy the results of that labor. 

We will need to can a bit more this year as the larder is quickly emptying out, but that is what we canned for – and it is worth it. 

It is frustrating that as I begin to feel better from the last operation – which was unsuccessful – I will be shortly undergoing another in a couple of weeks.  After that we start working on my A-Fib problems with an ablation; that is going to delay my ability to help Carla in the garden for several more weeks.  I am told 50% of the time it is successful the first time and there is no need to go back in – with my history we will probably have to go back in – which, of course will curtail my activity until late spring and even into summer.

God willing and with the assistance of the kids we shall manage.

Romans 13:9-10  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

¹⁰ Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Mathew 5:43-44 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

⁴⁴ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Is God asking too much of us?  We are human with human emotions, how can we possibly love someone who hurts us, who would destroy us? 

We look at whole nations, and their leaders, that have made it their mission to dominate the world and to kill all those that disagree with their message and means to attain their goals.  Stalin in Russia with over 20 million killed, the Nazi’s in Germany where 6 million Jews were targeted and killed and many more for their political beliefs or because they did not measure up to the Nazi’s ideals.

Today we look at ISIS and other radical Muslim groups that not only preach hatred but go after those that do not adhere to their form of worship.

We have the Ku Klux Clan and other groups that profess Christian beliefs but spew the poison of hatred towards others and have tortured and killed.

What if we are one of the ones they select to attack?  Christians are being attacked all over the world for their beliefs and that includes here, in America, where many are being prosecuted for their unwillingness to condone a sinful life style.  Are we supposed to pray for these people, the ones that are taking the livelihood away from others, destroying their businesses and homes and even their children, wives and themselves?

How about that person who is deliberately undermining us at work, who strives to make us miserable at every opportunity – do we pray for Him? 

How; how Lord can I do this?  I have heard stories where men and women have, but they were stronger than I, they had incredible inner strength to accomplish that love, to allow their bitterness and anger to be vanquished within – they were/are special people.  They were people I cannot emulate, I am too weak, and my personality is not like theirs, they are unique individuals.

Or, are/were they?

Psalm 18:1-3 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

² The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Their strength comes from God.  They have so much faith for and love for God that they allow Him to overcome within them the things that would cause them to hate their oppressor.

That strength is available to every Christian.  The ability to forgive, the ability to pray for our enemies comes from Him and our total love and faith in Him.  We are only limited by our ability to trust God.  I am not saying I have reached that complete faith in Him, I am not saying it is an easy place to come to in our lives, I am saying it is possible because God will help us.

It does bring us to the point of nations against nations – do we just pray for those or do we try and stop them from harming others?

One of the most important things that a government must accomplish is the security and safety of its people.  God told Moses that He wanted him to number the men, twenty and over, in preparation for war: 

Numbers 1:2-3 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

³ From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

One of the first things I learned as a Police Officer was not to take personal umbrage as I enforced the law.  Suspects will say things in anger, and often because of intoxication, that they would not ordinarily say.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t watch myself around them and be prepared to defend myself, but it was often voiced against the uniform, the system rather than me personally.

My job was to protect those that were in my community.  Sometimes it was by issuing citations, sometimes I was able to mediate the problem and no other protection was necessary and other times I had to make an arrest – and some of those times required the use of force; even the threat of deadly force on some occasions.

A projection of confidence and the ability to talk to people often is enough for an officer to perform his duty and obtain compliance from citizens as a whole and criminals in particular.  However, that is not always true.

Every police officer knows that he better be prepared to fight a suspect in taking him into custody.  You cannot let them have the upper hand; it places him and his community in danger if the suspect can intimidate the officer(s). 

Every Police Officer knows he may be faced with taking another person’s life in defense of himself or others.  Very seldom does an officer have to do that, but he has to be prepared for that possibility.  The criminals know that and most do not want to challenge an officer knowing that it could happen.

The better trained and prepared the officer and his department is for difficult situations, the more effective they are in producing a non-violent outcome – or at least one that minimizes the risk to the population as a whole.

On more than one occasion I have prayed before going into a conflict for the innocents, myself, the officers and the suspects involved.  I have often prayed for the person I have fought and arrested.  Being a police officer prepared for a violent confrontation did not keep me from praying for the perpetrator.

National governments have the same responsibility to the nation that a municipality, county or state has to protect them from unlawful activities.

As Israel needed to be prepared for war, so to must any nation that is acting responsibly.  If Hitler and his regime had not been stopped then all Jews would have been destroyed, not to mention the many others they deemed unworthy of life.

If we do not address the ISIS’s destructive behavior we will find ourselves fighting them on our home ground.  Thousands of people have been murdered, injured and/or displaced.  Places of worship have been destroyed and their stated mission is to either convert everyone to their brand of Muslim or kill those that do not.

It doesn’t mean that we cannot pray for them, pray that they will desist from this destructive war on others, pray that they come to God in Christ. 

And, yes, according to God’s Word, we must learn to love them, a state of mind only He can help us with.  In our minds they may not be deserving of that love, they may not be worthy of our attention to their souls, they must be destroyed before they destroy more people – but it is God’s mind we must covet.

And God says to pray for them, to love them.

I need to allow my heart to open up to a love I am finding very difficult.  I pray that I can do just that.

Later,   

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again