Finding The Power To Forgive

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. […] Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.” CHAMBERS

 

Have you ever said or thought “I just can’t find it within me to forgive him or her”?  Our strength to forgive does not come from our sense of doing what is right, but from Jesus on the cross.  When we read the Bible we must remember that it is a spiritual book, not a secular self-help book. To obey the Word requires the Spirit of God.  Be careful that you don’t slip into the thinking that what you could not do on your own before you were born again, you can now do on your own.  To live the obedient Christian life requires the power of the Spirit of God.  Your ability to forgive someone is supernatural ..

 

I often tell people that you know that you have forgiven someone when you think about the person or the act and you no longer are angry or upset by the thought. Jesus is the propitiation for us … Romans 3:23-25  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement (propitiation), through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.”   He satisfied God’s wrath on the cross for us … In the same way, we are to forgive others … just as we have been forgiven … not by willing it … not by trying to forgive .. or worse .. refusing to forgive … but showing grace and mercy toward others, just like God showed to us … that takes the power of the Spirit my friend.  Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Little Sins Are A Big Deal

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“In Him we have…the forgiveness of sins…” —Ephesians 1:7

 

“Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. […] The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours. Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ.” CHAMBERS

 

It is so easy to trivialize the sins we commit each day … not the big ones that might send you to prison .. but sins all the same.  (James 2:10) “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”  Any sin will come between you and God.   (1 John 1:9) “Confess you sins … God will forgive you”  God loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son to pay the penalty of sin for us.  Jesus’ life was forfeit for all sin for all time.  Keep Jesus in the forefront of your life.  Bind yourself to the cross …  “If any man comes after Me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross (daily) and follow Me.”  (Matthew 16:24) Come to Jesus and live.  ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

How Great The Father's Love For Us

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.” CHAMBERS

 

I don’t know if you have ever read about the great awakenings that have taken place in various countries in times past.  Great moves of the Holy Spirit sweeping across communities, even entire countries.  People would come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and begin making public confession of their sins.  There was not room for judgment from others, only a sudden awareness by those confessing that they had sinned against God and needed forgiveness.  Lives were changed … communities transformed .. supernaturally.  That is the power of God.

 

We must be careful that we don’t trivialize our sin .. and think of it as a small thing.  Jesus went to the cross for us.  That is no small thing?  When Jesus healed the 10 lepers, only one, a Samaritan, came back to thank Him.  Jesus asked “Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:12-19) The others had taken the healing and went back to what they were doing as if nothing had happened.  Ignoring the grace and mercy shown to them.  Each day is a day of grace and mercy for you and me.  Each day should be a day of thankfulness to the One who has saved us from an eternity in hell.  Who has forgiven us because of His great love and the sacrifice of His Son.  ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Holding On When You Should Let Go

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This [delivering ourselves]means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience. God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must […] not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments…and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life. […] It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him.” CHAMBERS

 

Be careful not to play the role of victim in your Christian life.  Where you feel like there are things that will never change .. it’s just the way you are!  You can’t do anything about it.  That thinking runs directly against what God has told us in His Word. And what you know to be true in your life.  You are rationalizing.  I was told once what rationalize means is that you are telling yourself “rational lies”.  You know that God has forgiven you in Jesus Christ.  You know that if you are in Christ .. the old has gone and the new has come.  You know that you have the Spirit of God in you as a promise and as a help.  You know you have the Word of God to show you the Truth.  And yet, in spite of all that, there are some things from your old life that linger … that are familiar … that continue to define you … perhaps once protected “the inner you” in some way.  In your heart you know they are contrary to your new life, that you should release them, that they are holding you back.  All of us struggle with these things at times in our lives … listen … we have to let them go … lay them on the altar … Even as you read these words, there may be something that comes to mind … lay it down … stop believing the rational lie … You can do it … by  the combination of your decision and faith in the power of Jesus in you.  You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength … (Philippians 4:13) ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Obedience Starts In The Heart

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“My goal is God Himself…  At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.[…] There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me. God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.[…] It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. […] The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.” CHAMBERS

 

Our first act of obedience is when we say “yes” to God’s offer of salvation in Jesus Christ.  From that point, we have the power to live the life that God has purposed for us, but it still requires our decision to live that life.  It requires our obedience to the voice of the Spirit when He says “This is the way, walk in it.”  Every day we are faced with choices … do we choose God or choose the world. We can’t do both, but still we try.  The level of a Christian’s devotion is not measured by their emotion .. but their obedience.  Obedience starts in the heart.  It is evidenced in the simple things … the way you speak, the way to treat people, your response to life’s events.  Obedience is a reflection of faith … if your faith is weak … you obedience to God will be lacking … It is one thing to speak of our new life in Christ .. but another to live it …

 

The Navigator Ministry uses a wheel to describe what it takes to be obedient.  The hub is Christ, at the center.  The four spokes are the Word, Prayer, fellowship, and witnessing.  The outer rim is the result .. the obedient Christian life. To grow as a Christian .. to be “successful” in the fulfillment of what God has intended for you, you must listen and then do.  Merely listening and agreeing is not enough. Jesus asked Peter “Do you love Me?”  When Peter said “yes”, then Jesus said “show Me”.  He is saying the same thing to us.  It is time to stop making excuses … and put feet to our words. ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Having My Own Way Or Yielding To His

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere. [..]  If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. [..]  It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.” CHAMBERS

 

The key to the Christian life is obedience to the will of the Father.  Submission to the Spirit of God.  Jesus modeled it during His earthly ministry.  The Christian life is not about personal commitment or idle resolutions to be a “better” Christian… but rather, quiet obedience to the voice of God.  I have known many Christians who were thrilled in their hearts when they had a Mount of Transfiguration experience (Matthew 17:1-5).  They were confident that life was going to be better .. their walk with the Lord would be stronger .. and that what they had experienced was the essence of what being a Christian meant. But it was not.  It was not long before the glory faded, and they found themselves in the same rut they were in before they climbed the mountain.  The life of a Christian is meant to be in the valley.  Lived, day by day, in humility. The failure in the Garden by the first Adam was marked by his disobedience to the will of the Father.  The victory on Calvary by the second Adam was marked by obedience to the will of the Father, even to death on the cross  (John 3:16)

 

You already know that obedience is a simple or easy thing. Most likely, you know that all too well.  As a Christian, you can do nothing in your own strength, except to say “yes” to the Lord.  God doesn’t want the promise of sacrifice … He wants a broken and contrite heart … obedience to His will.  What is it that you need to say “yes” to?  ELGIN

 

Have Thine Own Way

 

“Have Thine own way Lord.  Have Thine Own way.  Thou art the potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me, after Thy will. While I am waiting, yielded and still.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Consider Who Should Get The Credit

My Utmost For His Highest

 

'Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices! We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— […]  the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. […] Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him. […] Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.” CHAMBERS

 

In my experience, many Christians – with good intention – give praise to those who give up their lives in their culture to serve God in some fashion.  We label that sacrifice .. as if it somehow is a reflection of righteousness.  Actually it is a reflection of obedience .. the only thing we can and should take credit for .. the exercising of our free will.  Saying “yes” to God’s voice.  There is nothing that we can do in service to our Lord that can compare to what He did for us.  (Romans 5:8-10)  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 

It is a temptation to take our eyes off of Jesus and look at His reflection in others and then associate the glory that belongs to Christ to the one who bears His resemblance.  Be careful that you keep Jesus in front of you.  That the knowledge and awareness of what He has done for you does not dim.  That the praise He is due is not supplanted by recognition of the faithfulness of a pastor or missionary or passionate Christian to the call of the Lord.  All praise and glory be to the One who has saved us through His great sacrifice.  Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone) ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)