Matthew 5:11

Blessed (morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness) are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of (your association with) Me.

Jesus went against the grain in His ministry here upon the earth, and we will as Christians.   Jesus calls us blessed when we are persecuted for His name’s sake because we stand for the living God.  We stand for the light in the darkness and the redemption of man. And Jesus is standing by our side.  

Mathew 4:4 

But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”

Everything God did on this earth He spoke into being.  He had the bible written down so we could also speak His words.  That is how we live the word of God by speaking it and calling those things that be as not as though they were.  Yes, food keeps us alive, but the word of God makes us thrive and overcome.  

Isaiah 14:14

I will ascend above the height of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But (in fact) you will be brought down to Sheol, to the remote accesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

We need to get it into our minds that we are fighting an already defeated foe.  God, through Jesus dying as a substitute for us, gave us dominion over the devil.  When we walk in our authority, we walk all over any evil that tries to hurt us.  Our profession of faith by using God’s word is the key.  

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty (whose power no enemy can withstand).  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust (with great confidence, and on whom I rely).”

When we keep close to God and follow His word, we remain under His shelter.  The protection of God is around us because we are concentrating on our relationship with God.  We can rely on God to help us cast down doubts and remind ourselves that He is our refuge and fortress.

Psalm 67:1-3

God be gracious and kindhearted to us and bless us, and make His face shine (with favor) on us. That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation and deliverance among all nations.  Let the people praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

The devil has always tried to cover up and hide the goodness of God.  God needs us to walk in His ways and show people around us what the goodness of God is.  Many people don’t know that salvation and deliverance are possible, let alone that God loves them.  But we do!

1 Corinthians 13:3-4

If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not love, it does me no good at all.  Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant.  

Sometimes our head issue is a heart issue.  Our lives flow on the channel of what we believe in the heart. What we believe in the heart flow from what we concentrate on most.  Either good or bad.  God gave us the power to rule and reign on this earth, and love is one of the superpowers.  

1 Corinthians 13:1

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love (for others growing out of God’s love for me), then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (just as an annoying distraction).

After listening to a speaker on the importance of the love walk, they issued a challenge to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 every day for six weeks.  The reasoning is that if a person felt that God wasn’t moving in their lives or had difficulty with obstacles, maybe our love walk or lack of was hindering God.  We can look at it this way, Paul was an apostle of God, though he needed to go deeper in love to accomplish his goals for God, and he did.  

Proverbs 12:14

A man will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words, and the deed of a man’s hands will return to him (as a harvest).

What we believe in our hearts, we eventually speak.  The bible tells us to monitor our thoughts and not allow thoughts contrary to the word of God to form.  Why! Because we will create with our words what we imagine in our minds.  When we keep our minds clear of the negative, we will only speak the life-affirming words of God.  

James 2:14

What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no (good) works (as evidence)? Can that (kind of) faith save him? (No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient- a genuine faith produces good works.) 

Our faith in God will show by our actions and gains in this life.  Our faith will move us over obstacles that others will not be able to climb.  Faith is something that works in our lives to accomplish our goals and beliefs.  If our lives are idle, then so is our faith.

James 2:1

My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality (toward people- show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery.)

Racism can be called the sin of partiality and is not color-dependent.  People can be partial in many ways because they want to grant favor to one group and withhold from another.  It isn’t ok with God in any form, and as Christians, we should practice walking in love for everyone and not be partial in any way.