DAILY BIBLE VERSES AND PRAYER THOUGHTS:

MONDAY - VERSES: Romans 3:4; Revelation 17:14 PRAYER THOUGHT: Praise God for His power and His ability to overcome evil. Thank Him for overcoming Satan and his evil followers.

TUESDAY - VERSES: Luke 11:20-22; John 16:33; Revelation 2:11, 17,26; 3:5,12; 21:7 PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank God that through Jesus He made it possible for you to overcome the evil in your past. Thank Him for the promises He made for those who overcome.

WEDNESDAY - VERSES: 1 John 2:13-14; 4:4; Revelation 2:7; 3:21 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God to help you continue to overcome the evil in your own life so that you can be in Heaven with Him.

THURSDAY - VERSES: Romans 12:14-21 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God to help you to refuse to 'fight fire with fire' and not to try to overcome evil with more evil.

FRIDAY - VERSES: James 1:5; 3:13-17; Colossians 4:5 PRAYER THOUGHT: Ask God for the wisdom to know good from evil and how to overcome evil with good.

SATURDAY - VERSES: Isaiah 28:1; 1 John 5:4-5; 2 Peter 2:19-20 PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank God for His help in the past and ask Him to forgive you for the times you allowed evil to overcome you or go unchecked by good.

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The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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If your religion doesn't teach you the difference between good and evil, your religion is worse than useless. - Dennis Prager

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ASSIGNMENTS

1. Daily read over this material and read or sing the song.

2. Place the scripture where you will see it each day.

3. Think of times when you have overcome evil with good.

4. Pray for God's help in overcoming evil with good.

5. Write down the ways you have tried to overcome evil with good.

6. Plan to tell the class how you have overcome evil with good, or tell how evil overcame you or how you tried to overcome evil with evil.

SPIRITUAL HEALTH REGIMEN - WEEK 28

OVERCOMING EVIL - 1-27-13 TO 2-3-13

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

COMMENT - There is a right way and a wrong way to defeat Satan and evil in the world. Two wrongs never make a right. There is never a right way to do a wrong thing. Christians are to overcome evil by doing good not by doing evil.

SONG – INSTRUMENTS OF YOUR PEACE

1. Where there is hatred we will sow His love, Where there is injury we will never judge, Where there is striving we will speak His peace; To the people crying for release We will be His instruments of peace.

2. Where there is blindness we will pray for sight, Where there is darkness we will shine His light, Where there is sadness we will bear their grief; To the millions crying for release We will be His instruments of peace.

REFRAIN: Lord, make us instruments of Your peace; Where there is hatred let Your love increase. Lord, make us instruments of Your peace; Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease, When we are Your instruments of peace.

THOUGHTS

A little girl one day went to her mother to show some fruit that had been given her. "Your friend," said the mother, "has been very kind."

"Yes," said the child. "She gave me more than these; but I have given some away."

The mother inquired to whom she had given them. She answered, "I gave them to a girl who pushes me off the path, and makes faces at me."

When asked why she gave them to her, she replied, "Because I thought it would make her know that I wish to be kind to her, and she will not, perhaps, be so rude and unkind to me again."

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In a school in Ireland, one boy struck another; and, when he was about to be punished, the injured boy begged for his pardon. The master asked, "Why do you wish to keep him from being flogged?"

The boy replied, "I have read in the New Testament that our Lord Jesus Christ said that we should forgive our enemies; and therefore I forgive him, and beg he may not be punished for my sake."

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I read the story recently of how Louis XII of France treated his enemies after he ascended to the throne. Before coming to power, he had been cast into prison and kept in chains. Later when he did become king, he was urged to seek revenge but he refused. Instead, he

prepared a scroll on which he listed all who had perpetrated crimes against him. Behind every man's name he placed a cross in red ink.

When the guilty heard about this, they feared for their lives and fled. Then the king explained, "The cross which I drew beside each name was not a sign of punishment, but a pledge of forgiveness extended for the sake of the crucified Savior, who upon His cross forgave His enemies and prayed for them."

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Dr. Victor Frankl, the bold, courageous Jew who became a prisoner during the Holocaust, endured years of indignity and humiliation by the Nazis before he was finally liberated. At the beginning of his ordeal, he was marched into a gestapo courtroom. His captors had taken away his home and family, his cherished freedom, his possessions, even his watch and wedding ring. They had shaved his head and stripped his clothing off his body. There he stood before the German high command, under the glaring lights being interrogated and falsely accused. He was destitute, a helpless pawn in the hands of brutal, prejudiced, sadistic men. He had nothing. No, that isn't true. He suddenly realized there was one thing no one could ever take from him -- just one. Do you know what it was?

Dr. Frankl realized he still had the power to choose his own attitude. No matter what anyone would ever do to him, regardless of what the future held for him, the attitude choice was his to make. Bitterness or forgiveness. To give up or to go on. Hatred or hope. Determination to endure or the paralysis of self-pity.

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There is a famous scene in Peter Pan. Peter is in the children's bedroom; they have seen him fly; and they wish to fly too. They have tried it from the floor and they have tried it from the beds and the result is failure. "How do you do it?" John asked. And Peter answered: "You just think lovely, wonderful thoughts and they lift you up in the air." The same is true for the believer. The only way to defeat evil thoughts is to begin to think of something else.

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The writer of the book of Hebrews warns his readers, "See to it...that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." A good example of the very thing he warned against can be seen in the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feud. Only intervention by the governors of 2 states and a number of arrests and murder convictions could end the feud. However, in the beginning, the dispute had merely been over whether one individual had or had not stolen another man's pig.-- Book review of Hatfields, Mccoys, and Social Change in Appalachia, 1860-1900 by Altina L. Waller

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Dear Preacher,

I heard you say to love our enemies. I am only six and do not have any yet. I hope to have some when I am seven. Your friend, Love, Amy

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OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD

INTRODUCTION - ROMANS 12:14-21

I. PAUL SAID OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD - ROMANS 12:14-21

II. JESUS SAID OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD

A. DO MORE THAN IS EXPECTED - MATTHEW 5:38-48

B. BE LOVING TO YOUR ENEMIES - LUKE 6:27-36

III. PETER SAID OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD - 2 PETER 1:5-7

CONCLUSION

OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD

SCRIPTURE - (Rom 12:14-21) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. {15} Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. {16} Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. {17} Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. {18} If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. {19} Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. {20} Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." {21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

INTRODUCTION

A. ONE OF THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIANITY IS TREATING ALL PEOPLE, EVEN ENEMIES, WITH THE RESPECT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE FROM OTHERS - (Luke 6:31) "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

B. WHEN WE TREAT OTHERS AS WE WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED, WE OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD.

C. OUR PURPOSE AS CHRISTIANS IS TO BRING PEOPLE TO SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. DOING GOOD TO THOSE DOING EVIL IS ONE WAY WE CAN OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD.

D. DOING GOOD IS THE BEST WAY TO OVERCOME OR DEFEAT OUR ENEMIES

I. PAUL SAID OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD - ROM 12:14-21

A. BLESS, DON'T CURSE - (Rom 12:14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

B. HAVE EMPATHY - {Rom 12:15} Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

C. DON'T BE SELF-WISE - {Rom 12:16} Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

D. NO EVIL FOR EVIL - {Rom 12:17} Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.

E. BE AT PEACE WILL ALL - {Rom 12:18} If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

F. VENGEANCE BELONGS TO GOD - {Rom 12:19} Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

G. KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS - {Rom 12:20} Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."

H. DO NOT BE OVERCOME - {Rom 12:21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

II. JESUS SAID OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD

A. DO MORE THAN IS EXPECTED - (Mat 5:38-48) "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' {39} "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. {40} "If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. {41} "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. {42} "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. {43} "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' {44} "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, {45} "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. {46} "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? {47} "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? {48} "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

B. BE LOVING TO YOUR ENEMIES - (Luke 6:27-36) "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, {28} "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. {29} "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. {30} "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. {31} "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. {32} "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. {33} "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. {34} "And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. {35} "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. {36} "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

III. PETER SAID OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD

A. FILL YOUR LIFE WITH GOOD - (2 Pet 1:5-7) But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, {6} to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, {7} to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

B. FILL YOUR THOUGHTS WITH GOOD - (Phil 4:8) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things.

CONCLUSION

A. HAVE YOU TURNED YOUR ENEMIES INTO FRIENDS BY OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD?

B. THE SCRIPTURES SAY THAT IT WILL WORK AND THAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS CHRISTIANS.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

Do not be

Overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.