Forgiveness

In all of the commands the Lord has given to us, forgiveness is probably the hardest to do. It is for me and as I speak with others it is for them. Many may not admit it, but the resentment and anger with which they speak of someone is a clear indication of unforgiveness.

Ephesians 4: 32 says "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." In Dan Hamilton's book "Forgiveness" he says that a practical step to forgiveness is to absorb the cost yourself. That is an interesting thought - absorbing the cost. He uses the example of a friend breaking your lamp. You forgive them and you don't require them to replace it, but yet someone has to absorb the cost of replacing the lamp. You absorb it yourself. He says when we replay the videotapes of what happened in our mind, we stay angry. Therefore, do not remind yourself of the "videotapes." Remind yourself of the cross and what Jesus did for you. He, also, says we are to come to the point of praying for the offender and ourselves. Praying for my offender is very hard for me to do even though the scripture clearly says we are to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us (Matthew 5:44).

Jesus' words in Mark 11:25, 26 says, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But, if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

There will never be true joy in our lives if we allow unforgiveness to fester in us. Let us remember that when Christ died for us, He absorbed the cost. The consequences of our sin had to paid. He paid it for us. Therefore, we must forgive others as He has forgiven us.

A Feeling of Insignificance

When you look at the moon, stars and the sun as you gaze into the heavens do you ever feel somewhat small and insignificant as a part of God's creation? Do you ever think, "Who am I but a small creature compared to the glory of the heavens?" David felt the same way. In Psalm 8 David opens by praising the Lord's name for the work of His hands and His creation of the heavens, moon and the stars. Then he sees the comparison. "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit (give attention to or care for) him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels and You have crowned him with glory and honor (vs. 4, 5)."
Then David goes on to speak of the wonderful privilege God has given to us. He has given us dominion over all the works of His hands.

Sometimes life's hardness and trials make us think we are insignificant to the Lord and to others. We are not small and insignificant to the Lord. We are so significant to Him that He sacrificed His own Son to redeem us from our sin. This should also enable us to see how significant others are to Him and, therefore, they should be significant to us as well.

The next time you gaze into the heavens in awe of the power and majesty of God's creation let it be a glorious reminder to you of your significance to Him. We are more important to Him than we could ever imagine or think. "Oh LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!"

Be Careful What you Ask for!

I'm sure you have heard that statement many times with respect to praying. I like to use the Psalms to personalize prayers for myself. In fact, all of scripture is great for just using the same words to personalize our joys and struggles as we speak to the Lord.

Psalm 26: 2 says "Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart." This morning as I read this Psalm I found myself focusing on this verse. I want the Lord to show me things in my mind and heart that I would not see because of my own selfishness. It is good for the Lord to show us these things so we can seek His ways and His forgiveness. I was about to pray it for myself and when I discovered that another translation for "prove" was "test", I put on the stops for a second. I really thought of the impact of what this prayer would mean. Honestly, I was afraid of the "testing." I wanted to learn but I wanted the easy way. As I pondered for a moment I realized that this "testing" is out of love for me to show me His ways for my good and His glory. I want to be like Him so I moved on to praying that the Lord would indeed show me what was in my mind and heart.

How about you? When was the last time your asked the Lord to prove you and try your mind and heart? It is a scary prayer because our God is Holy and perfect. However, the good news is He has given us the Holy Spirit to do what we could never do to please Him. We can say with David "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"(Psalm 139: 23, 24).

Guard Your Affections

In I Kings 11 we have the account of Solomon's heart turning from the Lord because he had allowed the love of women to take first place in his life. He began to serve their gods. This happened when "Solomon was old" the scripture says in verse 4. We see how Solomon's commitment to the Lord fell by the way because of his affections for many wives who were serving other gods even though he started out with a tremendous commitment to the Lord and a desire to keep His statutes.

This passage is appropriate for all of us. We must guard our affections. While this teaches us to be sure to marry believers in Christ, it moves us even further in our relationships with others. It is possible for us to meet friends, co-workers and employers that we all look up to because they have a lot of positive qualities and we get along very well with them. We may even find ourselves spending a lot of time with some of these people. If they do not know the Lord we must be careful. We can begin to allow their thinking to influence us and take us in directions we should not go. The next thing we know our other Christian family and friends can begin to see a change in our behavior subtle as it may be. Then it may even come to a place where they realize we are not walking with the Lord and keeping His statutes.

Verse 9 says the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from Him after he had been commanded that he should go after no other gods. We are saved by grace and it is all of the Lord but we can know for sure that we will be chastised if we forsake Him to chase after other affections (Deuteronomy 8: 5, 6).

Julie Ackerman Link, a writer for "Our Daily Bread" says "It is difficult to make good decisions if our allegiance is to someone who does not know and love God." Guard your affections.

"Just tell them"

"Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you." These are Jesus' own words in Mark 5: 19 after He heals the Gadarenes demon-possessed man.

When the Lord brought saving faith to my husband and me we were living in Hawaii. We had not seen our parents and friends for almost two years. When we returned we were very different. While we were waiting for our things to return from Hawaii we stayed between his parents and mine. We were so excited about the great change in our lives and all the wonderful things the Lord had done for us. We took every opportunity to tell others. My parents definitely didn't understand it but yet couldn't deny that I was different than I was when I left. I kept trying to tell them that difference was Christ's work of salvation and sanctification in my life.

We struggle at times with telling others about salvation and forgiveness in Christ. Either we think we are not eloquent in our speech or we think we need to know a lot more than we do.
We should study the bible and look for ways to help people understand the scriptures, but being able to share the Lord's goodness and mercy with others should be in our every day experience. His active work of salvation and forgiveness is in our lives every day. Take notice and then tell others the great things He has done and is doing for you.

Broken is Good

It is hard for me to say which Psalm is my favorite but Psalm 51 ranks pretty high on my list. It can be used almost word for word as a prayer to the Lord when dealing with sin in our lives. Usually we think of David and his horrendous sin with Bathsheba and having Uriah killed when we read this Psalm, and rightly so. He probably wrote this after he spent quite some time trying to avoid his sin until the prophet Nathan came to him to show him his sin.

All sin is an abomination to the Lord. We often want to rate or place sin in the better or worse category. We may not have committed adultery or had someone killed but we sin in word and deed daily. This Psalm is such a clear picture of the forgiveness of the Lord and the restoration of His salvation to us. Restoration doesn't mean He takes it away and gives it back, but sin causes us to break fellowship with Him and there is a need to be restored. Verse 17 says "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise."

Broken is good. When we are broken by our sin, our hearts are truly feeling the pain and sorrow of our sin before the Lord. He loves it when we are in this place. We can sacrifice our time and money to serve Him but if we do not have a broken and a contrite heart these sacrifices mean nothing to Him.

At your next opportunity read and pray through Psalm 51 and be reminded of your sin, your need for forgiveness and the joy of the Lord's restoration to you.

Hungry/Thirsty?

When we are hungry we go to the refrigerator or pantry and get something to satisfy our hunger. When we are thirsty we get something to drink to satisfy our thirst.

Jesus said "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). If we hunger and thirst for righteousness we will seek to satisfy that desire. We will be in the word, spending time in prayer, reading books that encourage our faith and walk with the Lord and spending time with those who do the same. Jesus tells us we will be filled if we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Many would admit that they do not hunger and thirst for righteousness as they should. Just as our salvation comes from the Lord, our growth in righteousness comes from Him as well. We cannot do it ourselves because our nature is not turned toward Him. Thanks be to God that He does it for us. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:13 "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

If you find you do not hunger and thirst after righteousness, confess that to the Lord and ask Him to change that in you. "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (I Thessalonians 5:24).

Sweet Smelling Aroma

What is that wonderful smell? We may smell the aroma of flowers in the spring or a dinner cooking that causes us to look ahead to a delicious meal. On the other hand, there are those odors that cause us to recoil and react just the opposite.

When my husband and I have been in Africa teaching, there have been many parts of these countries that are very poor and very dirty. I have struggled with the odors of what is called "slit trenches" that are used as bathrooms.

II Corinthians 2: 14, 15 speak of an aroma that to those who are being saved is an aroma of life but those who are perishing it is the aroma of death. For those of us who have been saved, we are to God the fragrance of Christ. We are to "walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma" (Ephesians 5:2). I asked myself, "what is the aroma I give off?" Is it the aroma of Christ or the aroma of my own selfishness and sin? Let's not let covetousness, unforgiveness, selfishness, anger or resentment be the aroma that comes from us. Instead of smelling like "slit trenches" that causes others to recoil, let the aroma we give off be" the fragrance of His knowledge in every place" (v.14).

Lord, take from inside of me those things that produce an aroma that is not the fragrance of your knowledge in every place. Fill me with your knowledge as I look to Your word.

P.S. I will be a way on a trip and will not post until March 15, 2010. May the Lord continue His blessings on you.

The Joy of Forgiveness

You know the feeling. You have sinned against someone in thought or deed and you're trying not to think about it, but it won't leave you alone. Maybe it was losing your temper, gossiping, pornograpy or adultery. Perhaps your sin was directly against the Lord. You make excuses thinking it wasn't that bad, or everyone does this from time to time, but it won't leave you alone. The bottom line is that any sin done to anyone is a direct violation against the Lord's statutes.

David experienced the same thing. In Psalm 32, he describes how his sin affected him. He said his bones grew old and he groaned all day long. He felt the hand of the Lord heavy upon him. His vitality was gone and felt more like the drought of summer (v. 3-4). Then he confesses his sin to the Lord and the Lord forgave him (v. 5).

There is restoration and a feeling of joy when we confess our sin to the Lord knowing He will and does forgive us of all our sin (1 John 1:9). It is in this feeling of joy and knowing forgiveness, that David writes "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit" (Psalm 32:4).

If we are in Christ we know our sin has been forgiven - past, present and future. Yet, because we live in these bodies of original sin we still struggle with sin and will until we go to be with Him in glory. If you find that unconfessed sin is weighing heavily upon you today, do not let the day pass without confessing your sin to Him. If there is confession to be made to someone you have sinned against, seek the Lord's guidance for an appropriate way to do so. There is restoration and joy in the forgiveness of sin.