Psalms 119 Commentary: Part 1 (Verses 1 - 5)

Sunday 27th June 2021

Sorry I've been so inactive and not been sticking to my updating schedule. It's been a long week and when I do want to write on here, I'm normally tired. I work 8-9 hours a day.


Today I will be doing commentary on Psalms 119, as in all of it. Not in one post though, let's say 30+. There's over 170 verses.
I've already done this somewhere else so I'm just copying and pasting what I've already written before. 

I may add some things as well, this will be in bold.


Psalms 119:1 1 Blessed are those who live without blame. They live in keeping with the law of the Lord. 

 You can’t live perfectly as that’s impossible but make sure you can separate wrong from right. 

Not just that but always make sure you do the right thing. Even the most seemingly perfect people have problems going on in their lives.

 Don’t be deceived by superficial or outward appearances. What looks fancy could destroy you. Not always true but it could.

Nobody is perfect but a lot of people know how to deal with their problems perfectly - which makes them seem perfect but they’re not. 

 There’s a quote I know that says ‘behind every seemingly perfect person, there’s a mess you can’t see.’ 

 So the next time you find yourself comparing yourself to someone and feeling bad about yourself, try thinking of what you can’t see.

 That super pretty girl you wish you looked like - she hates the way she looks and she struggles with anxiety.

That family you wish you were a part of - they argue more than you and your family members do. And they’re financially struggling - like a lot. 

 That student that almost always gets good grades - they are constantly being pressured by others to do well and it does their head in. They have sleepless nights and are lonely. They don’t know who their real friends are. or who's just using them for their intelligence, which happens a lot of times.

 These are just examples of course because people normally compare their worst to the best of others. Not everybody is like this.

What I’m trying to say is life too short to focus on the lives of others instead of yours. 

The harsh reality is you’re going to be you for the rest of your life whether you like it or not. 

 Comparison, especially negative ones don’t have any meaning. Some things in life do have meaning of course but looking down on yourself doesn’t You are amazing and wonderful just the way you are. 

Sometimes the day I have affects my self esteem. If I have a good day, my self esteem is high.

 If I don’t then my self esteem is low But henceforth I’m going to be happy about myself irrespective of what day I’ve had. 

I’m content with myself, you should be content with yourself too. 

 Sometimes life is hard, difficult or just downright unfair but that doesn’t mean that you should be hard on yourself. 

These things are normally beyond your control anyway.

   For example it seems as though I’m getting unwell every weekend because I work with babies throughout the week. I can barely control that - the babies might have something and they unknowingly pass it on.

But you are not your mistakes, or your past. Just look to your future. Yes you will die one day and so will everyone else. Don’t worry about that though. Focus on your right now Have a good day / night

Psalms 119:2

2 Blessed are those who obey his covenant laws. They trust in him with all their hearts. 

 “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” -Proverbs 3:5. 

Live the way God wants you to live. 

Not the way others want you to live. 

 Even if others want you to live well and righteously, that’s great. But at the same time, they’re not you. And they might not always know what you want for yourself. God knows you inside and out because he created you. And he created the person that created you: your mother. He understands you more than people do. 

That’s why he wants you to listen to him and obey his instructions. He is your master. Try not to slip away from God.


Likewise, Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you.
Before you were born I set you apart to serve me.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”


God knew us even before we were even born. He knew our strengths and our weaknesses, our likes and dislikes, etc. What might be good for someone might not necessarily be good for you and the other way around. Focus on you and not others, unless maybe if it's for inspiration.


When comparing yourself to others, choose three things
1) compare yourself to the person you were yesterday
2) Compare yourself to Jesus Christ (best option!)
3) Don't compare yourself to anyone at all.

Psalms 119:3


They don’t do anything wrong.
They live as he wants them to live.


It's impossible for you not to do anything wrong, like I said when I was analysing verse 1.


But Matthew 6:33 says "But seek ye first the kingdom of righteousness and everything else will be given to you"


If you want God to give you things then you must seek his kingdom first, irrespective of what you're going through in your life and what the world might deliberately or unintentionally distract you from at the same time.


When you are grateful for what you have, and you seek God first, then I believe that's when he really starts to divinely intervene in your life.


10 “Suppose you can be trusted with something very little. Then you can also be trusted with something very large.
But suppose you are not honest with something very little. Then you will also not be honest with something very large.
11 Suppose you have not been worthy of trust in handling worldly wealth. Then who will trust you with true riches?
12 Suppose you have not been worthy of trust in handling someone else’s property. Then who will give you property of your own?"
You can find this in Luke 16 vs 10-12.


Blessed is the person that can say "I really love my life. I may not necessarily have everything I want, but I have everything I need."


I read that somewhere. I'm not sure if it's a Bible passage or not although it's still really important regardless.

Psalms 119:4-5 

 4 You have given me rules That I must obey completely. 5 I hope I will always stand firm in following your orders.

 If you want to stand firm with God, then you’re must simply obey everything that he wants you to do. 

God’s plan towards us are always of good and never of evil to bring us to an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11. (The verse doesn’t actually say that but it’s along those lines anyway) 

 Have a good day / night

Every five verses, I will be doing a new part. It might be more than five parts though, it all depends on how much I write.

Stay tuned! xoxo

Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses

 Wednesday 23rd June 2021

I know people rarely say this but happy Wednesday!

It was midnight on Tuesday when I posted this, so technically Wednesday. In my previous post I talked about not letting other people define you. I also made a list of what I was going to post about next. Commonly Misunderstood Bible verses was the next on my list, which I forgot to add on Sunday so I added it today.

God urged me to post this so here we are 

*Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses*

No doubt that there are some Bible verses that even though they’re important (all of them are), they’re oftentimes misunderstood as well. Below are five of them.

Not everybody misunderstands them but apparently a lot of people do. I got everything from this website:

Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses

When I use a link and I call it a specific title, it's not necessarily the same title as the topic of the link, if that makes sense.

if I rephrased or added something, I’d write it like this, with the bold. Same with the Bible verses.

Everything after this sentence was copied from the website I mentioned before. 

Here is a list of the 5 most misused and abused Bible verses:

1. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13

Out of Context: This verse has nothing to do with dunking a basketball, hitting a game-winning homerun, bench-pressing a bus, winning the lottery or closing a business deal.

In Context: The Apostle Paul is under house arrest awaiting his trial, where he may possibly be put to death for preaching the resurrection of Jesus.

However, instead of being defeated by unfortunate circumstances, Paul is using this opportunity to teach the young church in Philippi that he can endure any and every circumstance—ups and downs, highs and lows—because he has a strength that only comes from Christ.

This supernatural strength to endure all seasons and situations is always with Paul because the Holy Spirit of Christ is always with him, even in prison.

2. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” – Matthew 18:20

Out of Context: This verse is usually quoted as an encouragement to one another when there is low attendance for a worship service or given as a benediction (blessing) during a prayer meeting.
In fact, if someone really wants to stretch this verse, they may use it as justification for skipping church to “worship” with their family at home, while the football game is playing in the background.

In Context: This verse falls specifically within the context of church discipline and dealing with believers who may be difficult to control. 

It is meant to be an encouragement to church leaders during tough times of loving confrontation to say that God would be present with the two to three witnesses as they are intentional in correcting and restoring a fallen brother or sister.

3. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Out of Context: This verse is typically given to someone as a sentiment during a difficult time, or on a graduation card after crossing a stage receiving his or her diploma or degree.

As a stand-alone promise, it appears as though God exists to make us all popular, rich, healthy, and powerfully well known! God declares the American Dream over my life!

In Context: This incredible promise is given not to an individual, but to a people group—Hebrews exiled in Babylon. God promised that He had not given up on His people and that even though things looked hopeless, they still had a future and a hope!

So, the word “prosper” doesn’t refer to money or material blessings; it refers to physical and spiritual salvation. It’s a beautiful promise that God is not done with His people and that their future and hope were only found in Him.

The promise is that He will see His plans through, and His people get to be a part of them.

My own addition: Life isn’t easy and when God says that he will give you a life with success, that doesn’t mean that you get to avoid the bad things in life. Most of the time the bad things builds you to be successful, ie failure.

4. “Judge not, that you be not judged.” – Matthew 7:1

Out of Context: We’re living in a day that values tolerance above all, unless, of course, someone disagrees with our beliefs, lifestyles, or opinions; then, we’re extremely intolerant. We may even boldly shout, “Only God can judge me!” However, this is Tupac theology, not Biblical theology.

In Context: This verse is not a warning against speaking out against certain actions or behaviours. In fact, in other places of Scripture, we’re told “we’ll know them by their fruit.”

We’re also commanded in to “make disciples,” which includes helping others win war against sin. However, Matthew 7 is a warning against self-righteousness and hypocrisy.

If we’re going to correct someone, then we must expect to be held to the same standard. If we judge with aggression, then we can expect to be judged with aggression. Don't be a hypocrite, 'cause that isn't lit. Also don't use double standards against someone else as well.

Even though we remove the plank in our eye, Jesus still says we must remove the speck in our brother’s.

my own addition: Don’t resent other people for their mistakes because you’re not mistake free either. Nobody is perfect. A lot of people tend to throw shade  at someone for doing something wrong, but whoever hasn’t sinned should cast the first stone. That’s nobody.

5. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” – Psalm 46:10

Out of Context: Honestly, the most common travesty committed toward this verse is that only a piece of this verse is quoted.

On coffee-mugs, desktop screensavers with roses in the background, and paintings with a mountain, you’ll see a section of this verse carved out from the whole thought: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

In Context: The greatest justice we can provide for this verse is to actually quote it in its entirety. What an incredible comfort and reminder to know that we can be still and know that God is in control.

As His people, we can rest in the truth that He will be exalted in the nations across the earth, and there is nothing that can stop God from accomplishing His will.

Everything God does and says is intentional. Every word in the Scriptures is on purpose and placed in the specific context that He desires. Therefore, we must be careful with the Word of God and be intentional in how we speak this Word!

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

You can find this in 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17

Yeah normally I analyse things myself or copy and paste what I've already analysed before (maybe adding things) but this time you know I just wanted to copy directly from a website. I’ve never actually done that before I don’t think. 

I could have just posted the website, say ‘read this’ and called it a day but I felt like that would have been extremely lazy, and I don’t like being lazy. 

You guys deserve the best, and I hope you receive it in Jesus' name, amen.

Don't Let Other People Define Who You Are

 Sunday 20th June 2021

Before I begin, I would just like to say a Happy Father's Day to the fathers and all the future fathers out there. 

And if you don't have a father anymore, just remember that God is your father, he always has been and he always will be. He is the best father you could ever receive. I hope you have a wonderful day ahead.

I have officially finished the John 15 analysis I had done earlier, and I know I said that I would talk about temptation, but this crossed my mind instead.

The order I'm going to be doing things in is

- Temptation

- Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses

- Psalms 119 Analysis (all 176 verses)

- The thirty wise sayings in Proverbs

- Ecclesiastes

These are what my next posts are going to be about.

I already have these analyses down somewhere. I'm just copying and posting them really, however if I added something, I will write in a  different colour.

But for now, the topic for today is Don't Let Other People Define Who You Are

God said I should post this (not related to John 15 though) so here we are 

*Don’t let other people define who you are*

I had this daydream (and quite continuously too, maybe God is foreshadowing a future event but I’m not sure) where someone started a rumour about me. 

I don’t know what it said but I know it wasn’t true and everyone was giving me a dirty look. The old younger people pleasing me would have cared what these people had thought so would have probably ran off somewhere crying but not this me. 

I just ignored them and continued doing my own thing and kept focusing on God. I let them keep staring and judging me without even knowing anything about me. 

People will judge you but you don’t have to listen to them. Psalms 84:10 says 

10 A single day in your courtyards is better than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather guard the door of the house of my God than live in the tents of sinful people.

I would rather have a million enemies and God be happy with me than than other way around. When someone says something bad about you, it reflects them, not you. 

Critics are everywhere. Constructive or not. 

For example, I like to dance

. 

In public? Not really... or it depends in who's watching.

The thing is with me, I can't dance on the spot, unless it's to a song that I already know a dance to. If it's not, then I'd probably just end up repeating moves I've already done before. I rarely care what people think, dancing in public it's just not something I'm comfortable with (yet).

But in private, yes - I love dancing in private. And I have tried learning a few dances on YouTube, I've learnt some of what I wanted to learn but not all.

So if I post a video of me dancing on WhatsApp for example, which I have done once before, and someone criticises me saying something like 

"No offence, but I've seen better"

Do you know what I would say to this person?

"You know what? I may not be the best at what I do, but I enjoy doing it. I'm passionate about it and that's all that matters. I'm not even striving to be the best anyway. I'm just striving to improve."

People normally criticise you out of jealousy. As Christians though, we shouldn't bring other people down to make ourselves feel better. People of faith don't do that. We should aim to build each other up when possible.

Am I the best dancer out there? No, of course not. There are many people out there that are better than me.

Striving for the best is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But I'm not like this anymore; I'd rather just be better than who I was before. Besides, there's a difference between a hobby and a career.

I’d explain my situation to them, and if they have a problem with it then so be it. I don’t live to please them. Don’t let other people define you. 

Now I'm going to talk about how...

With the help of God I was able to think of five reasons how you can do this, and they are as follows (in no particular order)

1. Remember that only God can truly judge you at the end of the day 

You can have a thousand and one Haters in your life even if you’re not a bad person but at the end of the day, all of our final outcomes are the same. Death. 

When you’re gone, you forget those that loved you or not. The opinions that people say about you won’t matter anymore and only God’s does because he determines if you end up in Hell or in Heaven. Not other people. 

2. Remember that the things of this world and the people there are temporary 

This is basically what Ecclesiastes 2 has been talking about. How everything is meaningless in this world. 

Except the word of God.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 also says vanity of vanity, says the preacher. Vanity of vanity. Everything is vanity.

Solomon said this even though he had everything. For him to say that means that we really shouldn't love the world and what's in it.
I kind of made my own rhyme about  it

Almost everything is vanity
Loving the world's against humanity
Don't be tempted by the devil
Because he's filled with insanity

The only thing that doesn’t pass away even if Heaven and Earth does is God’s word (Matthew 24:35)

Someone may criticise you and in five months time you never hear from them again. They don’t necessarily need to have died. They could still be alive. 

Either way people’s opinions of you can always change although you shouldn’t let them get to you. God’s opinions of you never changes. 

Plus it’s always good too. 

Someone could like you one minute and hate you the other For no reason. It’s during the worst time of your life that you see the true colours of those that say they care for you 

Don’t waste time trying to prove your worth to someone who can’t see it. 

People can go cold on you without reason. Or maybe they’re going through something but even then, you at least deserve an explanation 

With someone ignoring you for no reason and you’re not sure why because you haven’t offended them 

This is probably a sign from God that he’s trying to remove them from your life. But if you’re unsure, you can try and talk to them but if they still ignore you then don’t waste your time. 

3. Remember that if someone says something bad about you, it reflects them and not you 

Some people just hate you. Even when you haven’t done anything for them to hate you. They just hate you, and that’s fine. 

They could even hate you for something that’s beyond your control for example they could feel insecure around you because you’re prettier or more attractive than them. Can you control this? No, you can’t 

Sometimes people can hate on you silently but other times they make it explicit. If they make it explicit, then it has nothing to do with you and all to do with them. 

Beware though. Some people are nice to you even if they’re jealous of you. Fake friends are everywhere. 

For example if a so called friend is nice to you but when they’re around others, you don’t exist in their eyes then don’t waste your time on them. 

This is when you don’t even do anything wrong by the way. If you did something wrong then that’s a different story. 

Also know that that’s not about you. It’s about them. It’s sad how some people have one good friend alone but when they’re with others that good friend doesn’t exist 

4. Remember that the devil can oftentimes send people to bring you down - aka your haters and critics. He doesn’t do this by accident 

Do you think haters and critics just come into your life coincidentally? No, the devil most likely plotted them beforehand. 

He sees you doing well, even when you may not me and he thinks 

“I’m about to ruin this whole Person’s career”

By sending someone to hate you. 

John 10:10 I believe says the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. 

By believing what people say about you, you’re letting the devil win. Don’t do that. 

5. Remember that people hated on Jesus but he still overcame regardless 

Jesus had countless haters before he got crucified. But he didn’t let them get to him, he still died on the cross for our sins either way. 

You shouldn’t let them get to you either. 

-- 
That's it for now, thank you so much for reading. I really appreciate each and every single one of you being here. It really means a lot to me and I don't take any of you for granted. Stay blessed
Lola

John 15 Analysis - Part 3

 Thursday 17th June 2021 

Happy Thursday, I hope you have had a good day so far.

Here is the third and final part of the John 15 analysis I did on a word document back in April. 

My next post will probably be on temptation. I don't normally plan what I have to post, I just post what God wants me to post. I have decided on a new schedule though, which will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, unless stated otherwise.

 ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Jesus Christ had died on the cross so that we can live. The cross can sometimes be very underrated in today's society. I read recently in a book that yes, we celebrate Jesus' death, birthday and resurrection. Which is all about Jesus, however we may not always focus on the cross and what it represents.

The cross can represent a personal sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for our sake. So he is expecting us to make sacrifices for him as well. Luke 9:23 says "Then he said to all of them, “Whoever wants to follow me must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross every day and follow me."

A book I read recently (Becoming Like Jesus: God's Key to Abundant Living by Gbile Akanni) said that we need to take up the cross daily. Not weekly, monthly or annually, daily. The author linked this to Numbers 21 vs 4-9

I highly recommend the book by the way, it's amazing, and very insightful.

4 The Israelites travelled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea. They wanted to go around Edom. But they grew tired on the way. 5 So they spoke against God and against Moses. They said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Do you want us to die here in the desert? We don’t have any bread! We don’t have any water! And we hate this awful food!”
6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the Israelites. The snakes bit them. Many of the people died. 7 The others came to Moses. They said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake. Put it up on a pole. Then anyone who is bitten can look at it and remain alive.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake. He put it up on a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake remained alive.

Those that had looked at the snake for one day thought that their problems would have been gone forever. But no, it was only for that one day. It would have come back the next day. That's why Jesus Christ said that you should take up your cross daily. So that every problem you have, as long as you take up the cross daily, will be gone every day.

If you take up the cross on the first day of a month and you expect all of your   future problems to be gone for the whole month then you're deceiving yourself. It would only be gone for the first of the month. Unless you take up the cross daily. You understand where I'm coming from? I hope you do.

 ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’ (Psalms 35:19; 69:4)

Psalms 35:19 Don’t let those who are my enemies without any reason

    laugh at me and make fun of me.
Don’t let those who hate me without any reason
    wink at me with an evil purpose.

And Psalms 69:4 Those who hate me without any reason
    are more than the hairs on my head.
Many people who don’t have any reason to be my enemies
    are trying to destroy me.
They force me to give back
    what I didn’t steal.

Both of these quotes have something  similar, which is the fact that David is asking God to take away the people that dislike him. In life, people will inevitably dislike you, oftentimes for no reason or before they've even met you. The harsh truth is you can't please everyone so you shouldn't try to. I had to learn this the hard way but I learnt it. Besides, you shouldn't even be focusing on pleasing people anyway. Focus on pleasing God instead.

After all, Galatians 1:10 says Am I now trying to get people to think well of me? Or do I want God to think well of me? Am I trying to please people? If I were, I would not be serving Christ.

God's opinion of you will never change but people's can. There are 7 Billion plus people in the world. There is absolutely no way on Earth that you can make every single one of them happy, especially if it is at your expense and most of the time, it is. You probably don't like everyone you encounter or know, so you shouldn't try to make everyone like you.

Did you know that making others like you could actually get them to dislike you instead? This is contrasting yet true.

Some people hated Jesus Christ for no reason - it could have been because of jealousy or because they thought that Jesus Christ was better than them. Jesus Christ wasn't trying to be better than anyone though, he was just preaching the truth. And Christians know that. Most unbelievers didn't like Jesus because they were threatened by him. 

Jesus Christ had many haters. But on top of that? He had umpteen or countless supporters too, and a lot of people loved him. Hence why Christianity was named after him: Jesus Christ. As of June 2021, there are 2.382 billion Christians out there. That's how many people love Jesus/God and their teachings.

As for verses 23-25 in John 15, here was what I analysed.

If you hate Jesus then you hate God, and if you hate God then God won’t be very happy with you. He’s done so much for you so you should do the same for him as well.

Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one of them and love the other. Or you will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can’t serve God and money at the same time.

You can't have two idols at the same time.  Even if it's not at the same time, realistically speaking you shouldn't be worshipping anyone or anything that's not of God.

I can't say that God would resent you if you do that because God doesn't resent anyone. He just wouldn't like it if you did that. Drop your idol today and focus on God. It doesn't matter what your idol is. 

It's like to this very popular quote as well.

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. ²⁷ You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.

Psalms 46:1 God is our place of safety. He gives us strength.
    He is always there to help us in times of trouble.

Jeremiah 29:13  When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.
When you come into the word of God, then you know that he can help you with all your problems.

It's best for you to live a short life where you are fully focused on God and his teachings than a long life without any meaning. I have also learnt that it's not about how long you live but how well you live instead. I mean, both is great, ie Nelson Mandela lived 95 years and he was very influential. I watched a movie about his life on the 11th of this month.

Quality over quantity is important for everything, even how long you live. Strive to die empty, not with potential still inside of you. That potential is no use if you're dead, that's why I'm saying that. Come into the word of God, so that he can help you with all your problems. 

And I pray that he helps you as you do this amen.

John 15 Analysis - Part 2

Tuesday 15th June 2021

When  I first started this website on Sunday, I was a bit reluctant and doubtful. But now I'm really feeling it, I love coming on here to update something. And I just want to thank God for always being there for me as well. Including all the nice messages I've received!

I actually wanted to post this tomorrow because I believe I said that I'll be updating every three days or so- that was until God reminded me last minute:

So here we are.

On Sunday, I posted my John 15 analysis that I did on a word document in April, but I didn't finish it because it would have been too lengthy. Here is the second part; I stopped at verse 12, this will end at verse 21.

 ¹³ No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last. I also appointed you so that the Father will give you what you ask for. He will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ¹⁷ Here is my command. Love one another.

If you are a selfless person and you help your friends, then you are a very genuine person and Jesus loves this kind of person. Be the kind of person that you or someone else would want to be friends with. You will be God’s friends if you do what he says. Jesus has told you everything that he has learnt from his father.

Verse 17 says that we should love one another.

Mark 12:31  “And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”

Leviticus 19:18 Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbour as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

Love your enemies, not just your friends, because what are you gaining from that? Your enemies might not even hate you, they might just hate the situation that they’re in and they take it on you. Pray for them, and love those who might persecute you.

I've met a lot of people in my life where we didn't get along at first then I became friends with them afterwards. Or if I didn't consider them my friend, they were still nice to me regardless. And that can happen a lot. That's why Jesus said love your enemies, they could become your friends after. This isn't 100% guaranteed however if you hold unto that hope then you never know, perhaps it could actually come true one day.

I don't talk to them now though I do hope they're well.

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸ “My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you. I said, ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ (John 13:16) If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me.

John 13:16 ¹⁶ What I’m about to tell you is true. A slave is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him.

A slave is less important than its master because a master tells a slave what to do and not the other way around. It also doesn’t matter if you have enemies or not because Jesus had enemies himself too.

You should try to not love the things of the world because not only could they be taken away from you at any time, when you die, your worldly possessions will not be going to the grave with you, or anything else you own either.

Matthew 5:10-12 says Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right.

    The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

11 “Blessed are you when people make fun of you and hurt you because of me. You are also blessed when they tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. 12 Be joyful and glad. Your reward in heaven is great. In the same way, people hurt the prophets who lived long ago.

Jesus has chosen you out of the world, which is why the world hates you. But that’s okay because they hated Jesus first.

People treat you like this because of Jesus. They do not know the one who sent you.

The followings sentence was from  Care What God Thinks, Not Man

Whenever God calls you to do something and people rise against you, attacking you, ridiculing you, making fun of you, or slandering you, don’t be discouraged or feel alone. They did the exact same thing to Jesus and His disciples. 

This is what Jesus Himself told His followers about this kind of treatment...

then the website made some references to Matthew 5:10-12, which I just mentioned, and also Matthew 10:24-31

it also said this:

Jesus warns us many times that the enemy will, not might but WILL, use this tactic against us but He also reminds us that “God is on our side”! If we hold true and do not break under the pressure, He will turn it toward our good and His glory in the end. In time, He will use the pressure to turn the ugly coals of our situations into diamonds and He will cause those that ridiculed you to see it and know that He is God and you are His child.

The disciples and early Christians were no strangers to this common and timeless tactic, either. We find numerous accounts throughout scripture of their encounters with the “in crowd”, the trendies,.. the men pleasers. We read in scripture of the relentless effort of these people to sooth their convicted consciences and justify their sin by attempting to pressure those that were walking in obedience to God’s instructions, to instead, give-in to “their” instructions and be excepted. Unlike today, this tactic rarely worked against the early followers of Christ. Paul writes concerning this when he says:

“But God chose us to tell people the good news. And so we do not speak to please men, but to please God. He is the one who knows what is in our hearts.” – ‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬‬‬

So is it really that bad to want people to like you? Generally, no. However, when that approval comes at the cost of God’s approval then, yes. We ought to care more about what God thinks of us then what classmates, workmates, friends, or even our family think of us. We all have an engrained desire to please and be loved. Make sure the focus of that desire is in the right place, set firmly on God and His will rather then on man or the things of this world.

Yeah, so for the 1 Thessalonians verse, I had to use a simpler version because I didn't fully understand the version they used. I mentioned the word slave earlier and how A slave is not more important than his master. Let me tell you a story. I read this somewhere but I forgot where I read it from, I think it was Open Heavens but don't quote me on that.

There were two men, one was destined to be a slave and one was destined to be a king. The man destined to be a king had accepted this so therefore he had felt as though he didn't have to work hard. He was lazy, he didn't do much - if anything, procrastination was his favourite thing to do. Procrastination was more or less his best friend.

However, for the slave- he thought to himself: no, I am not accepting this position. I am going to work hard.

So he put his hard work into everything- and it paid off. In the end, the man destined to be a king had ended up being a slave to the man destined to be a slave.. who was now a king. You don't have to accept labels given to you. If you do, then that is called a Self Fulfilling Prophecy, which I learnt in Sociology. You will be a master and not a slave in Jesus name.

That's it for now, I will see you on Thursday by God's grace. Have a good day / night.

Lola