forgive

August 24, 2019

“He Is Faithful and Just”

9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.– 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:5-10 NLT

Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, God’s Spirit comes to abide within us. He will lead us in the path God has chosen for each of us,if we are willing to follow. But, we are not going to become sinless over night and we shall never become perfect in this world. There will always be a struggle between our flesh and our Spirit. Nevertheless, our salvation is secure. Does this mean we won’t fail? No, of course not. If we could do this on our own then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. God knew even before He redeemed us that we would fail, He is not surprised by anything we do, because He is omniscient. But, because He loves us so much, He is waiting with open arms for us to repent and return to Him. He is always faithful and just to forgive us when we ask. He cleanses us and restores us over and over and over again. We are His children and He cares deeply for each of us.

John 12:35-36 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 08-24-2019

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July 5, 2019

“Work At Living A Holy Life”

14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. – Hebrews 12:2

Hebrews 12:12-15 NLT

As Paul tells us in Romans 12, we should do everything that we can do to live in peace with our fellow man.  Add to that, the fact that we should strive to live a Holy life. God tells us to be Holy because He is Holy.  Once we are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, it should be our inclination to follow the example of Jesus in all that we do.  That requires us to not only seek peace and holiness, but to teach others so that no one fails to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ.  To do this, we must avoid gossip and rumor mongering.  If we practice those things, we hurt others instead of helping. Do this with humility and love so that no one can blame you.  When you are wrongfully blamed, quickly forgive the person.  Don’t hold grudges and allow a “root of bitterness” to grow in your heart. This will, first of all, destroy you and then those around you.

Romans 12:14-18 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 07-05-2019

April 7, 2019

Fill Us With Your Love

39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:39 NLT 

Romans 8:35-39 NLT
The love of God is perfect and is far too great for the human mind to grasp in its entirety.   How could the Creator of the universe and everything in it stoop to loving us?  Why does He bother Himself to listen to and answer every prayer that we pray?  At our worst, we are wretched sinners and even at our best, we fall so short of being what you created us to be. We can only bow our heads and say with the Psalmist, “what are human beings that you should care for them”?  Yet, you gave up all of your glory in heaven, put on a human body and lived among us.  You revealed your love to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Such matchless mercy, such generous grace and such limitless love is more than we can even imagine.  With our sins, we crucify you afresh every day, yet, you continue to forgive us and love us back to you.  Help us, Lord, to love you enough to be channels of your love to those around us.  Even though it may be painful at times, Lord, stretch us and fill us with your love until we overflow, until your love breaks forth from us and washes over those around us bringing them into “the healing stream that flows from Calvary’s mountain”. Amen.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 04-07-2019

April 4, 2019

“Not Guilty”

4 “I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’  I told the wicked, ‘Don’t raise your fists!  — Psalm 75:4 NLT

Psalm 75:4-10 NLT

In Ephesians 6:4, Paul warns us to “be angry and sin not”.  God is big enough to handle all of our anger.  But when we become angry with God, we need to be careful how we present that feeling to Him. We are not to be defiant or boastful of our own power.  If we allow ourselves to be controlled by the anger rather than us controlling the anger then we get into the area of sin.  When we have thoughts about not liking what God is allowing to go on in our lives, we need to present those thoughts to Him.  We can’t hide them from Him since He knows our every thought before we do.  We have to be honest with ourselves and with God while at the same time showing Him respect for who He is.  Instead of shaking our fist at God, we need to fall on our faces before Him and ask Him to give us wisdom to understand why He is allowing us to go through each particular situation.  God is not a God of chaos, He has a plan and a reason for allowing things to happen in our lives.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us capture all of our rebellious thoughts and bring them under obedience to Christ Jesus.  2 Cor. 10:3-5 NCV  When we have done this and repented of our anger, God is always faithful to forgive us, pick us up, wrap His big arms around us and restore us to the family.  We must be careful to never, never let satan use quilt to defeat us after God has forgiven us. We must agree with God and forgive ourselves.  He still has work for us to do in His Kingdom.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 04-01-2019

October 11, 2018

Eat The Whole Thing

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 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. — Mark 11:23, 24 NLT

These are two well-known and often quoted verses from the Bible.  Of course, we know the basic principle of God answering prayer is true.  But, can we just randomly pick a mountain, ask God to cast it into the sea and watch it immediately happen?  Of course not.  We might not like the mountain where it is but there might be a million other people who love it and perhaps even God Himself might like the mountain where it is.  If God has told us to pray that prayer about a specific problem, then that mountain will be moved.  But the important thing for us to notice and remember with these two verses is the fact that they are the meat between two slices of bread.  We can’t just have the meat, we have to eat the whole sandwich.  Look at the principle in verse 22:

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.”

There is a requirement that God has laid out for us before we ask Him to move the mountain.  And then verse 25 gives us another requirement that we must fulfill before we ask God for anything:
25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

And there are some veggies that need to be eaten as well,  Have we determined that what we are asking for aligns with all the Scriptures, not just our favorite ones?  If we have met the requirements for God to answer our prayer — believing (being completely convinced that it will happen), forgiveness and alignment with His will, then the mountain will move.
 
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
Post 10-11-2018
March 23, 2018

Do Not Be Conceited

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16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited..—Romans 12:16 NIV

To live in harmony or peace requires us to put the needs of others above ours. To develop and maintain a relationship requires giving from both sides. It isn’t give and take, it is give and then give some more. To do this requires each of us to be humble, not just with those close to us, but with the strangers we meet on the street. We should never presume that we are better or of higher position than those that God brings across our path. Our birth and our address do not give us, as Christians, any right to feel or act better than others.  In fact, it requires us to do just the opposite. It requires us to love the “unlovable” and to touch the “untouchables”, just as Jesus did. If ever, we should meet someone and presume that we are of higher or better position than they are, it is pride that makes us feel that way.  Presumption and pride are sins.12  People cannot see their own mistakes. Forgive me for my secret sins.
13 Keep me from the sins of pride; don’t let them rule me. Then I can be pure
and innocent of the greatest of sins. Psalm 19:12,13 NCV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 03-23-2018

December 28, 2016

Repentance Restores Joy

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12 Your help made me so happy.    Give me that joy again.
    Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you.  — Psalm 51;12 ERV


Have you ever had those times when you didn’t “feel” saved? I certainly have. But we have to remember that salvation isn’t about feelings, it is about a decision. Sometimes those feelings cause us to feel separated from God. When we realize that we have sinned, we do feel alone and far from God just as David in this Psalm. Our reaction needs to be the same as David’s. We need to ask God to make us pure and loyal to Him so that we can hear those sounds of joy again. Ask God for His forgiveness and He is always ready to restore us. Some people have the idea that God is just looking for reasons to punish them, nothing could be further from the truth, It is His joy to restore us and bless us. We, as human parents, want our kids to have everything they need and be happy and joyful. God loves us and our children much more than we can ever imagine. He is faithful to forgive and His mercies are new every morning. God promises us in Romans 8:37-39 that “nothing can separate us from the love of God”. Nothing means no thing, no person, no creature in heaven or on earth. So, if something is bothering you, just practice the three Rs–Repent, Relax, Rejoice!

Romans 8:37-39 ERV


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 12-28-2016

November 6, 2016

Bitter Roots Sour Relationships

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14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. – Hebrews 12:2

As Paul tells us in Romans 12, we should do everything that we can do to live in peace with our fellow man.  Add to that, the fact that we should strive to live a Holy life. God tells us to be Holy because He is Holy.  Once we are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, it should be our inclination to follow the example of Jesus in all that we do.  That requires us to not only seek peace and holiness, but to teach others so that no one fails to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ.  To do this, we must avoid gossip and rumor mongering.  If we practice those things, we hurt others instead of helping. Do this with humility and love so that no one can blame you.  When you are wrongfully blamed, quickly forgive the person.  Don’t hold grudges and allow a “root of bitterness” to grow in your heart. This will, first of all, destroy you and then those around you.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
July 19, 2016

Agree and Confess

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5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. — Psalm 32:5 NLT
 
Psalm 32:1-6 NLT


When we accept Jesus as our Savior we confess all of our sins up to that point.  But we still live in the flesh and all of the fleshly desires are not magically removed overnight. The Holy Spirit starts a process of sanctification in each of us.  This process is designed to change our hearts’ desires so that we no longer choose to live a lifestyle of sin.  However, there are times that we will fail and we will think, do or say something that is not pleasing to God.  Perhaps we will fail to do something that the Holy Spirit urges us to do.  Most of the sins that Christians are guilty of are sins of omission, not sins of commission.  We rebel against God in refusing to follow His leading in our lives.  The problem I have is agreeing with God that I am being rebellious and confessing it as sin.  But God does not negotiate, He will stand firm and I must agree with Him and confess.  We must get to the point the Psalmist got to — “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord” and He will forgive me.

1 John 1:5-10 NLT
Post 07-19-2016
January 26, 2016

Forgive? Absolutely! Forget? Well……

even-smaller-bug-light125  “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. — Isaiah 43:25 NLT

God forgives us of our sins and chooses not to remember them or hold them ​against us.  No where in the Bible are we instructed to “forgive and forget”.  Like many sayings attributed to the Bible, this one is not in there.  While it is a beautiful expression and idea, I am not sure that humans are capable of forgetting those transgressions,  either the ones we have committed against God or those that have been committed against us.  While we may not be capable of forgetting, we are charged over and over with the responsibility of forgiving.  That we can do, because it is an act of the will, it is a decision that we make.  God has certainly told us that His forgiveness of our sins requires us to forgive others
 
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  — Eph. 4:32​

There are many other verses emphasizing the fact that we must forgive.  These verses also show us how our relationship with the Father is affected by a lack of forgiveness. (Matt. 6:15)  They also show us how a lack of forgiveness causes us to become bitter (Hebrews 12) and how unforgiveness will cause us to lose our reward (2 John). 

The “forgetting” part means that we should be so sure and certain about our decision to forigve that the transgression no longer affects our relationship with the person committing the act.  It is no longer a part of any discussion we have or any decision that we make.  It means that just as God has justified our standing with Him, we do the same for the transgressor.  It is as if we had “forgotten” or as if that incident had never happened.
Notice in the passage from Isaiah that God said He would forgive ​them ​for His sake which indicates there are some good things that come to those who do the forgiving as well as to those who are forgiven.  So,  if for no other reason, we need to forgive for our own sake.

Post 01-26-2016