REFLEXIONS

“Lord, you are my Shepherd; I shall not want… You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows” (Psalms 23:1, 5). Believe this with all your heart! Confess it! And be conformed to it! The devil, no doubt, possesses many cunning devices and deceptive purposes, and is intent on deluding and destroying the believer. However, I assure you child of God that your adversary the devil does not have the power to prevent God from blessing you or to frustrate His plans for your life. I make this assurance on the authority of the Holy Scriptures, because God’s “divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

“To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.” (Luke 6:29–30) The power of forgiveness makes it possible for us to do these obviously difficult things like turning the other cheek, giving willingly to those who have wrongfully taken from us or showing kindness to others after our trust had been betrayed once. If we were bitter and unwilling to forgive the first strike we would not put ourselves in such a vulnerable situation as to give the other person the opportunity to strike us on the other cheek. If we did not forgive a person who wrongfully took our cloak, we would be unwilling to give them our tunic should we find them having need of it. Because we are willing to forgive those who make away with our goods, we will not close our hearts and withhold from others who beg from us that which is in