what we should take for granted

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from Ezekiel 35:1-36:38. God tells Mount Seir that He will utterly destroy it because of the way it (the people who lived in the cities there) treated the people of Israel.

And that reminds me. We followers of Jesus need to take certain things for granted. For example, I hear many Christians who seem to be shocked that those outside of the church (especially in the radical left) are immature, violent, mean spirited, and unloving. This shouldn't surprise us. One thing we should all realize is that being in close contact with Jesus teaches us to be kind, loving, patient, mature, forgiving... all of the things that we DON'T see from those outside the church. Of COURSE we don't see those things in our enemies. We should assume they will act that way.

We also know that God has already won. We shouldn't worry that maybe the devil or his followers are going to win out in the end. God has already won the battle. Those outside the church need our love, and they need our message. Most of them probably won't listen, but we have to try to tell them. We have to be patient and kind and loving to them, because that's the only chance they've got to end up in the right place.

So take these things for granted. God has already won. Our enemies are going to act in nasty, immature, petty ways. And they need our love.

God, please help us love those who are fighting You.