Christ Declares Whom God Will Forgive-Matthew 6:14, 15

Matthew 6:14, 15. Christ declares whom God will forgive.

Jesus here gives some instructions concerning the frame of mind in which prayer must be made. In the Lord's prayer we are directed to say, "Forgive us our debts, or trespasses, as we forgive our debtors, or those who have sinned against us." This petition seems like asking God not to forgive us if we do not forgive others. Some people might have been induced to wish that some part of the sentence was omitted, and that they were instructed simply to ask God to forgive them, whether they forgave others or not. But it would be of no use to make such a prayer; for God is determined not to forgive us unless we forgive others.

It is therefore necessary that we should inquire whether we really forgive them; for our hearts are so deceitful that we are apt to imagine we forgive, when we still harbor a grudge against an offending brother. What then are the signs of having really forgiven an offender? When we have heartily forgiven him, we cease to indulge the thought of his offence, and we take no pleasure in speaking of it. When we have heartily forgiven him, we neither wish evil to befall him, nor feel glad if it do befall him; but, on the contrary, wish all manner of good to happen to him. 

When we have heartily forgiven him, we neither speak bitterly of him ourselves, nor do we feel gratified if we hear others speak harshly of him. This last, perhaps, is the best test of our state of feeling; for some who would not dare to speak harshly of an enemy themselves, would be glad to hear others do so. These should be our feelings even towards one who has not asked our forgiveness; but if our offending brother ask us to forgive him, we ought to restore him to friendship and endearment, and our heart ought to be towards him as before—and thus we ought to continue to act, in spite of repeated offences.

Is it an easy thing thus to forgive? No! it is impossible to nature, and can only be done through the Holy Spirit working in our hearts a sense of our own unworthiness, filling us with love to God for his mercy towards us, and then with love to our fellow-creatures.Though thousands offer this prayer of our Lord every day, it is only accepted from those whose hearts are renewed by grace. Before our prayers are accepted, we ourselves must be accepted. Cain's sacrifice was not accepted by God, because he himself was not accepted. Abel's sacrifice was accepted, because he himself was accepted. 

Would we, therefore, offer acceptable prayers, we must first give our own selves to the Lord; we must come in the name of Jesus, and on account of his sacrifice that he offered on the cross, God will accept us, renew our hearts by his grace, and answer our prayers. God will not be mocked. Man would gladly put God off with formal, heartless prayers; but He will not receive them. He spurns the offering, and says, "Who has required this at your hands—to tread my courts? When you spread forth your hands I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers I will not hear." (Is. 50:12-15.)

But let no penitent sinner be discouraged by these declarations. We may come with our sins to Christ, if they are a grief and a burden to us, for it is He alone who can forgive them, and it is He alone who can subdue them. His Holy Spirit will make us hate our sins, help us to strive against them, and enable us to overcome them+

Gratitude And Awe

We know a time will come for us to look back with our Lord over the story of our lives. Every hidden thing shall be made known, every word spoken in secret shall be uttered. My soul shrinks back; how will this not be an utter horror? The whole idea of judgment has been terribly twisted by our enemy. One evangelistic tract conveys the popular idea that at some point shortly upon our arrival in heaven the lights will dim and God will give the signal for the videotape of our entire life to be played before the watching universe: every shameful act, every wicked thought. How can this be so? If there is "now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1), how is it possible there will be shame later? God himself shall clothe us in white garments (Rev. 3:5). Will our Lover then strip his beloved so that the universe may gawk at her? Never.

However God may choose to evaluate our lives, whatever memory of our past we shall have in heaven, we know this: It will only contribute to our joy. We will read our story by the light of redemption and see how God has used both the good and the bad, the sorrow and the gladness for our welfare and his glory. With the assurance of total forgiveness we will be free to know ourselves fully, walking again through the seasons of life to linger over the cherished moments and stand in awe at God's grace for the moments we have tried so hard to forget. Our gratitude and awe will swell into worship of a Lover so strong and kind as to make us fully his own.

Courtesy of Ransomed Heart

Forgiveness!

I heard someone say one day that unforgiveness is like taking a poison and hoping the other person would die.  It is so true. Unforgiveness eat us alive inside. One of the reasons I learned to forgive no matter how hard someone hurt me, and believe me, I have been hurt so deep, if God was not on my side, there is no way I would have ever recuperate. I like paying close attention to myself to see how I react when I say or do something outside the Holy Spirit vs when I am in the Spirit. There is a world of a difference between the two and I hate the person I am when I am not in the Spirit. So, when you pay close attention to yourself, you will find what is keeping you from forgiving someone else is because your ego cannot let go even after years. You keep reliving the hurt as if it happened yesterday. Every time you relieve the pain, your pride is dying within you and it mingles itself with everything that you are to bring about a need for revenge. I have to share with you, until God took me in the wilderness, I dealt with people who hurt and humiliated me so much, people who took my job away from me and so on, I honestly wanted God to send a ball of fire and burn them right away.  

I remember there was a time I used to imagine how I would hurt them back, and I was scared of what I could concoct within me. I was scared of myself. As I looked at what my mind and heart could concoct to get revenge I can understand easily why we had people like Hitler and why we still have so many people out there who seemed to have been born to hurt others, with pleasure. Through God’s grace, I learned not to entertain these kinds of thoughts and take control of my anger as I put it all at His feet. This is easier said than done. Most of the time, there is nothing within me that wants forgiveness for these people. But, I learned to bring it to Him, in spite of the consequences of the hurt that was inflicted and in spite of the lack of vengeance. It is so painful to know someone who hurt you seemed to have gotten away with it and living it out.

We can find healing and we can find peace of mind if we truly believe. Forgiveness is an opportunity for us to prove that we truly believe the God that we serve. It is an opportunity to fear Him and glory in His sovereignty and majesty. As I learned to see that forgiveness is directly proportion to my faith in Him, I have also learned not to tolerate it in my heart for even one minute. In fact, when someone hurt me, it is imperative for me to take it right away to God, not only in word but in my actions as well. I always pray for God to heal my heart, but most of all, teach me how to pray for this person’s welfare. I do not care anymore about ever being avenged. If the person is not a believer, I pray for this person’s salvation. This is a spiritual skill we can acquire when only we understand our role in it. As time goes by, I am watching myself changing so much that when people hurt me, it hardly lasts a moment in my heart. My goal at any cost is to reach the point where I can honour God and pray for them like Stephen when he was being stoned, or to be like Christ when He was on the Cross. The healing starts, when we remember who we serve.

With that in mind, I am leaving you with this post from Ransomed Heart

We must forgive those who hurt us. The reason is simple: Bitterness and unforgiveness are claws that set their hooks deep in our hearts; they are chains that keep us held captive to the wounds and the messages of those wounds. Until you forgive, you remain their prisoner. Paul warns us that unforgiveness and bitterness can wreck our lives and the lives of others (Eph. 4:31; Heb. 12:15). We have to let them go.

Forgive as Christ has forgiven you. (Col 3:13)

Now - listen carefully. Forgiveness is a choice. It is not a feeling - don't try and feel forgiving. It is an act of the will. "Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving," wrote Neil Anderson. "You will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made . . ." We allow God to bring the hurt up from our past, for "if your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your life, it will be incomplete." We acknowledge that it hurt, that it mattered, and we choose to extend forgiveness to our father, our mother, those who hurt us. This is not saying, "It didn't really matter"; it is not saying, "I probably deserved part of it anyway." Forgiveness says, "It was wrong. Very wrong. It mattered, hurt me deeply. And I release you. I give you to God."

It might help to remember that those who hurt you were also deeply wounded themselves. They were broken hearts, broken when they were young, and they fell captive to the Enemy. They were in fact pawns in his hands. This doesn't absolve them of the choices they made, the things they did. It just helps us to let them go - to realize that they were shattered souls themselves, used by our true Enemy in his war against femininity.

http://ransomedheart.com/

Condemnation of an Unforgiving Spirit

Excerpt from Forgiveness of Injuries By John Angell James

.....The warning shows that unforgiveness from God is the doom of those who forgive not heartily, gladly, universally, unreservedly, every offending brother his every offence. To withhold forgiveness from offending man is proof that there is not forgiveness from the offended God. "Whatever measure you use in giving-large or small-it will be used to measure what is given back to you." Such is the inference. It is most distinct. May an expository review of the story instructively impress it.

At the entrance a caution may not be ill-timed. The parable teaches that the unforgiving shall not find forgiveness. Such is the appalling truth. But misapprehension must not here delude. It would be grievous error to infer that forgiveness on man's part constitutes in any sense the originating cause, and moving spring of divine pardon. God is not thus actuated. But still none have a saving interest in His absolving grace whose hearts are stern in unforgiving hardness.

Let discrimination analyze the case. The fountain of forgiveness of sin is grace--the purchasing price is the God-man's blood; the recipients are the children of eternal love--the flock given to Christ in counsels of eternal wisdom. They are loved, because God willed to love them. They are forgiven, because Christ's blood has paid the total of their debt. They have washed in the fountain opened for all sin and uncleanness, because the Spirit has made them willing in the day of His power. They have, also, forgiving hearts, because the same Spirit has softened, melted, hallowed them, and established His reign of gentleness and love.

This forgiving spirit is sweet evidence that they are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of the heavenly inheritance. Without Him, there is no scriptural warrant for joying in the remission, which belongs only to the family of faith. He, who forgives not from his heart his brother all his trespasses, bears on his front those unrelenting features which exclude from fellowship with the forgiven.

These thoughts lead to the graphic lesson of the parable. Let advance be made with eyes fixed on the focus to which the rays tend, and only pausing to gather warrantable improvement from the embellishing circumstantials.

$0.99 On Kindle 

The scene thus opens (ver. 23)--"the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him." The reflecting mind instantly turns to our heavenly Father, arrayed in all power--the sovereign Ruler of the universe--who distributes to his servants their several talents, arranges their opportunities, and is about to institute the scrutiny of final reckoning. They are wise who walk and speak and live and work as they who know that they must be made manifest before the judgment-seat, and that everyone "must receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad."

(Ver. 24.) "When he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought unto him who owed him ten thousand talents." Enormous is the amount. Astounding is the debt. It almost surpasses calculation. A terrifying thought arises--All men are debtors to God's justice, and who can reckon the inconceivable immensity of the obligation? Illustrations fail to span infinity--no words can paint a boundless magnitude. Count all the stars which sparkle on the breast of night--count all the sands which form the ocean's bed--count all the drops which constitute its billows--super-abounding sins exceed. Pile them, and the pyramid overtops the highest summit of the heavens. Let the ten thousand talents of transgression be estimated, and terror must petrify all hearts. Despair must sink into the lowest dust.......

Avail Ourselves For the Performance of This Duty

Excerpt from Forgiveness of Injuries By John Angell James

......There are some things to be AVOIDED. We must not allow ourselves to be influenced by the incitements and persuasions of others. Forgiveness is not a palatable doctrine with the world, nor is it held in general esteem, and those who cannot practise it themselves, will hinder us from it if they can.

We must not brood over the offence, but endeavor as far as possible to forget it; every look at it, like a glance at a forbidden object, will excite our passions, and exasperate our feelings. Nor must we talk to other people of the injury we have received; for nothing is more likely to inflame our resentment than the recital of our wrongs. The man who is forward to tell of an injury, will ever remain backward to forgive it. The people to whom he relates the affair will generally have some similar tales of their own to tell, and in accompanying them with descriptions of the manner in which they received them, will propose, and with too much success, their own bad example for imitation.

2. There are some things to be CONSIDERED. For lack of consideration, duties are neglected, sins are committed, souls are ruined. We should all be holier and happier if we would but consider. It is a momentous word, CONSIDER.

We must consider that forgiveness must be practiced. We have no option; there is no room for doubt or dispute about it. It is not a matter we may or may not take up. We can no more with propriety refuse to forgive, than we can refuse to be chaste or honest.

$0.99 On Kindle 

We must consider that we must do it. "Forgiveness," we must say, "is not only the duty of all, but it is my duty. I am the man who must practise it." We are very apt to shift obligation from ourselves as individuals, to the multitude. We lose ourselves in the crowd.

We must consider that it can be done-it is not impossible. Many have done it. The most irascible tempers have (by great pains) been controlled, and the most inexorable minds softened into meekness-and what others have done, we can do.

We should consider it to be an immediate duty; a duty in reference to the point in hand. Many who will read this tract are while they read it in a state of hostility against someone who has injured them. They have been insulted or wronged. You who are in this situation, you are the person to whom this duty applies. That very matter which now grieves, vexes, and irritates you, is the subject of the duty. You are to forgive that enemy, to pardon that offence. Now, at once you are to do it. You are to begin immediately. You are to lay down this tract and set yourself directly to the business of forgiveness. You are not to wait for the next offence-by taking proper steps to bring the offender to a right sense of the one already committed, you may prevent a repetition of it. You are not to wait until some future time. You may die without forgiving the offender, or he may die without confessing and lamenting his sin. Procrastination in this, as well as in every other duty, is likely to render its performance more difficult and more precarious.

3. There are some things to be DONE. The next time you go into your closet, (and you should go there for the very purpose), open your Bible, and read very solemnly and seriously the parable of the merciless creditor in Matthew 18. Pray to God before you begin, to give you grace to understand its meaning, and to see whether it applies to your case. When you have read it once, pause and say, "Can I now forgive?" If you can, fall down and give God thanks, and ask for grace to fulfill your purpose. If you cannot, read it over again, and say a second time, "Can I now forgive?" Read it again and again, until it has subdued you.

But if this fails, take with you this tract into your closet. Read it alone; read it through; read it with prayer-and when you have finished it, lay it down and say, "Can I now forgive?"

If your resentment is not yet subdued, then, "Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still." At the night-time, when you are removed from the hurry of business; when the noise of the world is hushed; when the darkness of your chamber, which enwraps the outer man, contrasts with the light of God's presence in which your soul stands; then bid your passions be silent, and let your conscience speak. There talk with and to yourself about this duty. There when you have perhaps asked God before you ventured to lie down upon your bed to forgive you your offences, ask whether you can indeed forgive those of a brother.

But in addition to all this there must be much deep, solemn meditation upon God's love in forgiving you. Professing Christian, can it be possible that you need all this expostulation to induce you to forgive others, you who have had so much forgiven? Meditate, meditate intently, upon your multiplied transgressions, your sins before conversion, and your sins after conversion; all, all, blotted out, not one, even the most aggravated, excepted. Think of the means by which this pardon of yours has been obtained.

 Go, go, to Calvary-behold Jehovah giving up the Son of his love to all the agony, degradation, and horrors of crucifixion-hear the piercing cry of the holy and patient sufferer. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me;" and ask why was this scene of blood and torture; and you shall hear a reply in the language of Scripture, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Can you gaze upon that scene of love's wondrous triumphs, can you leave that spot where you hope your own pardon is thus sealed, and not feel even happy at the opportunity given you of expressing your gratitude, by forgiving your brother? You often sit and sing at the sacramental table,........

The Opened Sight by Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers devotion for today has a boat load of information, we need for the Christian life. In fact, it is not stretching it if I say we have a lifetime of true Christianity in these few words and could be subject to several posts. One of the reasons I am so excited about this devotion is because it is so close to home. As I have shared with you before, my ministry is directly associated with these people who are in the Church, professed that they are Christians but have never made it to received true Salvation. Hence, my gifts of discernment and wisdom as well as the ability to judge according to the knowledge and leadership of the Holy Spirit in my life. If God felt that I needed these things in order that He can use me, can you imagine what He is able to bestow on those He truly called to occupy leadership and teaching positions in His Church?

Whether you are a pastor, an elder or evangelist, any kind of teaching position that He calls you to, there is no doubt that you will be equipped to see what needs to be seen through wisdom, discernment and more. The job is to open up other people’s eyes to the truth they do not know, to help them walk the walk. Why would He not do it for you first before He sent you? Why would Oswald Chambers able to see all these things and through his writings you can tell they are like natural abilities to him. He was not exceptional, he was just walking the walk.

His devotion today contains some truths that cannot be mere word that comes out of our mouths i.e receiving forgiveness of sin… This brings you face to face with a Holy repentance that you have never known in your life. This repentance could happen the same day you receive Christ in your life, but it could also happened few months down the road. Either way, you have to have the capability to receive this holy gift from Him. Too many people say they have received Christ but go on never knowing what it means to repent. Yet, this repentance is needed to make a 360 degree turn. Failing that, we live as people who are saved in their sins and not from sins. As long as you do not know the difference of what I just said, in your heart and in the quality of your life with God, well, you are not saved yet. Christ did not come to save us in our sins. This is not the real Salvation that He died on the cross for. The irony is that we keep saying salvation is through grace but we do not understand that getting there to the point where we know and compute that we have been saved from sins and we can see the ugliness of it and how and why God is disgusted by it is a MAJOR work of His grace in our lives.

Another truth in this devotion that must be considered very carefully is the fact that Oswald said “when a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God…” Do not take the word knows lightly. This knowing happened with an encounter with the Holy One that brings you to a place where you own that truth. You do not just repeat like a parrot that salvation is by grace, but it is your truth that is in the depth of your identity in Him, so deep within, that no one can take it away from you.

Another major truth in this devotion is that Oswald also said: “their eyes are open, but they have received nothing” this simply put you in the category of the seed that falls where there are rocks, and not much soil.

Another major truth is that even though our job is to open people’s eyes, we cannot do it by ourselves unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to move freely in our lives, with no hindrances to impede His work in others through us. That is a big responsibility that we learn the sacredness of it through being prepared by Him for service. This is where service to God becomes an extension of who you are in Him.

I have to stop in order to keep the length of this post to a reasonable document, but another truth that is devastating the Church is the fact that today’s preachers are not able to recognize which is which and how to deal with the lack of conversion in the pews and the pulpits. Please understand that I know there are some awesome pastor and teachers out there who have been called by God, took His personal training and walk in the Spirit with Him. They are the elite that God referred to in Jeremiah 3:15 “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding”. These shepherds after God’s own heart did not and will not become such just by taking a few courses in college or university. They are aware that after they are trained by man, they have to go through God’s university and curriculum before they are ready to lead His flock. This makes the difference between leading and leading.

The problem is that we are living in a time where anyone can be a pastor or teacher, because they feel like it or they want to work for God, notice the emphasis is for God not with God. We also have greed; the need for status, insecurities, resources at their disposal, being well connected which was the practice of the Pharisees (blind leading blind) etc. You can understand why they are not equipped to deal with dires strait situations in their congregations that require an abundance of God’s grace.

I can understand that you might be offended by my writings, but do not stop there. Do not make it about you or me. Know that if you stop there and make it about you and me, there is a major problem in your walk that Satan does not want you to know. Examine yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to help you, to get your pride and bondage out of the way so that you can see what needs to be seen and know for sure where you stand with Him. Ask Him to save you, not because you deserve it, but for His glory. Keep praying day in, day out until He answers you. If you truly ask Him with a sincere and open heart, you will be amazed at His response.  

Here is Oswald Chambers devotional

The Opened Sight

01

10

2013

I now send you, to open their eyes . . . that they may receive forgiveness of sins . . . —Acts 26:17-18

This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.

God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “. . . that they may receive forgiveness of sins . . . .” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion-only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.

This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “. . . an inheritance among those who are sanctified . . . .” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others

This Oswald chamber devotion is the courtesy of http://utmost.org/

Revenge

Read Jeremiah 20:1-6

Jeremiah and Pashhur

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.a For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon.  And you, Pashur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”

I find Jeremiah chapter  20, heart breaking. There is also something about him in his painful trials and complaints to God that reminds me of David.  He hashed it out with God, then in the end he always ends up saying something like you are my God, I trust in you and I put it all in your hand to do according to your will. Jeremiah was depressed and hurting because of the nature of his ministry. He prophesized exactly what God told him to, he was beaten by the priest Pashur, the son of Immer who was the chief priest of the temple of the Lord. Immer actually served under David’s reign. Pashur, was a priest so he and Jeremiah were basically in the same boat. So, if anything, his job would have been to look after Jeremiah’s well being.  Instead, he humiliated Jeremiah to discourage him from such prophesy.

As a priest , pashur also had a hard heart and did not take heed to Jeremiah’s word which was from the Lord Himself. Instead, he had him beaten, put in prison and in stock which is an instrument of torture. From what we read, Jeremiah never said a word, he submitted to the humiliation and the injustice. This is the beauty of serving a just and divine God.   As Christian, God made it clear to us that we have no right to retaliate. It is more so when we are walking in His will and someone else decides to make an example of us to feed their ego and accomplish their own goals.

The plan that God had there for Pashur was definitely not good news and no one in the right mind would want to be in his shoes after God made such personal plans for Pashur who dealt treacherously and heartlessly with His servant Jeremiah. We see in this passage that  judgement came swift. God reassured Jeremiah right away. Unfortunately, most of the time things do not happen that fast. We deal with people who hurt us on purpose and for their own gain. While we have no idea how long it will take God to deal with them, we have to resist putting our own little vengeance machine in action.

I know what I am saying is not easy and personally, there were times in my life where people hurt me so deep inside just because I was there, and because I tend to be an easy prey. On several occasions I wished that God could send a bolt of lightning right then and there, to avenge me. As I get deeper in Him, I learned to live my life through Him, I realized God Himself deal with me with mercy and patience. Through His grace, I did not get what I deserve so now, instead of wishing a bolt of lightning after those who hurt me for their own pleasure I learn to pray for them. I refuse to give in to the need for revenge and instead I keep on praying until my prayer becomes a sincere desire for my offender to have an encounter with God. I learn to pray for healing for myself so that Satan does not gain a foothold in my relationship with Him.  While it will never be an easy choice to take the high roads, but as Christians, God does not give us a choice and Christ was our example all throughout His life on earth until the last moment. We simply cannot be above the Master.

PRAYER:  Father your Word instructs us not to seek for revenge and we should leave it to you. It is not always easy Savior. Nevertheless, your Word should prevail if we say we belong to you. So daddy, I pray that my brothers and sisters in Christ would learn to glorify you when they are hurt and humiliated by others just because they have the power to do so. I pray that we all as a community, your church and your people would learn to trust your judgement is divine and timely. So instead of focusing on the pain and those who offend us, I pray we learn to turn our hearts to you and look to you to defend us, because your Word will not come back void to you.

Please visit my website at: www.apprehended.ca

How Do We Forgive

It is hard to let go and forgive those who trespass against us but, it has to be done. The reason being is that when we do not forgive we are the one being imprisoned in our minds.  So by letting go of the pain and embrace forgiveness we find freedom to move forward and we can begin to heal. Forgiveness is not something that we are going to wake up one morning and find all is well, we no longer suffer the pain inflicted upon us. It is a process where we make up our mind to change our attitude toward the offender. Changing our mind does not mean we forget, it does not mean we have to let people walk all over us, nor that it means we have to be friend with the offender, even though Paul taught us in 2 Corinthians to go for reconciliation when it is possible.  But, if you keep feeling you have been wronged and you deserve to get vengeance then in essence what you are telling God is that you want Him to deal with you in the same way you are dealing with this person. As Christians, we are not allowed to cultivate pride, resentment, coldness anger in your heart. Christ can take away the hurt and the toxins and stress that come with cultivating a spirit of an unforgiving heart.  Nevertheless, a forgiving Spirit is a gift from God through His grace. As Christians we have been equipped by Him to exercise our will to forgive. Christ said so in Luke 17:4

Once you are ready to make the decision to move forward in forgiveness, understand that the process could take a while to get through. You have to change your perception of the situation, meaning stop focussing on the fact that you were wronged. Noticed that I did not say to deny the wrong that was done to you but instead you change your focus on God’s standard. Because as long as you insist on keeping the focus on you and how someone else hurt you, then, you put yourself in the same boat as the offender because you too you are wrong with God and you are sinning. The willingness to turn your heart toward God says that you are ready to trust His dealing of the matter instead of trusting your own judgement.

Once you begin the process to start looking at the situation with God in it and through Him, Admit that you have been hurt and your pride, your flesh, your ego are keeping you away from acting like a child of God. Admit to God your own sin and your willingness to move forward with His help. Usually, by the time I get to that step, I start praying for the offender. At the beginning it will hurt you because the pain is so fresh so your prayers will sound hollow and insincere. But while I am praying I usually beg God to teach me how to pray with all my heart for the offender because I know that is the only thing that would honour Him and bring Him Glory.  Changing your perception to see yourself not better than the other person, will always help you to want what is right in God’s sight.

If the offender is in your life and you have to deal with him or her, then it is important that you gently with the help of the Holy Spirit confronts this person and establish healthy boundaries. If you are dealing with someone who is mean-spirited, abusive, insensitive and has no willingness to change, then God never said you have to take the abuse, let the person off the hook for his or her actions or lack of actions, and to accept their lack of respect or ignoring the problem. It is not a godly way to handle the situation because sin is sin. God’s Word tells us to rebuke frankly so we will not share in his or her guilt (I paraphrase there). Honest rebukes every time, not only separate us for tolerating someone who is sinning over and over again, it also helps us to stop perpetuate an attitude where we offer ourselves as martyr so we can wallow in a pity party and play the victim. What you also need there, is to work on changing your own behaviour by taking a page from Christ who forgave while on the Cross. You need to think about Stephen who forgave those who stoned him. Christ also said to forgive as many times it is necessary. Even where there is no room for reconciliation, that is okay just as long as we make sure we keep an open heart willing to please Christ in the situation we are in. We do that by cultivating a Spirit not willing to maintain grudges and willing to obey God.

God has allowed me to thrive under these circumstances where I dealt with a lot of verbal abuse. There were circumstances in my life where I was judged, tried and sentenced all by the same people while they were wrong about my motives.  It is amazing to see how He sanctified me through those circumstances because I have learned to take them in His name and brought it all at His feet. God really means business when He said “vengeance is mine” He is truly your defense and will vindicate you too in His own time.

PRAYER: Father I pray hearts of stones would be softened and my brothers and sisters in Christ would be enlightened. They would learn to understand how important it is to forgive. Your Word does not offer an alternative to forgiveness, and no matter how cruel someone is to us, you expect us to forgive. So daddy, I pray that we would take forgiveness seriously to heart and in our walk with you. The Spirit of unforgiveness is destroying us and the Church, so I pray we would all get off our high horses, wake up and see Satan is having a feast on our account. Bring your holy repentance in our hearts. You taught us to forgive even as you hanged on the Cross. Father, teach us and help us make it a priority in our lives today my Lord!

Please visit my site www.apprehended.ca and download the first 

chapter of this book for free   " Apprehended & Apprehending"

Or  go to Amazon to buy the book

Forgiveness

 “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” 

The Lord's prayer teaches us to pledge to forgive in the same way He forgives our trespasses against Him. Yet, to most of us Christians these are just vain words we say and we not only do not know the meaning of them, we are able to live our Christian life never examining those words, what they mean to God and also to us in our walk with Him. In essence we are telling God to deal with us in the same way we deal with other people who have sinned against us. The majority of Christians finds it difficult to forgive simply because forgiveness is not easy for most of us. We have a need to retreat and protect ourselves from those we know have the ability to hurt us. The more we have been hurt the more we need to protect ourselves. Some of us, we are so busy protecting ourselves, we project an emotional state of mind that lump everyone in the same batch. We have become so crippled emotionally that we are not capable of seeing the love around us and we cannot accept love of other people.  

When we do not forgive, we tend to think that harboring resentment and bitterness towards those who hurt us somewhat amount to something toward the offender. We feel more in control because we are holding power over them. Some of us do not forgive simply because of fear because we don’t want to find ourselves again in the same position. We dig ourselves deep into holding onto the pain, the hurt, the humiliation as well as the offender who caused our pain.  It is like having a cassette player in our mind playing things over and over again as a reminder that you were victimized.  We find some sort of strange satisfaction in rehearsing those sick feelings. It is like playing the cassette in our mind to make sure we keep our hatred for the offender alive and fresh. We do not want to forget. We hold onto everything because we feel we should be compensated, somehow there should be some punitive damages. Some part of us wants vengeance for what we lost because of someone else. We find it difficult to forgive because our pride and self esteem have been injured and we have been humiliated. Over the years we build up so much resentment in our hearts, so much bitterness that we are like people who have injected themselves with some kind of poison running through their bloodstream. By the time we get there, we have learned to live like a rat in a cage.  We are clueless of the fact that we have actually built our own mental cage, stepped into it and threw away the key.

When we do not want to forgive, we find it easy to find hundreds of reasons to justify our behavior. We internalize them, and we learn to believe in what we tell ourselves. We feel if we forgive, the other person would be let off the hook and this cannot be. In our ill informed mind, we think the offender is free to go on with life while we are still suffering the consequences of the pain and humiliation suffered from their actions. I find people with very low self-esteem always go on and on about the fact that they were hurt because they were not appreciated, not loved enough and that people hurt them on purpose etc. It is an amazing and sad thing to watch Christians holding on to grudges for decades just because someone made them feel unloved or unappreciated. They simply cannot get over the disappointments and are not willing to forgive.  

Please understand I am not talking about someone who has been raped or someone who has watched a loved one taken away by a bullet or something like that. I can imagine these tragedies are harder to forgive and they have nothing to do with our pride. While lack of forgiveness no matter what the situation in our live, how vile and deep someone violated us, it is a destroyer. It destroys our souls and relationships. Over the years we build up so much resistance to forgive the one who inflicted pain on us, that we allow the offender to have a hold on us even after decades.

The truth is, there is always freedom in Christ. The hurt inflicted on us does not have to overpower our lives. But, we cannot find this freedom unless we make the choice to forgive. Ultimately we have to make the choice to let go and allow ourselves to heal and be free. One of the sad things that I observed, it does not matter how well we know the Bible or how long we have been calling ourselves “Christians” but if we are not able to forgive, we cannot reach maturity in Christ either.

PRAYER:  Dear Lord, forgiveness is not easy, so I thank you for making a way for us to find freedom in you. I pray that we would choose forgiveness every time that we are hurt by someone else, knowing that your Word tells us not to seek for vengeance because vengeance is yours. I pray that you would soften the hearts of my brothers and sisters in bondage, they would learn to see their offenders in the same way you see them. Your grace would be flowing in their hearts they would not be discouraged but pursue forgiveness at any cost because it is your will daddy. May you be glorified in us my Lord Savior Redeemer!

Next Article will be on “How Do We Forgive”

Visit my Website Apprehended.ca

The Proper Perspective

Devotion By Oswald Chambers

Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . —

2 Corinthians 2:14

The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.

The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him . . .” (Romans 8:37).

“We are to God the fragrance of Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.