Hate vs. Love

Toward a New Creation
A World Gone Wrong

Ignoring God's Truth Within Us

John 15:18-27  The Message

Hated by the World

^18-19 “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

²⁰ “When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.
^21-25 “They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me. If I hadn’t come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it’s all the same. If I hadn’t done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn’t be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, ‘They hated me for no good reason.’
^26-27 “When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start

For Reflection

The root of all evil may not be money.  Rather the root of evil is fear!  Fear blinds us to the truth which resides in God.  Fear animated the hate toward Christ.  Fear motivates the hate toward those who live on God's terms.  Christ has put an end to fear.  Christ has given us the freedom to choose life in God's Kingdom over death in the common world.

Be aware of that which you fear. Be aware of the seductions of fear and move fearless through life, trusting in the Lord.

Pray

that you will trust in the Lord.  Pray that you will loosen the bonds of fear that drive you away from Godly endeavors and toward self-preservation at all cost.  Pray that you will embrace the death of your common self and embrace your resurrected self in Christ.