Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
14 For if you forgive [a]others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
A New Teaching?
Why have I titled this post as a new teaching?
It’s because back in verse 12, Jesus took the Jewish prayer to a higher level than had been traditional.
Most devout Jews prayed daily, asking God to forgive them their debts.
Now, adds Jesus, you need to pray God will forgive you just as you forgive others. The new teaching is that forgiveness from God depends upon our willingness to offer forgiveness to those who sin against us.
We do not forgive easily, especially if the hurt is deep and ongoing.
To pray daily that God forgives us as we forgive others is to remind ourselves of our need to forgive; it is to acknowledge our fallen, frail human nature.
Jesus makes a promise here.
If you forgive others, the Father will forgive you.
Of course, we understand that there must also be repentance, faith, and also renewed obedience.
When our hearts are soft to forgive others, then God can see that our hearts are soft toward Him as well.
Think about it.
Hold anger and resentment in your heart, purposely and with malice, and see what it does to your relationship with the offender, and with God.
Jesus also makes a rather threatening statement:
But if you forgive not. . . .
If we knowingly, purposefully withhold forgiveness, then we do not meet the qualifications to receive forgiveness from God.
Do you desire mercy and grace from God?
Then show mercy and grace to those around you, even when they have offended you.
There is no escaping the clear message of these two verses.
Withhold forgiveness from others, you will not receive forgiveness from God.
I lift the following words out of Matthew Henry’s Commentary in One Volume:
“Christ came into the world as the great Peace-Maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another. It is great presumption and of dangerous consequence, for any to make a light matter of that which Christ here lays such a stress upon. Men’s passions shall not frustrate God’s Word.“
Faith—Forgiving As Forgiven
Jesus taught his followers this prayer, and it is often called “The Lord’s Prayer.”
But it is a prayer that Jesus didn’t need to pray.
He had no debts or sins for which he needed forgiveness. His disciples did, though, so he taught them this prayer.
We also need this prayer, don’t we?
Acknowledging that we need forgiveness is not easy. But look at the last part of this request: “. . . as we also have forgiven our debtors.” I sometimes wonder,
“If God were to forgive us as we forgive others, how forgiven would we be?”
Contagious Forgiveness?
Jesus’ teaching here at the end of the Lord’s Prayer might be confusing.
It almost sounds as if we have to earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving others.
But we also know that through faith in Jesus, we are already forgiven by God (Acts 2:38; Romans 3-8).
So we need a different kind of thinking here.
Think of an old kitchen sponge that hasn’t been used for a long time.
When you put it under the tap, the water runs right over the sponge.
But if you set the sponge in a bucket of water for a few minutes, it softens and becomes usable again.
Our hearts can be like that too.
When we hold onto our resentments and bitterness, nursing our anger, we can become as hard as a rock, God’s grace will be like water running over a rock.
It doesn’t soak in.
But when we are open to forgiving others, we become soft like a moistened sponge.
The Lord’s grace soaks in and saturates our hearts, and we become available to share his grace.
Just as a wet sponge moistens other things when it touches them, we can share grace, helping to wipe others’ dirt away as we forgive others.
As Colossians 3:13 puts it, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Dying to our accumulated resentment, anger, and bitterness softens our hearts to receive God’s indelible truth, amazing grace and share it freely with others.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
130 Out of the [b]depths [of distress] I have cried to You, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly, O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared and worshiped [with submissive wonder].
5 I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits, And in His word do I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; More than the watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his sins.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
1 John 1:6-10 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Part of growing into mature Christian is the constant confession of sin, with both God and with others.
But in the individualistic society in which we live, people don’t always confess their sin.
In fact, if they fall away from having their daily quiet time with God, it can be months or even years since they’ve confessed sin and been forgiven by God.
When this happens, the habitual sins which they find they’re constantly repeating become even bigger (or less) than they originally thought because they deceive themselves into thinking lies about the sin.
If you find yourself stuck in habitual sin that you can’t get out of, is it possible you’re believing lies about it that is causing a foothold to stay in your life? We believe the enemy’s lies, which can allow sin to remain, creating a hindrance between ourselves and our community with God. Here are five lies sin tells you:
1. It’s No Big Deal
When we first commit a sin, such as lying, our conscience informs us we’ve made the wrong decision. We feel guilt and shame, among other emotions.
That is, until we lie again.
If we continue to commit the act, we deceive ourselves by telling ourselves it’s no big deal.
We may even minimize those lies into what are called white lies, which society sees as less than otherwise.
But the reality is lying is just as bad as any other sin.
It causes us to distort the truth about a situation, ourselves, or others.
It also causes people not to trust us if we get caught.
Soon there’s always a big deal, and every growing Christian needs to have a mature accountability partner with whom they can talk to and confess their sin regularly to.
This person can help them with the work of confession and repentance, to move past this particular sin.
2. No One Will Find Out
Secrets are not always a bad thing.
Matthew 6:4 says,
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
In the garden, God told Adam all about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, before he made Eve.
But in a later chapter, we quickly realized Adam told Eve all about it too.
Does that mean God kept a secret from Eve?
Secrets are bad only if the nature of them is rooted in sin.
Keeping a sinful secret, however, can be detrimental to a healthy spiritual life.
In chapter three of Genesis, God gives Adam and Eve the opportunity to confess their sin before him.
Although they didn’t take responsibility for their sin and instead blamed each other, God still wants us to openly speak to him about our sin.
As we confess our sin to God or to others, it offers us the opportunity to be forgiven and to take responsibility for our actions.
It is necessary for every person to have someone they can talk to about their sin.
By confessing it outwardly, the bondage with which Satan holds us and the shame that comes with it can be broken when we confess our sins openly.
3. God Can’t Forgive This
Some sins in our mind are so severe, we think God can’t possibly forgive us.
For example, if the sin is habitual, like some form of lust (pornography, for example) we realize that sin not only deals with lust but also with adultery, especially if the person looking at it is married.
Matthew 5:28 says, “anyone who even looks lustfully in another woman has committed adultery in his heart.”
But there is no sin God can’t forgive.
By Jesus’ death on the cross, he covered over every sin we have committed or will commit in the future.
We can be assured God forgives us when we confess our sin and repent of our behavior. But sometimes the person we can’t forgive is ourselves. We struggle with the process of forgiving ourselves for the difficult sins we have committed.
Don’t believe the lie that you can’t stop doing what you’re doing.
With God’s help anything is possible.
4. It’s Not as Big as Other People’s Sin
In Galatians 6:4-5, Paul encourages the church to restore someone gently, especially if they are in sin.
He then continues, “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.”
It’s easy to get into the trap of comparison and allow pride to enter your heart.
One of the sneakiest sins we commit is pride because it’s so easy to go on and on unchecked.
We then compare our sin to the person who needs to be restored, and believe we are better people because our sin is not as bad as theirs.
But again, we deceive ourselves into thinking certain sins are worse than others.
All sin separates us from the love of God.
All sin needs to be confessed and forgiven.
All behaviors must be repented before freedom can be achieved.
The next time you hear someone else’s sin, don’t be quick to allow pride to enter your heart.
Show gentleness and humility, helping that person and praying for them so that they can achieve the same freedom you’ve come to know.
5. I Can’t Stop
When we are entangled in sin, and repeat the same behavior again, it becomes more difficult to break free.
This is especially true of sins which are still considered shameful in front of society. We can easily lie to ourselves and say we don’t have the willpower to be able to stop this. But our finite willpower isn’t the key to freedom; only Jesus is.
When we lie to ourselves and tell ourselves we cannot stop, we put God in a box.
We underestimate his power and presence in our lives.
If Jesus can raise people from the dead, then he can certainly stop a sin from dominating our lives.
A good place to start is confess your sin to someone.
Tell them you need help to stop. Through a renewed reading of the word, prayer and constant accountability, freedom is possible. It may be hard at first and you may stumble, but don’t give up. All freedom is possible to those who believe.
We live in a divisive society where people don’t want to be judged for their sin.
Therefore, it gets much easier for us to conceal our sin and allow it to become a stronghold in our lives.
But through open confession, prayer, reading the Word of God and renewing our minds, max reliance on Jesus is key. When we rely on Jesus and trust him to remove the sin, we can experience freedom, Shalom, as we never have before.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
15 O Yahweh, who may reside in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right. He who speaks honestly in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue. He does not harm his friend, nor bring up[b] a disgrace against his neighbor. 4 In his eyes a rejected one is contemptible, but he honors those who respect Yahweh. He takes an oath to his own injury and does not retract it. 5 He does not lend his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
17 [a]One day He was teaching, and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And some men were carrying a man on a stretcher who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, He said, “[b]Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began thinking of the implications, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, except God alone?” 22 But Jesus, [c]aware of their thoughts, responded and said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 25 And immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26 And [d]they were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God. They were also filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!”
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
In our text, a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, who not only healed him physically but also addressed his need for forgiveness.
This teaches us that true freedom starts from within.
Just as the friends who brought, lowered the paralyzed man to Jesus, we all have burdens- Whether they are past mistakes, emotional pain, or unconfessed sins.
It is essential for us to seek help and open our hearts to the life-changing power of Christ.
As we contemplate “Letting Go of What Holds You Down,” let’s think about what keeps us from moving forward spiritually. Are there fears, doubts, or any regrets or secrets that hold us back from experiencing the freedom Jesus offers?
Just as the paralyzed man received healing and forgiveness, we are encouraged to let go of our own burdens.
Today, let’s find the Joshua 1:9 courage to set aside anything that hinders us and allow Jesus to free us, so we can live the abundant life He wants for each of us.
Joshua 1:9 New American Standard Bible 1995
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Luke 5:17-18
Let go of…
1. Past regrets.
We encounter the story of a paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through a roof to reach Jesus. This powerful narrative highlights how we often hold onto myriads of past regrets, which can hinder our spiritual and personal growth.
The key message here is that Jesus came to heal not just physical bodies but also our spirits.
Like the paralyzed man who was freed from his physical limitations, we too are called to let go of our past mistakes and embrace the forgiveness Jesus offers.
The Gospel reminds us that in Christ, our sins are wiped away, and our past does not determine our future.
To practically apply this message, we must actively reflect on and release our regrets. This process involves honest prayer, recognizing what holds us back, and possibly journaling or seeking support from friends and Church leaders.
Letting go is not just a thought; it requires concrete actions, such as forgiving ourselves or others and setting new goals that focus on the future. By building a supportive community and actively engaging in practices that promote spiritual growth, we can remind ourselves of our identity in Christ.
Just as the paralyzed man received healing through the faith of his friends, we can find restoration by surrounding ourselves with those who encourage us to let go and embrace the life Jesus promises.
Luke 5:19-20
Let go of…
2. Fear of judgment.
We see a powerful display of faith as a paralyzed man’s friends go to great lengths to bring him to Jesus, undeterred by the crowd.
This story highlights a crucial truth- God’s grace overcomes our fears, including the fear of being judged.
When we seek Christ and let go of our fear of condemnation, we understand that His healing power is stronger than any judgment we may face.
The paralyzed man’s healing depended on his friends’ boldness, reminding us true faith often requires us to rise above our fears and trust in God’s acceptance and love.
Letting go of the fear of judgment means our being open and genuine in our relationships and communities of faith.
Many people hesitate to approach Jesus or engage fully in their faith because they worry about others’ opinions regarding their past or struggles.
However, this passage encourages us to break free from these fears. This might look like sharing our burdens in a supportive group, asking for prayer without worrying about gossip, or getting involved in ministry despite our doubts.
By creating an atmosphere of grace and acceptance, we help ourselves, others come to Christ as we are, promoting personal healing, community growth.
In doing so, we outwardly reflect the unconditional love of Jesus, which then proclaims, welcomes everyone who seeks Him.
Luke 5:20
Let go of…
3. Self-sufficiency.
We see a powerful moment when the faith of a paralyzed man and his friends leads to both physical and spiritual healing. Lowering the man through the roof represents our need to let go of self-sufficiency and be vulnerable before God.
Self-sufficiency can block us from truly connecting with Jesus, as we often depend on our own strength and plans, thinking we can handle life on our own.
However, the Gospel reminds us that real healing comes through our faith in Christ. By releasing our self-sufficiency, we open ourselves to God’s grace and power, recognizing that our weakness allows His strength to shine through us.
Letting go of our self-sufficiency has practical effects on our daily lives.
It encourages us to seek support from our community, just as the friends of the paralyzed man did.
This can mean joining small groups, finding a mentor, or sharing our struggles with trusted friends.
Additionally, by surrendering our self-sufficiency, we cultivate a deeper reliance on prayer, bringing our needs and fears to God.
This shift helps us experience personal change and allows us to share Christ’s love and support with others, reflecting His grace in a world that needs it.
Luke 5:21
Let go of…
4. Negative influences.
The Pharisees and teachers of the Law questioned Jesus, symbolizing the negative influences that can weaken our faith and hinder our spiritual growth.
Jesus calls us to recognize and let go of these distractions, such as critical voices, toxic relationships, and self-doubt, that deter us from fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.
To truly experience the freedom that comes with following Christ, we must identify these influences and distance ourselves from anything that blocks us from embracing the truth of God’s Word.
Letting go of negative influences takes effort and courage.
This means setting boundaries with those who bring us down and fostering a supportive environment that promotes spiritual growth.
We should spend time with uplifting, faith-filled individuals, engage in prayer and Bible study, and practice self-care that honors our identity in Christ.
Additionally, we must be mindful of our own words and thoughts, ensuring they are uplifting rather than discouraging. By adopting a positive, faith-filled mindset, we not only transform ourselves but also inspire those around us.
Through this intentional process of letting go, we can experience the abundant life Jesus offers, free from the burdens that weigh us down.
Luke 5:22-26
Let go of…
5. Limiting beliefs.
Jesus addressed the limiting beliefs of the Scribes and Pharisees, who doubted His authority to forgive sins.
They were stuck in their own ideas about who the Messiah was and what forgiveness meant.
Jesus, knowing their thoughts, not only healed the paralyzed man but also offered him forgiveness, showing that limiting beliefs can obstruct our understanding of God’s grace.
Just as the paralyzed man was freed from his ailments, we can find freedom in Christ when we let go of the beliefs that hold us back from experiencing God’s love and purpose.
Letting go of limiting beliefs encourages us to rethink our views about ourselves and God.
Many people struggle with feelings of unworthiness or the belief that they cannot be forgiven or start anew.
The Gospel reminds us that God’s love is limitless.
We can begin to move past these barriers by identifying and confronting our limiting beliefs- Like feelings of inadequacy or past mistakes.
By authentically seeking God’s truth in Scripture and sharing our struggles with fellow believers, we too can find support in recognizing that our identity lies in being cherished children of God.
This process allows Jesus to lift us up, just as He did for the paralytic, and empowers us to live freely and purposefully.
Conclusion:
As we conclude, we see a clear example of letting go of what weighs us down.
The paralyzed man, eager for healing, didn’t let obstacles stop him; instead, he was lifted by the faith of his friends.
This reminds us to examine our own burdens, whether they are fear, guilt, or unhealthy relationships.
Like the paralyzed man, we also must face the things that hold us back from experiencing the fullness God wants for us, remembering that Jesus calls us to let go and move forward.
Now, as we take this message to heart, let’s decide to release our burdens and surround ourselves with those who support us.
God is always ready to heal our brokenness.
When we embrace our freedom, we also open the door for others to encounter Christ’s transformative love.
Together, let’s encourage one another to shed what weighs us down and step into the new life Jesus offers.
By doing this, we not only discover our true potential but also become sources of hope for those who still carry their struggles.
In the name of God, the Father God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 13 New American Standard Bible 1995
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
10 Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me! 11 Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways, and sinners will come back to you.
14 Deliver me from violence, God, God of my salvation, so that my tongue can sing of your righteousness. 15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise. 16 You don’t want sacrifices. If I gave an entirely burned offering, you wouldn’t be pleased. 17 A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God.[a] You won’t despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Our Continually Struggling to Surrender to God
Psalm 51 was written by King David after he committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover his sin (2 Samuel 11).
It has been said of David that he sinned big, but repented bigger.
But only after he was ‘publicly’ caught by Nathan in David’s throne room. One has to wonder how this scripture would read if Nathan never confronts David.
But God, who sees everything no matter how hard or deep we try to hide our actions, was not blind to David’s severest of transgression – his Capital Crime.
God sent Nathan to David’s throne room and fortunately so – lest the wrath of God be meted out without any scriptural announcements – a bolt of lightning strikes David on his throne with no witnesses to testify or witness the event.
David is consigned to a violent death and we probably do not have a lineage that would have been steadfastly honorable, or noteworthy to proclaim as Psalm 51.
Let us shout “Thanks Be to God” for sending Nathan with God’s message of life!
Because now generations of men, women and children are blessed by Psalm 51.
David became for us an inspiring, empowering model to us of what real heart felt repentance looks like. He mightily struggled with his sin, so much so that he took off his crown and regal regalia, and surrendered his throne which God granted to him and walked sullenly to the tabernacle to take a lonely seat before God His Judge for his righteous Judgment – keep the throne or be publicly tried.
He had no promises that God would permit his return to the throne, he might well have done the same as he first did to Saul, to remove His Spirit from Him, essentially permanently remove His support, from which Saul never recovered.
David understood the gravity of his crime against God and understood that God could do the same to his as Saul, and nothing short of absolute surrender would be acceptable sacrifice. Psalm 51 is David’s agonized cry to God for forgiveness.
Psalm 51:17 says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”
The meaning of this is connected with Verse 16 says, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.”
David is stating that there is nothing we can offer God to appease Him when we have sinned. When we have strived more mightily to stay in control. More not superficial but well intentioned animal sacrifices were not what God was going to be looking for nor even .00001% accept as our God desires true repentance.
Many people miss this truth. Rather than repent, they try to rush in with their superficial “clean up their act,” give more, pray more, or busy themselves in other religious activity in hopes God will finally “get over” being mad at them.
In Psalm 51, David is saying he knows that God wants none of that. External religious activity cannot replace internal, heartfelt contrition (1 Samuel 16:7).
Psalm 51:17 points out the one and only thing God desires more than any other: brokenness over our own sin. When we agree with God about how bad our sin is, we take the first baby steps toward a sincere heartfelt reconciliation with Him.
As long as we try to “pseudo-surrender” justify, excuse, or rationalize the evil of our own sin bent hearts, we will never find our way back into God’s presence.
Something Jesus Himself made a point of declaring at the start of His Ministry;
Mark 1:14-15 Amplified Bible
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
14 Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and [a]taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God, 15 and saying, “The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation].”
Nothing less than 100% surrender and repentance is our doorway to freedom.
Satan knows this better than us, does everything he can to detract us from it.
He suggests things that our selfish nature likes to hear:
“Your sin wasn’t that bad.” “Compared to others, you’re okay.” “God has forgotten it already. No need to confess it.”
When we listen to the devil’s cunning oily words, we will veer away from the doorway to freedom and remain in bondage. We may feel remorse or regret, but neither is sufficient substitute for true repentance (Genesis 3, Hebrews 12:15-17).
Hebrews 12:15-17 Amplified Bible
15 See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; 16 and [see to it] that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears.
David reminds us in Psalm 51 that the only path to forgiveness is a broken heart and a humble spirit (cf. Matthew 5:3).
When we throw ourselves on the mercy of God, He delights to lift us up (Luke 18:13-14). When we openly acknowledge our sin against God, turn from it, and cry out for cleansing, God promises that He will hear us and forgive (1 John 1:9).
It is interesting to note that, although David sinned against Bathsheba and her murdered husband, Uriah, David surrenders this stunning confession to God:
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4).
David gets straight to the heart of why God so hates sin. It is an abomination, a hardcore heart hardened willful malicious pre-meditated violation of His very nature. We are each created in that image, but our sin mars it (Genesis 3), like a giant smudge of blackest tar on a mirror. Our broken spirit, our contrite heart, invite God to clean that smudge and restore us to right relationship with Him.
Now, Ponder long and hard the 100% authentic state of your “contrite” heart!
Now, Ponder long and hard the words “utter surrender.” then “Before God!”
Then … “prepare ye, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make your paths straight.”
OMG … Stand still, Quit striving against Him, “What will God wrought now?”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified Bible
23 Search me [thoroughly], O God, (investigate my life) and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 19 Amplified Bible
The Works and the Word of God.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day after day pours forth speech, And night after night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars]; Their voice is not heard. 4 Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth, Their words to the end of the world. In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul; The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed]; In keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults. 13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins; Let them not rule and have control over me. Then I will be blameless (complete), And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
(1) How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4 day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah)
5 When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
6 This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Sin, Guilt and Your Health – A Health Devotional.
This morning, during my quiet time with God, I was reading Psalm 32 and was reminded of the connection between sin, guilt and health. In this Psalm, David writes when he tried to hide his adultery, sending Uriah to his death, refused to confess his sin that he felt weak and miserable and that he groaned all day long. He also writes that his strength evaporated like water in the dry summer heat.
After reading two other Psalm 32 devotionals, I knew that I wanted to write on this topic of sin, guilt and our health and the interrelationship between them.
Sin, Guilt and Health – What the Bible Says
Psalm 32:1-6 Amplified Bible
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven, And whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me; My [b]energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my wickedness; I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
Those who work in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and social services are often confronted with a strong correlation between what is happening in a person’s heart and mind and what is being displayed in that person’s body.
God’s word speaks into this connection and then goes deeper, for it tells us that there is a connection between the state of our body and the state of our soul.
In Psalm 32, David speaks very personally to God, acknowledging the heaviness he experienced when he hid in the shadows and refused to confess his sin against Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah (see 2 Samuel 11).
And through David, the Spirit teaches us that there is a link between a tortured conscience and lack of repentance, and our physical wellbeing.
Those who were in David’s immediate company may not have been aware of what was going on inside him spiritually, but they could not have avoided the rather obvious manifestations of what was happening to him physically.
The description he provides adds to the account he gives elsewhere: “My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off” (Psalm 38:10-11). It’s a quite devastating picture.
David recognized his condition for what it was: a punishment.
The Bible makes it clear that there is a natural outcome to lust, excess, and a disregard for the commands of God (see Romans 1:24-25)—all of which David was guilty of. Mood swings, frailty, weight loss, sleeplessness, a deepening sense of rejection, melancholy, anxiety, and despair often haunt individuals who are seeking to hide their “secret” sin from God and deny it to themselves.
What restored David was not a health kick or getting to bed earlier but rather dealing with the root cause—his sin: “I acknowledged my sin to you … and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
God kept His hand heavy upon David until Nathan showed up and told him a story which convicted him.
Then David left his throne, placed his sin into God’s hands and asked Him to help him deal with it. It is a blessing to us when God does not allow us to forget our sin—when we feel physical heaviness because of our spiritual sickness.
It is His means of bringing us to do what we most need: to confess it and ask for forgiveness for it.
Fortunately we have a God who loves us incredibly and because of this, he freely reveals his mercy, he forgives us of our sins when we confess our wrongdoings.
Because of the magnitude of his mercy and his forgiveness of our sins, believers should be able to freely surrender over any guilt or shame that they feel.
God does not want us to experience the heaviness associated with chronic guilt.
His desire is that we live in peace and joy which is available to us when we confess our wrongdoings and believe that God gives us mercy, forgives us.
Peace and joy are health-promoting compared to chronic guilt which can be damaging to our health in more ways than anyone dares to acknowledge.
Are we harboring sin?
Do not cloak it; confess it. David experienced liberating relief from his pain and distress when he sought God’s forgiveness.
You too can know that joy, for the promise of God’s word is that
“if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
A Few Questions to Reflect On:
Are you holding on to guilt and shame because of some past or current sin in your life?
Are you perhaps weak and miserable or plagued with a chronic health related condition – Headaches, High Blood Pressure, tiredness, fatigue, heart ailments that could be caused by the physical strains of coping with long-term guilt?
As soon as possible, to rule out any potentially serious disorder, go see your Primary Care Medical Team for proper assessment, evaluation and treatment
How about issues of anxiety, mood disorders, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, mood swings, irritability, shorter than usual temper control etcetera.
As soon as possible, seek out Licensed Professional Mental Health providers for a proper clinical assessment, evaluation, and therapeutic treatment modalities.
Relieving The Burden of our Guilt and God’s Grace
Psalm 32:6 Amplified Bible
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
Psalm 32 reminds me that a moral compass is embedded within everyone’s heart. When we do not chart our lives by that compass, we feel genuine guilt.
David spoke to that reality in Psalm 32. He had made a total mess of his life. His moral failures included adultery, conspiracy and murder. David acknowledged that when we mess up, we are eaten up inside if we keep quiet until a someone tells us a story, we convict ourselves. David had an inner urge to confess his sin.
Once confronted by Nathan, thus came his release. David confessed his sin to the Lord. Yes, there were people in his life with whom David needed to come clean. But only God could grant the full pardon his soul craved. When we mess up, our guilt is first of all toward our Creator, whose law we have violated.
How do you find real forgiveness?
If you have not confessed sins which you feel guilty of, I urge you to prayerfully make that confession to God so you and those around you or those you will soon meet, can return to feeling peaceful and joyful, which is God’s will for your life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 42 Complete Jewish Bible
Book II: Psalms 42–72
42 (0) For the leader. A maskil of the descendants of Korach:
2 (1) Just as a deer longs for running streams, God, I long for you. 3 (2) I am thirsty for God, for the living God! When can I come and appear before God?
4 (3) My tears are my food, day and night, while all day people ask me, “Where is your God?” 5 (4) I recall, as my feelings well up within me, how I’d go with the crowd to the house of God, with sounds of joy and praise from the throngs observing the festival.
6 (5) My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise him again for the salvation that comes from his presence. 7 (6) My God, when I feel so downcast, I remind myself of you from the land of Yarden, from the peaks of Hermon, from the hill Mizar. 8 (7) Deep is calling to deep at the thunder of your waterfalls; all your surging rapids and waves are sweeping over me. 9 (8) By day Adonai commands his grace, and at night his song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life. 10 (9) I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, under pressure by the enemy? 11 (10) My adversaries’ taunts make me feel as if my bones were crushed, as they ask me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ ”
12 (11) My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise him again for being my Savior and God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
32 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my [b]body wasted away Through my [c]groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My [d]vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the [f]guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [g]in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with [h]songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. 9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s book The Brothers Karamazov, one of the characters gives another this advice: “Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others.”[1]
1 Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov: A Novel in Four Parts with Epilogue, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (1990; reprinted Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2002), p 44.
Nearly three millennia before, David also described the potential effects of self-deceit about what we are really like.
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my [b]body wasted away Through my [c]groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My [d]vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah.
Honesty with self is vital to the discovery of happiness. Joyful, contented people do not lie to themselves or to anybody else. We cannot deceive ourselves and enjoy genuine happiness too; deceit and happiness don’t sleep in the same bed.
The Bible calls us to be as honest about ourselves as it is repentance. (Psalm 51)
It directs a great searchlight straight onto our hearts and minds, revealing the hardcore truth of the seriousness our impossibly sinful human predicament.
We are told that we live in iniquity, which results in an internal bias towards wrongdoing and a nature corrupted by sin.
We’re perpetual transgressors, going where we shouldn’t go. We’re sinners, failing to live up to our own standards, let alone the standard God has set.
I believe that the surprise of this verse is that David starts off with the word “blessed” or “happy,” but then immediately introduces such hard realities as our iniquity and our impossible capacity for lying to ourselves and God about it.
But the reason he can do that is because the predicament(s) he faces is more than outmatched by the cure God offers.
32 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
Notice that David doesn’t say, Blessed is the individual whose iniquity the Lord does not count.
He says, “Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity.”
Because God is holy, He must count sin—but He counts it against someone else.
He counts it against His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We find in David’s words the amazing doctrine of justification by faith, which we first see in God’s relationship with Abraham, who “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
Genesis 15:4-7 New American Standard Bible 1995
4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own [a]body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your [b] descendants be.” 6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to [c]possess it.”
The moment we honestly truly believe that our sins have been counted against our Savior, Psalm 32 says we’ll be blessed; we will be happier than ever before.
So the path to blessing starts with honesty.
We are not good people who make the odd mistake.
We are not wonderful individuals with a few flaws that can be blamed on our upbringing, our environment, or our lack of sleep last night.
We are sinners with impossibly deceitful hearts, who fall far short of God’s glorious standards and by nature stand to inherit only wrath (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-3).
We are trying to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ, better imitators of the life lessons Jesus revealed in, throughout, His Gospel Narratives and we are failing.
Social Media wreaks severest havoc on what is said is truth and is to be the truth according to “fact checkers” who are themselves being fact checked against all that someone else with a secretive financial and politically motivated agenda.
That someone with “authority” declares the lie “The truth is what I say it is!”
Then Social Media flies in every which direction imaginable to “make it so.”
Then it becomes a jumbled mass of every kind of confusion and chaos possible.
Then who is going to be the “believable one” to dig in both heals and sort it out?
That is the significantly complex, deeply conflicted situation in which we each find our hearts and souls in right now and who is going to show us the path out?
Who do we send shipwrecked people to if we ourselves are just as shipwrecked?
Psalm 51 New American Standard Bible 1995
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For [b]I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You [c]are justified [d]when You speak And [e]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the [f]innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. 7 [g]Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; [h]Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 [i]Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create [j]in me a clean heart, O God, And renew [k]a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will [l]be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, [m]open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. 16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18 By Your favor do good to Zion; [n]Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then You will delight in [o]righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then [p]young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Be honest about who you are. Be specific about how you have sinned against the Lord. Then you will be ready to embrace the most joyful news in the world: that each day, though the magnitude of our sins they are much, His mercy is more.
Finding True Honest Happiness in What We Do
Psalm 119:89-112 New American Standard Bible 1995
Lamedh.
89 Forever, O Lord, Your word [a]is settled in heaven. 90 Your faithfulness continues [b]throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. 91 They stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants. 92 If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have [c]revived me. 94 I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts. 95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider Your testimonies. 96 I have seen [d]a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
Mem.
97 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever [e]mine. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. 101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. 102 I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are Your [f]words to my [g]taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
Nun.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. 106 I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances. 107 I am exceedingly afflicted; [h]Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word. 108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, And teach me Your ordinances. 109 My [i]life is continually [j]in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts. 111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the joy of my heart. 112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even to the end.
True, Honest Happiness is not just about avoiding the way of wickedness and folly. And it’s definitely not about staying away from people. The life of the monk, the hermit is not the ideal of the Christian faith, as some early Christians believed. Christianity is distinguished by a lifestyle in tune with the will of God.
How can we know what God’s will is for our lives?
Psalm 1:1-2 answers, “Blessed is the one . . . whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”
The Word of God is our source of joy and happiness.
We are encouraged to meditate on it daily. We must fill our minds with God’s truth. We must feed our hearts with the promises that come from the Word of God. His Word is infinitely better than all refined gold and sweeter than honey.
Honestly, all of God’s Word restores the soul and gives wisdom to the simple.
2 Timothy 3:10-17 New American Standard Bible 1995
10 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, [a] perseverance, 11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! 12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is [b]inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for [c] training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
In this time when so much garbage circulates in local and national news, on the internet and other media, the Word of God is bread that nourishes, water that purifies. Through it we keep our hearts pure, and we triumph over the enemy.
Today, every day, remember to feed honesty with the truth God’s Word and to enjoy the nourishment that sustains us, heart and soul, on the way to full life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Luke 8:14-15 New American Standard Bible 1995
14 The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with [a]perseverance.
Psalm 139:23-24 New American Standard Bible 1995
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any [a]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
11 People with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Possessing the Wisdom to Overlook an Offense
In a world with the internet, deeply hurtful social media tactics and more, how do we move past offenses where others knowingly or unknowingly wound us?
It can be even more disappointing and discouraging when a fellow Christian offends us, because we believe we should have higher expectations for them.
Like Romans 12:10 encourages, we hope believers will give preference to one another.
Romans 12:9-13 Easy-to-Read Version
9 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Do only what is good. 10 Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself. 11 As you serve the Lord, work hard and don’t be lazy. Be excited about serving him! 12 Be happy because of the hope you have. Be patient when you have troubles. Pray all the time. 13 Share with God’s people who need help. Look for people who need help and welcome them into your homes.
Likewise, we hope Christians grasp the concept of “taming their wild tongues” and the true importance of the words we speak, remembering how one day we will all have to give an account for every empty word spoken (Matthew 12:36).
Matthew 12:33-36 Easy-to-Read Version
What You Do Shows What You Are
33 “If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. 34 You snakes! You are so evil. How can you say anything good? What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts. 35 Those who are good have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. 36 I tell you that everyone will have to answer for all the careless things they have said. This will happen on the day of judgment.
Still, even in the midst of all of these hurtful experiences, God gives us the opportunity to learn how to work through offenses. And if we’re willing to submit to Him, He will refine and fine-tune our hearts during the process.
Looking Honestly at Ourselves
Psalm 101:1-5 Easy-to-Read Version
A song of David.
101 I will sing about love and justice. Lord, I will sing to you. 2 I will be careful to live a pure life. I will live in my house with complete honesty. When will you come to me? 3 I will not even look at anything shameful.[a] I hate all wrongdoing. I want no part of it! 4 I will not be involved in anything dishonest. I will have nothing to do with evil. 5 I will stop anyone who secretly says bad things about a neighbor. I will not allow people to be proud and think they are better than others.
Taking on the hardcore challenge of overlooking offenses is good work for us to do. As we work to truly forgive others, we’ll uncover and discover weaknesses in ourselves, ones we likely did not know were even resting, residing, within us.
Offenses have a way of shining a spotlight within us, exposing secret areas in our hearts and souls that could use revealing and sacrificing. If we truly want God to transform and renew us (Romans 12:1-2), then we want to be willing to examine our own behaviors and attitudes, like 2 Corinthians 13:5 urges us to do.
2 Corinthians 13:5-9 Easy-to-Read Version
5 Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you. 6 But I hope you will see that we have not failed the test. 7 We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Our concern here is not for people to see that we have passed the test in our work with you. Our main concern is that you do what is right, even if it looks as if we have failed the test. 8 We cannot do anything that is against the truth but only what promotes the truth. 9 We are happy to be weak if you are strong. And this is what we pray—that your lives will be made completely right again.
So overall if we are each courageously willing, this purging process can help us experience a godly type of gratefulness for the cleansing work it does within us (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 Easy-to-Read Version
14 We ask you, brothers and sisters, to warn those who will not work. Encourage those who are afraid. Help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. 15 Be sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong. But always try to do what is good for each other and for all people.
16 Always be full of joy. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.
19 Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. 20 Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. 21 But test everything. Keep what is good, 22 and stay away from everything that is evil.
In the sitcom “King of Queens” Lyin’ Hearted episode, Carrie’s (Leah Remini) father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), is in hospital for heart surgery.
While looking through his important papers , Carrie discovers dad withheld significant opportunities from her that would have made her life far better.
Deeply hurt, offended, and disappointed by these discoveries, Carrie’s first reaction is to lash out and hurt him back.
But in a split moment, where it looks likes she’s losing him to cardiac arrest, her heart dramatically changes from grudges to forgive him. Within minutes Carrie realizes how her father’s offenses do not outweigh her love for him.
Like her character experienced, when it comes to responding to an offense, it’s far more beneficial and wise to look at the whole picture to see just what really matters to us, especially when it comes to responding to the failures of others.
Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God, His Righteousness
Matthew 6:25-34 Easy-to-Read Version
Put God’s Kingdom First
25 “So I tell you, don’t worry about the things you need to live—what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it. 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or save food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Don’t you know you are worth much more than they are? 27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 30 If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It’s just grass—one day it’s alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small!
31 “Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need. 34 So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.
In overlooking offenses, seeking to be wiser than most, we can surely seek God first and foremost for His wisdom, asking Him to lead us in our responses and actions, and to reveal how they may affect our relationships in the long run.
Instead of laser focusing on others’ lack of love and wisdom towards us, we can first turn ourselves off, change the energy to love towards them, choosing to offer them forgiveness, patience even when it seems like they don’t deserve it.
Like Colossians 3:13 reminds us, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Colossians 3:8-17 Easy-to-Read Version
8 But now put these things out of your life: anger, losing your temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and saying shameful things. 9 Don’t lie to each other. You have taken off those old clothes—the person you once were and the bad things you did then. 10 Now you are wearing a new life, a life that is new every day. You are growing in your understanding of the one who made you. You are becoming more and more like him. 11 In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, circumcised or not. It doesn’t matter if you speak a different language or even if you are a Scythian.[a] It doesn’t matter if you are a slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and he is in all of you.
Your New Life With Each Other
12 God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So your new life should be like this: Show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. 13 Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you. 14 Together with these things, the most important part of your new life is to love each other. Love is what holds everything together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking. It is for peace that you were chosen to be together in one body.[b] And always be thankful.
16 Let the teaching of Christ live inside you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.
God’s Word explains that when we overlook offenses, it reflects well on us.
Proverbs 19:11 Easy-to-Read Version
11 Experience makes you more patient, and you are most patient when you ignore insults.
Proverbs 19:11 The Message
11 Smart people know how to hold their tongue; their grandeur is to forgive and forget.
Godly handling of offense also helps us to wisely experience it less and less, not because others aren’t offending us, but because we aren’t receiving it into lives.
What “triggers” a feeling within you that “you have just been offended?”
Who has offended you?
What has offended you?
Knowing exactly who you are, What is your first response most likely to be?
Should you to engage in, practice an age old effort of “grabbing your tongue?”
Did not quite remember to grab and stifle your fiery tongue soon enough …?
Remembering to always be including yourself, Who do you need to forgive?
What part and parts of the Word of God need to be vigorously consulted now?
Take time today to pray forgiveness over any offenses you are holding onto.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Matthew 6:7-13 The Message
7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never [a]neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your [b] wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you [c]have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Overlooked No More – Eyeing A Different Kind of Lost
Romans 3:21-26 The Message
God Has Set Things Right
21-24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
25-26 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.
Let’s take time today to think about the older son in this parable.
This “GOOD OBEDIENT” son never leaves the family farm or breaks any rules, but he here breaks the father’s heart. While the father celebrates the restoration of his younger son, the older son’s heart simmers with anger and bitterness.
The father leaves the celebration for the return of the Prodigal Son and goes out to his older son and tries to reason with him – to join the party – but he refuses.
Ask yourself if our view of sin can be too limited!
We always label the younger son as the sinner while the older son strikes us as a obedient deserving saint, the kind of hardworking person God would be pleased with and would want us to be like – but why else might Dr. Luke mention him?
What lesson or lessons does Dr. Luke have on his spirit that we should observe?
That was Jesus’ second main point in this story.
Everyone thought that God wanted people to be like the teachers of the law and Pharisees—“good,” “obedient” “lawful” “conscientious” hardworking people.
But grace is unearned favor.
The Pharisees lived often graceless lives, so focused on obeying the rules and minding the traditions of man they no longer experienced the Father’s love.
They kept all kinds of rules, preached about all kinds of rules, lived and walked by all kinds of rules, but too broke God’s heart in their judgmentalism of others.
Do we observe the older son is just as much a sinner as the younger, and the prodigal Father offers him the same grace? Jesus died for all kinds of sinners?
If you are obediently slaving away for God’s favor, cone inside, accept the gift of Christ, party and celebrate grace. There’s plenty of room at God’s banquet table!
Shifting our “Obedient” Gaze – Respectable and Lost
Luke 15:28-32 The Message
28-30 “The older brother stomped off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’
31-32 “His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we just had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and now he’s found!’”
Can we say the older brother is being a wee bit selfish, obstinate and stubborn?
We all know this type of attitude … we have all seen this type of attitude … we have lived with someone with this type of attitude and sometimes he/she is us!
Well, now, regardless of your intellects, philosophies, ideologies and theologies we are each confronted by the events and outcomes of our General Conference.
If your ideologies and theologies are more left leaning, in your spirit perhaps you’re the one’s being wildly celebrated by the Father with the “fattened calf.”
“God has finally welcomed you home and is celebrating the events of Charlotte.
Those of us whose ideologies and theologies are more right leaning are being seen, if not accused as the obstinate stubborn perhaps sulking older brother.
Refusing to acknowledge the works, wonders of God, the Father because the events of Charlotte did not meet your expectations, did not reward you with what you felt you deserved for your always being obedient and being loyal.
We all can identify with the rebellious son who went into the far country.
In all likelihood, we were once that zealous, rebellious son God celebrated.
But now some, if not most of us find ourselves standing and walking in the shoes of this obstinate sulking elder brother – outside of God’s celebration.
There is not one among us who has at sometime, including exactly right now not felt what this brother felt when he found himself gripped by jealous rage.
Perhaps it would help to analyze this a bit, to more clearly recognize the symptoms of this reaction.
Three characteristics are always present when this attitude is expressed.
The first one is a sense of being treated unfairly, of being ignored, forgotten or disregarded.
This feeling of unfair treatment is always the initial mark of a self-centered attitude.
It is the sign of crushed pride — a wounded ego — revealing the centrality of self.
The second mark is that of an over-inflated view of self.
Notice how the older brother distinctly describes his own moral superiorities.
Self-righteousness is always full of self-praise:
“Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you.“
There is no recognition whatsoever of what he has learned through these many years, or exactly how much he has profited by the relationship with his father.
In his view it is all one way.
“And I never disobeyed your orders.”
Certainly that is not true.
No one has ever or will ever live up to that kind of a standard. Romans 3:23-24,
1 John 1:8-9 New American Standard Bible 1995
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is remarkable how conveniently he forgets the many times the father has forgiven him. Yet his view of himself is that of being completely and wholly and obediently and loyally in the right. That is always a mark of self-righteousness.
The third mark is his blame of and contempt for others.
“This son of yours…”
Can you hear and feel the deep cutting edge of contempt in that?
He does not call him his brother, and there is no gladness at his return.
He views him as someone vile and contemptible.
Also there is no love or respect for his father.
Oddly enough, the father ends up with all the blame.
“You never gave me a goat, that I might make merry with my friends; but you killed the fatted calf for this son of yours, …”
Do we right now just want to jump into the face of this contemptible wretch!
How many times have we heard that reaction expressed?
How many times have we taken no small amount of offense at that reaction?
These are the three marks of self-righteousness — the world’s most deadly sin.
Our Lord spoke of this more frequently and dealt with it more severely than of any other sin.
He could be tender and gracious toward those who were involved in adultery or drunkenness, but when he faced those self-righteous Pharisees in their smug complacency, his face reddened, his eyes widened, his words burn and scorch.
This sin is so insidious, so deadly because it is so easily disguised as justifiable.
It reveals that this older son is actually far more lost than the other was.
He, too, is in a far country — a far country of the spirit — far far removed from the father’s heart. He has never learned to share the same spirit his Father has.
As we mull over and stew over and gloat over, lament over General Conference,
Have I seen in my “older brother” self this feeling of being treated unfairly?
Of an overly obedient and loyal inflated view of myself? Of contempt for others?
Can I find even one reason, however tiny, and however insignificant, however dangerous to self, to join my Father and my brothers and sisters in celebration?
Isaiah 55:1-7 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Free Offer of Mercy
55 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no [a]money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. 2 “Why do you [b]spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. 3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that [c]you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies [d]shown to David. 4 “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. 5 “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
God’s invitation to celebrate Him as much as He celebrates us is always open!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Forgive us, Lord, when we, like the older brother, turn religion into rules instead of a relationship with you. Search us, Fill us with your forgiveness and love for everyone.
1 O Lord, I give my life to you. 2 I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. 3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
4 Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. 5 Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. 6 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. 7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.
8 The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. 9 He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. 10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.
11 For the honor of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins. 12 Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose. 13 They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the land. 14 The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. 15 My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies.
16 Turn to me and have mercy, for I am alone and in deep distress. 17 My problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all! 18 Feel my pain and see my trouble. Forgive all my sins. 19 See how many enemies I have and how viciously they hate me! 20 Protect me! Rescue my life from them! Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge. 21 May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.
22 O God, ransom Israel from all its troubles.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone[a] won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.[b]
23 “So God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds[c] of silver. 25 He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free.
28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31 All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened.
32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything! 33 So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.’ 34 The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
In a matter of days, when Good Friday is once again placed before Christians, Jesus, mere minutes from a gruesome and unjust death, will utter the words;
Luke 23:33-34 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Crucifixion
33 When they came to the place called [a]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34 [b]But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
“Father, (in Heaven) forgive them; for they know not what they are doing.”
And I begin to obsess all over again about the word and the task: “forgive”
Along with all of that obsession, I again turn to those familiar bible passages.
When I read Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant, my blood begins to boil.
I think, “How ungrateful, mean, and greedy this man is. There isn’t a single kind bone in his body!”
Here was a man who owed more money than he could ever repay.
But after he was so graciously forgiven of his huge debt by the King, he turned around and unjustly punished another man for owing him just a small amount.
The forgiven man had received an inconceivable measure of mercy, but he did not reciprocate, did not himself show one ounce of mercy to the other man.
It is not wrong to be angry about this.
In fact, this is the response Jesus is looking for.
But we must not stop there.
Jesus designed this story to help us think and act faithfully as children of God.
How should we respond to the kindness God has shown us? God has forgiven our huge debt of sin; will we do the same for others who have sinned against us?
It is easy for us to ask for God’s forgiveness and yet carry grudges and ill will toward others.
It is easy to remember and resent what others have said and done against us.
But if we accept God’s forgiveness and yet fail to forgive others, we are no different from the ungrateful man in Jesus’ parable.
Jesus teaches us to forgive and to keep forgiving so that we can’t remember how many times we have forgiven.
When we walk with the Spirit, we are changed.
God’s kindness begins to flow from us to others.
A Prayer to Forgive and Love Like Jesus
Matthew 18:21-22 New American Standard Bible 1995
Forgiveness
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Granting forgiveness can be complex and hard to give and receive, especially when it’s a repeated offense, when it is closely attached to betrayal and you’re left holding the shattered pieces of a broken heart filled with so much pain.
Yet, in the upside-down gospel of Jesus Christ, its exactly what we’re called to do – forgive, forgive the unforgivable, not once, but time, time and time again.
It sounds so easy, right? Yet, as you most likely know, forgiveness comes with an acknowledgment that needs to be made from our heads to our hearts. That’s because forgiveness can be messy and intertwined with so many deep emotions.
When Peter approached Jesus with the question of how many times he should be forgiving his brother, it was more than likely an honest, sincere question.
A question to determine the length of mercy.
Maybe he was harboring pain from a past hurt or trying to decipher and grasp the unparalleled meaning of the forgiveness Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:14-15).
Matthew 6:14-15 New American Standard Bible 1995
14 For if you forgive [a]others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive [b]others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Either way, Jesus’ answer must have sent shockwaves through Peter’s soul.
After all, the Jewish practice was to forgive someone three times for the same offense (Amos 2:6).
So, upon hearing seventy-seven times, which could be construed to mean “70 times 7,” equating to 490, that must have sounded absolutely absurd!
Peter’s heart must have sunk, thinking that type of forgiveness is impossible.
Yet, that was exactly the point Jesus was driving home!
Jesus knows forgiveness isn’t easy and that it is impossible to do on our own.
This is why He modeled throughout His life how to forgive and shared the importance of giving and receiving this gift.
Jesus commands us to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44-45), asking God to help us, all while going to Him again and again until we gain the peace that surpasses understanding.
Matthew 5:44-45 New American Standard Bible 1995
44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may [a]be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
The single most profound example Jesus gave us was on His final day, as Roman soldiers mocked, scourged, and nailed Him to the cross, Jesus prayed for God to forgive them (Luke 23:34) for they knew not what they were doing.
Dear friend, beloved reader, the principle of forgiveness isn’t measured by our emotions or a number, but rather it is to be measured by the grace and mercy in which we receive from God, which is endless.
Real forgiveness, authentic forgiveness takes time to bestow and can only take place with God’s help, allowing Him to open our minds and soften our hearts.
Is there someone to whom you need to grant the gift of forgiveness?
Then lift your heart to Him, your Father in Heaven, today, and seek His help.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Kind and gracious and merciful Father, how can we even begin to thank you for the wonders of Your love? The act of grace and mercy that You so selflessly displayed on the cross never ceases to amaze us. As we come into a holiday that marks both grief and hope with the solemn actions of Good Friday to the victory we can reclaim in Your resurrection, please posture our hearts to give grace through forgiveness. We ask that You help us be mindful this time of year of the Truth found in Your Word that Your love, mercy, and grace forgave us first. We are so very thankful for that. Help us receive that forgiveness You so graciously give and extend that to others as we yearn to follow Your loving example. Please soften our hearts to give and receive this most precious gift of forgiveness. Lord, I ask that You please come into my heart and help me personally forgive the person who continually floods my mind. I need Your help. I need Your mercy and grace. I need You to remind me that You forgave me and so I must forgive them. Help me let go of the hurt, the pain, the betrayal, and the shame. Help me let it go and turn it all over to You. Please cleanse my heart and soul of any unrighteousness, bitterness, or resentment. I earnestly seek Your peace. Amen
32 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my [b]body wasted away Through my [c]groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My [d]vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the [f]guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [g]in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with [h]songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. 9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [a]cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Across ethnic, linguistic, and geographical boundaries, children and even adults of all ages everywhere continue to enjoy the fun of playing hide-and-seek.
It is a universal and innocent game.
But the first game of hide-and-seek in this world was neither fun nor innocent.
It was something deadly serious, it came with serious and severe consequences.
After Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the garden, they hid from each other behind fig leaves and from their Creator behind the trees of the garden.
They unsuccessfully attempted histories very first cover-up—and God came walking in the garden, seeking them with a simple question: “Where are you?”
This revealing question turns on its head the common assumption that man is naturally looking for God, who is hiding somewhere in or beyond the universe.
Instead, we discover the opposite: we are the ones who are hiding, whose first, most natural inclination is to hide and God is the one who comes seeking.
The question may seem like a strange one for God to ask these first humans.
After all, doesn’t God know everything already?
But God asked where Adam and Eve were not so He could gain new information but because He wanted to help them come to grips, understand their situation.
God came to draw them out more than to drive them out.
As much as it is possible for our finite thought processes, imagine the many ways God could, should have reacted in response to Adam and Eve’s rebellion.
If He had responded strictly in judgment, He could have instantaneously brought about the sentence of death He had warned them of (Genesis 2:16-17).
But it is in God’s nature always to have mercy; so He came instead with a single question.
This is the first glimpse of God’s grace after humanity turned their backs on Him.
God did not immediately give them what they justly deserved; rather, out of His immense kindness, instead He granted what was not deserved: an opportunity to respond with above board honesty, with integrity and in truth and to return.
That is not what happened here – instead they responded with the blame game.
We immediately hide behind our excuses, none of us would feel comfortable if those closest to us could see all of our deepest thoughts and previous actions.
We may hide the truth from each other, and perhaps even from ourselves.
But to hide from God is futile.
There is simply no way to hide and nowhere to shift the blame to.
Psalm 139:1-12 New American Standard Bible 1995
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know [a]when I sit down and [b]when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You [c]scrutinize my [d]path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 [e]Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [f]Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will [g]overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark [h]to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
We cannot hide our thoughts, we cannot hide ourselves from God -we must not believe the lie that God won’t see the “little” sins we keep hidden from others.
He sees.
Ultimately, He sees into our souls and knows exactly what we have done and where we stand.
1 Samuel 16:6-8 New American Standard Bible 1995
6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for [a]God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
Wonderfully, we do not need to pretend that we can hide.
He comes to us in mercy, not in judgment, for
“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
Are you burdened by some besetting sin or secret shame?
Are you seeking to hide from God what you have been hiding from others?
There’s never been a better time to stop hiding from Him. Step into the light.
32 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my [b]body wasted away Through my [c]groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My [d]vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the [f]guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [g]in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with [h]songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. 9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Uncover what cannot remain hidden before Him—so that He might cover it with His blood and so that you might know you are both known and forgiven.
Psalm 32:1-2 Easy-to-Read Version
A maskil of David.
32 It is a great blessing when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done, when their sins are erased.[a] 2 It is a great blessing when the Lord says they are not guilty, when they don’t try to hide their sins.
How genuinely blessed did you feel yesterday?
How genuinely blessed do you feel today?
How confident are you that you will feel genuinely blessed tomorrow?
Psalm 139:23-24 Easy-to-Read Version
23 God, examine me and know my mind. Test me and know all my worries. 24 Make sure that I am not going the wrong way.[a] Lead me on the path that has always been right.[b]
He is a compassionate kind and saving God who desires a relationship with us.
How much do you genuinely believe this?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 103 New American Standard Bible 1995
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 5 Who satisfies your [a]years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The Lord performs [b]righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him. 14 For He Himself knows [e]our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. 17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [f]fear Him, And His [g]righteousness to children’s children, 18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His [h]sovereignty rules over [i]all. 20 Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. 22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 