Forgiveness is not an option

Forgiveness

If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4)

Is there someone in your life that you have not forgiven because of something they have done to you?  The question suggested in Luke 17 is, “Have they repented?”  If they have, you really have no choice but to forgive … It is a model of our confession and repentance toward God.  “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)

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

(Matthew 6:14-15)

I was talking with someone the other day and they asked me if I would forgive them for something they had done.  I told them that I really had no choice but to forgive them … It’s a command in the Bible.  If I don’t forgive them, I am sinning … disobeying a command of God.  “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)

You see, not forgiving someone who repents of their sin is not an option.  Let’s look at God’s model for forgiveness again.  If we confess (Godly sorrow - repenting not just feeling guilty and being sorry we got caught) God is faithful and will forgive us.  Until the sinner repents of the sin and seeks forgiveness, there is no restoration in relationship.

Let’s talk about feelings.  A lot of emphasis is placed on forgiving someone who has nto repented when it is really about releasing the negative feelings you have toward that person.  You may be angry .. disappointed … bitter … that is your emotional response to the wrong … you must release those feelings for your good.  People harbor attitudes toward others which, if left to themselves, will ruin their life.  BY harboring those attitudes, you will have no peace.  Now the person who has not repented may or may not be troubled by their sin … but your life is a mess because of it.  You must release those feelings … and then wait for repentance.

Take a look at Galatians 5:19-23.  Do you see that it is your flesh that cries out for retribution?  For condemnation?  But if you are walking in the power of the Spirit … how do you suppose you will respond to those who sin against you?  Does it mean you won’t be sad? No.  But it does mean that the unresolved offense will not consume you.  If you are thinking, ‘there is no way I can do that’, you are not thinking right!  That is the life we have been called to.  And that life is made possible by God.  Our disposition – response to others should be a function of our relationship with the Father through the Son not our relationship with people.

I know that this is a different take on the subject of forgiveness.  But I hope that if you ‘connect the scriptural dots’ you will see forgiveness in a new light.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NIV

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Succeeding in Life

Excerpt from Our Daily Bread

“Do you need the pieces of your life broken apart and put back together according to God’s directions? If you have Jesus Christ as your foundation, begin to follow His blueprint for living. Paul wrote, “Let each one take heed how he builds” on the foundation (1 Cor. 3:10-11). What is the blueprint? Value others above yourself by humbly serving them (Phil. 2:3-4), give generously of your resources to those in need (James 2:14-17), respond with love to those who have wronged you (Rom. 12:14-21). These are just a few of the pieces that God wants you to put together to build a life that is worthy of being His temple (1 Cor. 3:16).” —Joe Stowel

Isn’t it just like us to want to figure it out on our own.  I am sure you have heard this definition of insanity … doing the same thing over and over unsuccessfully in the same way (your way) expecting a different outcome.   I remember some years ago I was navigating an Army obstacle course.  One of the obstacles was a 40 foot rope drop.  It required you to climb up a tower made of logs, crawl out on a 2 inch rope over a river, hang from the rope and then drop into the water.  A net had been constructed at the base of the tower to catch you in the event you fell off the rope before you were over the water.  To my point, there was one man who fell off 5 times.  He would not listen to the instructors telling him how to do it.  He never was able to crawl out to the middle and drop into the water.  Was he persistent? Yes, but try as he might, he was not going to be successful … he would not listen … and he failed the course …

God has a plan for us … but ….  There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 16:25)  What we may seem right to us .. but it’s wrong.  As Christians, Jesus is our foundation … The Word is our guide ….  “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)

We must be willing to listen to the Lord .. to obey the Word … we could not obey before we were Christians … what enables us to understand and obey now is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  That is why we are told not to ‘quench the Spirit’.  Are you trying to do things on your own?  How is it working for you?

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.” (Psalms 42:11

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

In The Hands of the Master Archer

My Utmost For His Highest

Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). CHAMBERS

As I read those lines, I could hear the creaking of the bow as it is drawn back … further and further until you think it might break ..and then .. the arrow is released to fly toward its mark. It is not so much about the destination, but the fact that you are in the hands of the Creator.  In our Sunday night gathering, one question was … “Why are you in Haiti?”  My response was, because God has given us a passion to serve and a passion for the people of Haiti.”  For our lives, God’s target was Haiti.   Proverbs 31:9 says “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” We find ourselves advocates for a people that we did not know.

I was talking with a Haitian woman yesterday.  She was expressing her frustration over the plight of the ‘poor’ people and their apparent lack of desire to change.  I sensed it was not so much a personal concern for the people, but a desire for the problem to just go away.  Haiti is facing God-sized problems … so is the United States BTW,…. To resolve the problems there needs to be a change of heart.  Only God can do that.  He uses His sons and daughters to be the change agents.  We are the arrows in His quiver.  We have been made for an express purpose … “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

In order to fulfill that purpose, we must maintain our relationship with Jesus.  I told the people gathered at the Sunday night ‘Church on the Beach’ that if they were here and were serving in their own power, they should go home .. because this was no place to be without God.  The same goes for you .. .wherever you are … whatever you are doing … you were not created to live apart from God … and you certainly should not be doing something for God without God. That reminds me of the story about the men who tried to do something they had witnessed in their own strength … in Acts 19:15-17 “And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

Draw your strength from the Vine … rest in the hands of the Master Archer … have confidence that He who began a good work in you with be faithful to complete it.  He is able … more than able … to accomplish what concerns your today ….

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You

Free Indeed

My Utmost For His Highest

“[…] if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.” CHAMBERS

While talking with a good friend and Brother in Christ last night I was reminded of something that I heard when I was with Promise Keepers.  “You can’t lead where you won’t go, you can’t teach what you don’t know and you can only recreate what you are.”  Chambers stresses the same point by saying ‘IF’ we ourselves are free.  Before we can lead someone to freedom, we ourselves must be free.  Sound like a no brainer?  Sure, but people give advice all that time that they themselves are not willing to follow.  They know what they are telling others is the right thing to do and want to encourage others to do it for their good, but if you should examine their lives, you would find that they, themselves, are struggling.

Now let’s talk about the paradox … liberty found in absolute the control and authority of Christ.  Liberty under authority.

God created us in His image.  People marvel at the beauty of nature and at the detail and interconnectedness.  But nature displays its beauty and harmony under the authority of the Creator.

‘In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.’ (John 1:1-4)

Like the rest of His creation, our lives are fulfilled as we live in under His authority.  Living in Harmony with our Creator.  A bird has no choice … each one builds its nest exactly the same way the birds of their kind build nests.  But God has given man volition, the ability to choose.

‘Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)

God has placed man over the earth.  People struggle over the way that we have not fulfilled our duty as stewards of God’s creation .. of course they don’t describe it that way.  Rather than cultivate the earth and nurture it, we have striped the earth of its resources, polluting the air, contaminating the water sources.  So we make laws, raise awareness, protest, as if those things will change the heart of man.   What those same people don’t understand is the true source of the problem.  The source of the problem is that human race is not living under the authority of the Creator. There is ‘liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.’

Give your life to Jesus, surrender all, follow Him, love God with all your heart … there are so many ways that the same point has been made … It is only when we live under the absolute control and authority of Jesus do we find peace .. hope … joy … are we in harmony with God and others ... and then we find true freedom.

‘[…] if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’ (John 8:36)

Thank You Jesus!

My Utmost For His Highest

‘Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.” CHAMBERS

Those are some ‘big’ words .. vicarious .. substitutionary … but they are an important reminder that we have access to God, the Father, only through Jesus.  We think about God’s blessings.  His answers to prayer.  The promise of eternal life.  If it were not for Jesus and His sacrifice … none of those things would be available to us.  You might be thinking .. ‘I know that!’  But the point is, do you remember that? Do you appreciate that? The fact that who you are today is because of what Jesus did for us.

Have you ever watched an entertainment awards show?  When they announce the name of the person that has received the award, that person gives an acceptance speech.  Typically it starts out … ‘I would like to thank … ‘ and they list people who have made their success possible.  Say they are a singer.  They could not have won the best vocalist if someone had not written the lyrics, the musical score, made the recording, promoted the song, supported the long hours … you get the idea.  That is what Chambers is saying about us.  We could not approach God if it were not for Jesus …

‘Jesus said to him [Thomas], "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.’ (John 14:6)

We are eternally secure because of Jesus.  It is easy to become complacent about that great truth.  It becomes a ‘yeah, I know’ kind of thing.  We lose our appreciation for Jesus.  What had been exhilarating has become dull in our hearts and minds.

Typically our prayers end with ‘In Jesus’ Name’… do you remember why?  Because He is the Way, He is the Truth, He is the Life .. He is our high priest … He is the atonement for our sins … He is the central figure in John 3:16 …

‘And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’ (1 John 5:11-12)

And as I stand before the great cloud of witnesses today, I would like to thank Jesus for making my new life possible !  Mesi Jezi! Thank You Jesus!

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Sympathy Toward Sin

My Utmost For His Highest

“Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will.” CHAMBERS

When I read this … it was like a light coming on for me.  Do you remember what happened in the Garden with Adam and Eve?  Adam chose Eve over God.  Do you see wanting to please others as a motivation for disobedience?  Maybe you don’t think of it that way … maybe you feel sorry for them or bad about their predicament .. but sometimes it puts you in a place where you must stand with them or with God.  What I am talking about is very subtle .. it looks like a good thing to do … Perhaps they are doing something that is clearly contrary to God’s Word.  You choose to look past it or maybe even accommodate it.  Those situations never lead to better things .. just more sin.

“And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:2-6)

Eve chose to disobey God.  Rather than do the right thing … Adam chose to accommodate that sin and participated in it.  I know I have over simplified this story.  But my point to you is that you can find yourself actually encouraging sin by your condoning it.  It might be your spouse or your children or a friend … they do something … they ‘eat from the tree’ and you say nothing or act as those what they have done is perfectly acceptable.  You both know that what they are doing is wrong .. and your response makes it easier for them to continue in that sin.

Does rejecting the sin mean that you reject the sinner?  God does not accommodate our sin.  We understand that and accept it as His nature.

“For I have come to 'SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW'; and 'A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:35-37)

What do you think Jesus meant by those words?  Accommodating the sin of others is a ‘love choice’.  When we accommodate the sin of others, we show that our love for them is greater than our love for God.  

“Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.” (John 14:23-24)

So what does it mean to ‘keep His words’?  Right … It means that you don’t accommodate sin .. you don’t choose others over God.  You don’t wink at actions that are contrary to the Word.  It means that you trust God and reject the notion that doing what you know is right will result in a bad outcome.   People want you to tell them that what they are doing is OK and if you don’t they may reject you.  They may even try to make you feel like you are the one that is in the wrong. 

When you boil this down to its essence … it is about faith … Do you believe that God loves you and obeying Him will result in the best outcome?  It’s true .. but it’s hard to do

Jesus said to him [the father of the boy possessed by an evil spirit] , "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:23-24

Let that be your cry as well … and then Stand Up for Jesus

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Where is the Fruit?

My Utmost For His Highest

“We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life— our work is our standard.” CHAMBERS

Do you remember significant spiritual times in your life?  Times when you just knew that God was present. Perhaps you saw God at work and like Peter on the mount of transfiguration said .. ‘Let’s stay here.’  But then the Lord said ‘Leave this mountain.’  It is possible that we see our life like that.  Certain times are very spiritual – exciting – but mostly life for us is a struggle – As if there are seasons for spiritual awareness .. In Matthew, Mark and Luke there are references to fig trees and their not bearing fruit.  “And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it.” (Mark 11:13-14)

Now if was not the season for figs, why would Jesus expect fruit?  There must be a point here.  Do you really think Jesus did not know there was no fruit on the branches of that tree? 

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:4-8)

There is not one season, a particular time, that we are to glorify God in our lives.  It’s every day, 24-7.  So Jesus walks down the road and He sees a tree – that would be me – He looks for fruit and sees none … He asks, where is your fruit?  I answer … Hey Lord, I am at work … when I get home I will show you the fruit … or Hey Lord … Don’t you see how those people treat me?  … or Hey Lord … I like those people .. I don’t want to scare them away with my faith …

All of those excuses reflect the fact that I am not staying connected to the Vine.  That I am living the Christian life by my own definition .. in my own way … on my own terms …. in disobedience … having a form of godliness.  I may be a healthy tree, have leaves on my branches, but if there is no fruit, I am not fulfilling my purpose. 

What’s the answer?  It is not trying harder.  It’s not reading a how to book.  It’s abiding in a deep relationship with the Vine – Jesus.  Fruit is a result of relationship not of effort. 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)