Hi, I am Beverley Watkins with Global Impact Ministries and welcome to God Today. Do you know what Haters are? You know #Haters, I didn’t even know what that was. My daughter got a cap with that once. This was many years ago. I wanted to be a cool mom so I didn’t even ask her what it meant because I was like, “Whatever.”
But, in the last number of years, ever since I have started to step out and really go after the things God has for me, I have discovered there are #Haters out there. You know what I mean. People who have nothing good to say about you. Every time you do anything, they are going to find something wrong and they want to tell you about it, especially on social media. You may even have friends who are like that. You know, those little undercutting words and things they say to you. You know what? That stuff hurts. You know in your head that God loves you and you are doing what He has called you to do, but when somebody says something to you, it hits you in your spirit and it hurts. The reasons it hurts is because they want it to hurt. They say stuff with energy behind it that hits you in your soul. You could have 30 people tell you, “You are awesome, you are amazing.” But, that one person that says, “I don’t know, Beverley, you did X, Y, and Z.” It gets to me, I have to be honest, it gets to me.
One day, I was sitting with the Lord, I was whining with the Lord, let me be honest. I said, “God, this is terrible, why didn’t you stand up and defend me, or do something?” He didn’t take me to this scripture, I decided to make myself feel better. I decided to make myself feel better I was going to read from the book of Acts because I reckon Paul had some haters. So, I am reading in the book of Acts and I come across this scripture again, it is in Acts 14:22. It is talking about Paul going back to Antioch, and before he goes to Antioch, some of the places he went to. Verse 22 says, “He is going back to the strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, ‘We must go through many tribulations, into the Kingdom of God.’” As I read that, I was like, “You see God, it is such a challenge to get in the Kingdom. We have to fight through all these things.”
As I was thinking that, I got this idea I should read that scripture in the Passion Bible, to kind of see what is it sound like in there. I like to look at different translations. This is what it says in the Passion Bible, Acts 14:22, “At eac place they went, they strengthened the lives of the believers and encourage them to go deeper in their life and they taught them. It is necessary for us to enter into the realm of God’s Kingdom because that is the only way we will endure our many trials and persecutions.” Boom! I never read that scripture that way. God suddenly said to me, “Stop living down there and looking at all those people and taking it in.” He said, “Step up into the Heavenly places, come up to my throne room, come and see it from my perspective. You have access to the Kingdom of Heaven. So, come up there and begin to look down on it from this perspective. I will show you my heart. I will show you how I see these things.” And He said to me, “You are going to have to figure out how to do that, Beverley, and do it regularly, because there will always be people who hate you. There are always going to be people who speak against you. There will always be trials and persecutions when you are of the Kingdom and you are bringing the Kingdom. People are always going to come against you. So He said, “Learn to come up and be here with me and live from this perspective. That is how you are going to deal with that.”
If you are struggling with some #Haters in your life today, pray with me a moment. Father, God, Lord we know people have always got things to say. We know that in our head, but it hurts us on the inside. RIght now, Father, by faith, we want to sit into the realm of Heaven. We want to take up our seat in Heavenly places, the place you have won for us. Lord, we want to look down on this situation and realize, Father, that these are just people that are broken in themselves, dealing with their own issues, and heading out to make themselves feel better. Father, God, right dorm that place we can forgive them. Just forgive them now, whoever it is speaking against you, just forgive them. Just release them. Because they need Jesus. Just pray for them a moment. Father, even as we do that, we want to receive your love. Because we are made whole in you. We receive your love, we receive the fullness of what you have for us today. Lord, you strengthen our soul. Father, you give us joy. Just make us whole and complete. Heal those woundings, heal those places of pain. Because they’re there. Just heal them right now. Let your presence wash over every person listening to this. Let it rest on them. Let the peace of God make them whole. In Jesus’ name. Amen.