<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Mark 15;16-20<div><br></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;And the soldiers let him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion.</b></div><div><b>17. &nbsp;And they clothed&nbsp;him in a purple cloak, and plated a crown of thorns and put it on him.</b></div><div><b>18. &nbsp;And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”</b></div><div><b>19. &nbsp;And they struck his head with a reed, and spat&nbsp;upon him, and they knelt&nbsp;down in homage to him.</b></div><div><b>20. &nbsp;And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they let him out to crucify him.</b></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Here we have a perfect illustration of the passage, <i>“ Whatsoever you do unto one of&nbsp;the least of these&nbsp;my brethren, you do it unto me.” &nbsp;</i>(Matthew 25;40)</div><div><br></div><div>The soldiers certainly believed Jesus to be a nobody. &nbsp;To them he was a worthless piece of condemned flesh. &nbsp;His only value&nbsp;was for&nbsp;a brief bit of cruel entertainment. &nbsp;They had no idea that they were mocking and abusing the very&nbsp;Son of God, their only hope for salvation.</div><div><br></div><div>Taking pleasure in the pain of others, gloating at others being condemned and punished,&nbsp;should give us no pleasure. &nbsp;The sad fact that we do, is evidence of the evil still indwelling our flesh. For this we must beg God’s forgiveness and truly&nbsp;hate our own sin-nature.<i>“ &nbsp; &nbsp;</i>Better for the evil to go unpunished and they continue to persecute us,&nbsp;than for Christians to gloat at the&nbsp;fall of the wicked.</div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the LORD&nbsp;see it, and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him. Fret not yourself because of evil doers, and be not envious of the wicked; for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.” &nbsp;</i></div><div>(Proverbs 24;17-20)</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus has commanded us to, <i>“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so t</i><i>hat you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;”. &nbsp;</i><span>(Matthew 5;44)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Kindness and compassion are gifts God has shown to us, his former enemies. &nbsp;We who have Christ within us are to manifest the indwelling Christ by this same love to outcasts, enemies, and wicked people. &nbsp;Such love has the power to change hearts. &nbsp;We are to&nbsp;hate the sin, but love the sinner.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Even in His tortured sufferings, Jesus still loved and prayed for those who mocked and spit upon Him.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father in heaven, grant that we, <i>“by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body</i>.” &nbsp;(Romans 8;13) &nbsp;&nbsp; Fill us with Your own perfect&nbsp;pity and compassion for those who are on their way to death. &nbsp;Grant them to see and receive&nbsp;the light of Life&nbsp;Christ Jesus,&nbsp;before their lamp is put out. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</span></div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Mark 15;16-20
16.  And the soldiers let him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion.17.  And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and plated a crown of thorns and put it on him.18.  And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”19.  And they struck his head with a reed, and spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him.20.  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they let him out to crucify him.

Here we have a perfect illustration of the passage, “ Whatsoever you do unto one of the least of these my brethren, you do it unto me.”  (Matthew 25;40)
The soldiers certainly believed Jesus to be a nobody.  To them he was a worthless piece of condemned flesh.  His only value was for a brief bit of cruel entertainment.  They had no idea that they were mocking and abusing the very Son of God, their only hope for salvation.
Taking pleasure in the pain of others, gloating at others being condemned and punished, should give us no pleasure.  The sad fact that we do, is evidence of the evil still indwelling our flesh. For this we must beg God’s forgiveness and truly hate our own sin-nature.“    Better for the evil to go unpunished and they continue to persecute us, than for Christians to gloat at the fall of the wicked.
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the LORD see it, and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him. Fret not yourself because of evil doers, and be not envious of the wicked; for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”  (Proverbs 24;17-20)
Jesus has commanded us to, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;”.  (Matthew 5;44)
Kindness and compassion are gifts God has shown to us, his former enemies.  We who have Christ within us are to manifest the indwelling Christ by this same love to outcasts, enemies, and wicked people.  Such love has the power to change hearts.  We are to hate the sin, but love the sinner.
Even in His tortured sufferings, Jesus still loved and prayed for those who mocked and spit upon Him.
Prayer:  Merciful Father in heaven, grant that we, “by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body.”  (Romans 8;13)    Fill us with Your own perfect pity and compassion for those who are on their way to death.  Grant them to see and receive the light of Life Christ Jesus, before their lamp is put out.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
