My word promises comfort to those who mourn, but it also declares woe to those who are rich, because they have received their reward, and woe to those who laugh now, for they will weep. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. He who humbles himself will be exalted, but he who exalts himself will be humbled. All these things point to a great reversal of fortunes that is coming. It appears that you can have immediate gratification or delayed gratification according to your choice, but not both. Where do you see yourself now on this scale? Will your situation improve when the reversal comes? Are you ready for it? 

The parable of the sower and the seed has a negative counterpart. Your adversary sows seeds of evil. These will also grow and bear evil fruit if given the chance. The seeds eaten by the fowls of the air are those thoughts taken captive and rejected. Those that sprouted and grew but withered quickly because they had no root are those who repented quickly before they became ensnared or offended others. Those that were choked out represent others who broke the cycle of evil by turning the other cheek and not resisting evil. Those that fell on fertile ground found no resistance and grew to bring forth evil fruit. 

You know that you have an adversary and that he has strongholds, places and persons in which he is active and considers as his ‘turf’. What is your response to this situation? Do you seek them out to challenge them or avoid them out of fear? Neither response is correct. You are to respond to my direction in obedience rather than reacting to your enemy. Yet there is something you should be aware of, that you are a stronghold of life and light. My presence is in you and with you wherever you go and this is a stronger influence than any works of the enemy. Let your light shine before men that they may glorify me. 

Have you ever been tempted to write a scathing letter to someone who hurt you? Have you done it? After the passage of time did you think it was better to send it or not? My word teaches you to resist not evil, but if someone strikes you to turn the other cheek, or steals from you to give him more. This is a radical teaching. Do you feel you have no opportunities to apply it directly? Yet you can apply it in a general sense. Life will give you many chances to be involved in the cycle of evil even if it only involves words – attack, counterattack, escalation. You can break the cycle of evil and defeat it by not resisting it.