Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

12 August 2025

Reading From Romans 12

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”—Romans 12:14-21

     It is easy to do good to those we like and who get along easily with us.  But it shows genuine faith in Jesus when we go out of our way to help those who are annoying or even hateful to us.  It is incredible to see what relational miracles God performs when we are obedient to precepts like these.  When we love those who hate us, it blows up the traps of the enemy of our souls.  It brings the power of God into the most hopeless situations.  Choose to love in brave and practical ways and you’ll be surprised what wonderful things will happen.

     The truism that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God creates level ground at the foot of the cross.  It matters not how much money you have or don’t have, what color your skin is, what cultural background you come from, or any other obstacle that people put up, we all find salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus and we receive it when we choose to respond to the Spirit’s prompting by belief, confession, repentance and acceptance of His Lordship.  Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for us to be snobbish toward anyone because we all need God in our lives.

     As we love one another, regardless of how difficult that is sometimes, and we allow God to repay others for the wrong they’ve done to us rather than trying to take matters into our own hands, it is so beautiful to see the peace of God flood our lives and communities.  A vital part of this is using the peaceable principles of the Word of God to inform the way we see ourselves and others.  All His thoughts toward us are holy and His intentions are loving.  He only wants what is best for us and when we understand that, it means we can trust and obey Him and enjoy the blessings that result. 

     When we are wronged, the temptation is to lash out in the same way that we were hurt.  This does not solve the problem.  It only creates more conflict, more problems, and more pain.  When we respond to hatred with love in ways that go above and beyond what people expect, and determine to be tenacious in our efforts to promote greater understanding, we will be doing all that we can to live at peace with one another.  If others are choosing to be resistant to our efforts to love and live peacefully, there’s nothing we can do to force them into healthy relationship.  They must choose that themselves.  In that case, we need to know when it is time to shake the dust off our feet and move on, leaving them to their own devices and resolving to be faithful to continually pray for them. 

     The evil that is in the world often seems overwhelming to us.  But we should take courage as the children of God because He has blessed us with so many amazing spiritual weapons and tools to fight the enemy and his forces with.  Holy love thwarts the plans of Satan. If we choose to shine the light of Jesus’ love and truth, the light will gradually prevail over the darkness.  We have to start somewhere.  Let’s begin today with ourselves, then our families, then our communities, our regions, our nations and our world.  God is love and love will win.

“Lord Jesus, thank You for Your loving kindness.  Thank You for the example that You set during Your earthly life and ministry of practical compassion and persistent love.  I pray that Your sons and daughters will follow Your ways, for they are not like the ways of the world and they promote peaceful living like nothing else.  Give us the courage to love tenaciously even when it’s hard.  Sometimes I’m hard to love; remind me of that when I don’t want to love those who wrong me.  In the Name of the Lord Jesus I pray these things.  Amen.”

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.

—Matthew 10:14

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

—John 13:34-35

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

—I John 2:9-11