EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/21/2026
9:38 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The Reaction to Kingdom Love”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
6:29-30
Message of the verses: “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him
the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt
from him either. Give to everyone who
asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.”
John MacArthur’s first sentence in this section states
“Kingdom love is marked not only by how it acts toward others, but also by how
it reacts to what others do. Jesus gave
four illustrations how to respond properly to ill treatment from the children
of Satan.” I am not really sure how far
that I will get with this section this evening, but from this introduction it
seems that there will be some good stopping places as it is made up of four
illustrations on how we are to respond in the proper way to ill treatment from
the children of Satan.
He goes on to write “The command, whoever
hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also, does not preclude the
self-defense mechanisms God has provided for self-preservation. Jesus was not forbidding His followers to
defend themselves if they were dangerously attacked. In Luke 22:36 He instructed the apostles to
buy a sword for protection if they did not have one.” “36 He
said to them, "But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and
likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy
one.” I am happy that MacArthur is
explaining this section because it has always been troublesome to me. “Governments are in place to protect their
citizens with swords, and prevent evil action and anarchy (cf. Rom. 13:3-4),
and Luke 3:14, where John the Baptist did not forbid men to be soldiers, but
told them not to abuse their authority).”
(cf. Rom. 13:3-4), and Luke 3:14)
“3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct,
but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what
is good, and you will receive his approval, 4
for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid,
for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an
avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
“14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall
we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by
false accusation, and be content with your wages.’”
“When the
disciples were put out of the synagogues, as Jesus warned would happen (John
16:2), they would often be beaten (as Paul was five times [2 Cor. 11:24]) or
slapped across the face.”
(John 16:2)
“2 They will put you out of the synagogues.
Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering
service to God.”
(2 Cor. 11:24)
“24 Five times I received at the hands of the
Jews the forty lashes less one.”
“When
dishonored with such insults and unable to defend themselves, they were not to
retaliate, but to accept that mistreatment and continue to love their
oppressors.
“Jesus demonstrated the proper
response to being unjustly humiliated during His trial before the high
priest. When one of the officers struck
Him (John 18:22), He did not turn His head and ask to be struck again.”
(John 18:22)
22 When he had said these things, one of the
officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you
answer the high priest?”” The truth is
that Jesus is the High Priest.
“But
neither did He lash out in anger and revenge at His mistreatment. Instead, He calmly pointed out the injustice
of the act (v. 23).”
(v. 23)
“23 Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong,
bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike
me?”’
“To turn
the other cheek is, like Jesus did, to accept hostility and ill treatment
without hatred or retaliation, but to show love in return.”
This is
where I will end this SD for this evening, and Lord willing I will look at the nest
three illustrations in tomorrow morning’s SD.
My wife has to have a procedure on
Friday morning, and because of her illness it will take a lot out of her.
Please pray this will be successful so that she can have relief from a
difficult problem.
7/21/2026
10:51 PM
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