Forgiveness

Finding Healing Through Forgiveness

Posted on by Jesse Walker

 

How do we forgive when we have been seriously hurt or injured by someone we love or was supposed to love us? I’m not going to lie. This is a very difficult thing to do. But there is hope. With the help of God, all things are possible. And you may need to seek professional help.

But if you hear nothing else, please hear this. You are precious in the eyes of God. You were created in God’s image. You were woven in your mother’s womb. In other words, God formed your DNA. He wanted you to be born. You are not an accident. Your parents might have had an accidental pregnancy. But you were no accident. And your value isn’t determined by other’s actions. Your value is determined by your heavenly Father. Please know that sad isn’t bad. While it is very sad that you were seriously hurt. You are not bad. You are not guilty of their mistakes.

So how do you move on? How do you release your anger and resentment? One thing that might help is to remind yourself that as a child of God you are commanded to forgive. Not only forgive them, but in other verses were told to pray for them. This may seem ridiculous at first. But if you consider that God is a God that gave his Son for you, you know how much he loves you. He’s not asking you to do this for no reason. Obviously, there must be a better reason. But what could that reason be? Could it be that God knows what you need most is to turn your pain over to him. And let him carry it for you? Could it be through prayer you can speak directly to Jesus. Who knows what it is to be innocent and to suffer, even to die, having done nothing wrong.

I think another thing we must remember is that forgiveness is not acting as if what was done is okay. Or acting as if it never happened. Forgiveness does not  remove any punishment they may have to serve for breaking the law. Forgiveness does not allow them to pull you down. It’s like trying to save someone who is drowning. If they try and drown you with them, you are not required to save them. That is not love. That is foolishness.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.” The longer you hold resentment and anger inside of you, you are burying yourself alive.  In the first chorus of “Burdens are lifted at calvary,” it says,

Days are filled with sorrow and care

Hearts are lonely and drear
Burdens are Lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near

Remember surrendering to Jesus at calvary is where your burdens are lifted. And as you grow closer to God, he draws closer to you. Jesus becomes near. I am very sorry others didn’t see the value in you or live up to their responsibilities. But the truth is, if you don’t release it, you will end up drowning in it. And if you’re not careful, you will pass down the same guilt to your children one day. To break the curse, you must learn to forgive.

Forgiveness

Posted on by Jesse Walker

 

In Colossians 3:13 Christians are told “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Forgiveness is neither easy nor clear-cut, as many of us have found out when we are deeply hurt. I have experienced murder in my family. It is hard thing to forgive the person who took the life of your loved one. I have been abandoned by some, laughed at by others and sold short by others. Many of you have experienced the same or worse.

Why does God command that we forgive others. If you know anything about God, it’s for our benefit. God only wants the best for you and me. I believe one reason is, because without forgiveness you can never be fully free.  Hatred is of the devil. So, you will either choose to serve the devil or your heavenly father. The bible is clear, no man can serve two masters.

If you allow anger to build up inside of you, your enemy the devil has won. Your anger will turn to hatred, and as a result, all of humanity loses. The way a society goes will be determined largely by the grace it offers.

Forgiveness is the required step to a grace filled life.  Does this mean we forget. No. Does this mean what they did was ok. Absolutely not. Does this mean we should seek their release from prison. No.

In his book The Prisoner and the Bomb, Laurens van der Post recounts the misery of his wartime experiences in a Japanese prison camp in Java.   He writes, “The only hope for the future lay in an all-embracing attitude of forgiveness of the peoples who had been our enemies. Forgiveness, my prison experience had taught me, was not mere religious sentimentality; it was as fundamental a law of the human spirit as the law of gravity. If one broke the law of gravity one broke one’s neck; if one broke this law of forgiveness, one inflicted a mortal wound on one’s spirit and became once again a member of the chain-gang of mere cause and effect from which life has labored so long and painfully to escape.”

Why is our society so full of anger, and hatred? Why do we seem so divided? Could a large part of it be due to the lack of our willingness to forgive. Forgiveness does not come to us easily. We must work at it. It is a choice we must learn to make as painful as it can be.  We have to see the necessity of it for the greater good of society. A society that doesn’t practice grace is a society that is doomed to fail.  If the church wants to make an impact on the world, it must learn to practice forgiveness. How many of our churches have split over refusal to forgive.  Where did that practice come from?  I can surely say it did not come from God. For he commanded us to forgive. His Son dying words from the cross were “Father Forgive them”.

Will you take a step today to practice a grace filled life. A life of forgiveness. Ask God today to help you forgive. Lord, please forgive me when I allow anger and bitterness to fill my heart when I refuse to forgive someone who has hurt me. Teach me Lord to forgive as you have forgiven me.

Bought With a High Price

Posted on by Jesse Walker

Bought With a High Price – Video

How well do you make plans? I’m not very good at it. I like to think I’m spontaneous. Which means, I’m not good at making a schedule and sticking to it. That’s something I need to work on.

But I know someone who is great at making plans. Do you know who that is? If you said God, you’re correct. Did you know the bible says that God planned to save the world through his son Jesus Christ before he whispered a world into creation. In Ephesians 1:4-5 it says, “4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—”

This plan was carried out in Galatians 4:4 where we read that when the time had arrived God sent his Son to be born of a woman and to redeem his fallen creation. Make no mistake about it, it wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t just a good guess.  It was a well thought out, well-executed plan that was in the works before the beginning of time.

Why did God send his Son? In one word “love”. God before the beginning of time, choose to provide all who believe in Him a way back to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. This love was on full display on the cross when the Lamb of God carried away the sins of the world. God redeemed us (bought us back). There was no partial payment made. No loan taken out. He paid the bill in full. And he paid it with the blood of his Son, and 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “God paid a great price for you and me.”

By sending Jesus, He showed, that there is no Caucasian, no gender, no race, or ethnicity, no rich or poor, no educated or uneducated, no protestant, no country greater than the next. Neither Jew or Gentile, neither slave or free, neither male nor female, we are all one in Christ Jesus. He speaks to the shady lady at the well, he works with the stinky fishermen, with the lowly IRS agents (tax collectors), and he healed the lame and the blind.

Lord you are holy. We will praise your name forever. Help us to remember your steadfast love never ceases, your mercies never end, help us to see how they are renewed every morning.  For you are faithful. And this is Jesse Walker with the Glenwood Church of Christ.

Set Free

Posted on by Jesse Walker

Tommy was a high school jock. He broke all his high school records. He scored more points than anyone else had ever done. Tommy was on top of the world until one night he was arrested for selling drugs. Tommy had become addicted to prescription drugs, due to his sports injuries. He lost his scholarship and found himself all alone. His dreams of playing professional sports faded away. He became suicidal, depression ruled the day. He had been in and out of rehabilitation centers.

One day Tommy reached out for help. In doing so he found God. He was able to confess his sins. And with this confession came release. He was no longer held prisoner by his past. Like Tommy, many of us have done things in our past that hold us captive. We can’t find a way to forgive ourselves. Maybe we walked out on a marriage. Maybe we’ve abandoned our children. Maybe we’ve committed a serious crime.
But does this have to mean that we are without hope for the rest of our lives? In Isiah 59:1 we read, “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” In other words, God shouts an emphatic “NO”. My grace and mercy can cover your sins. But that’s not all there is. God’s grace not only covers our sins, but it also provides us the strength to continue with life.

It doesn’t matter if your sin is coveting, lying, stealing or murder. God’s promise makes no distinction when He says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18b). The truth is, no matter how horrible your sin is, how low we sink, God’s grace will always be greater. If God has said he has forgotten your sin, then believe Him and move on. Listen to the Apostle Paul when he said, “Forget what is behind you and press on toward what lies ahead.” That’s why the front window shield is larger than the rearview mirror.

Now that you know the liberating freedom that comes from confessing your sins and trusting in God. Can I ask you to help others who are struggling with their past sins. Will you pay it forward? This is Jesse Walker with the Glenwood Church of Christ.

Will God always honor man’s repentance?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

30Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 16:30-33)

20Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!” “I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD. 21‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel-slave or free. 22I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ 23“And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ 24“Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.”…27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. 28Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29“Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.” (1 Kings 21:20-29)

Is your life so bad that you could compete with someone who “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of [the kings] before him”?

Have you ever felt like such a sinner, like you’ve made so many fall-on-your-face blunders that you’re beyond hope and God will never forgive you?

Ok, let me ask you this — is your life so bad that you could compete with someone who “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of [the kings] before him”? Unless your name is Jeffrey Dahmer, I’d be willing to bet your life can’t even come close to that of Ahab’s on the scale of “badness”. (Oh, and Jeffrey Dahmer? I fully expect to see him in heaven. If you want to learn about his conversion story, write me or add a comment below and I’ll tell you about it.)

Ahab doesn’t even come close to comparing with King David, but the way he reacted after hearing Elijah’s curse was reminiscent of David’s reaction after Nathan’s confrontation (2 Samuel 12:1-9). Make no mistake; this was real repentance. Ahab was not simply putting on a show to get Elijah to change his curse to a blessing.

So does this mean we can expect to see King Ahab in heaven? Sorry, not my call — nor yours.

Nor is it the point of this post.

The point is God noticed and God honored Ahab’s repentance. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He waited patiently for Ahab to repent. He waits patiently for you too, but He will not wait forever. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3), when neither you nor I expect it.

God is waiting; what are you waiting for?

Maranatha.

Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us

Posted on by Bob Mathews

I saw that quote on a church sign recently. You know the ones — these are the signs that have quippy sayings that are intended to make you think, and sometimes make you groan, kind of like ours. Like most quotes, some are better than others. This one got my attention though, because I wasn’t sure if I agreed with it or not.

How do you think God sees you?

…all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Let me ask you this — if I had a huge, ugly brown spot on my back, would you ever know about this blemish if every time you saw me I was wearing a shirt? Scripture tells me at the time I was baptized, I was clothed with Christ.

26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27

Therefore, since I am clothed with Christ, whenever God looks at me He sees Jesus. He doesn’t see the blemishes that abound — the blemishes Jesus’ blood washed clean (1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7). He sees me as pure and spotless as the day I was born.

And this brings up another question — if God sees us as being clothed with Christ, and doesn’t see our blemishes, shouldn’t we see His children in the same state? How easy it is to focus on each others’ dirty laundry and blemishes, when we should see our fellow life-strugglers as washed clean with the same blood as we have been.

So, back to the original quote and the question it provoked — is humility seeing ourselves as God sees us? I think not. “Humility is seeing ourselves as we would be without Jesus.” How’s that for a re-write?

When is a Christian forgiven?

Posted on by Bob Mathews

I’ve been a Christian for over 58 years. In that amount of time I’ve had several “Aha!” moments, which I like to call “hermeneutical epiphanies“. One passage that particularly sticks in my mind from years past is Psalm 32:1-2, as quoted by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans:

“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” Romans 4:7

Now that actually sounds pretty good — “they whose transgressions are forgiven”. He’s just talking about all Christians then, right? Well yeah, sort of. But…

  1. That couldn’t have been whom David was thinking of when he originally wrote the verse. It could have been a prophecy about Christians, of course, but I don’t believe it was. The full context of Psalm 32 certainly wouldn’t lead one to that conclusion.
  2. That wasn’t the verse that caused me to really think about forgiveness anyway.

“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Romans 4:8

…for those who “walk in the light”, the blood of Jesus “purifies” us when we sin…

Nowwaitjustaminutehere. Are you telling me there are people (David and Paul both used the masculine noun, but the context here is clearly gender-neutral and includes both male and female) who, when they sin, are already cleansed?

Yes, that’s exactly what I believe it means.

Let’s take that thought to its logical conclusion. That means that whoever “the man” is Paul is writing about, when he sins, it’s immediately as if he never sinned — and that’s before the “Lord, please forgive me. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Yes, that’s right.

But won’t that lead one to conclude that he doesn’t have to really be concerned about sinning — that since he’s immediately forgiven anyway, it doesn’t really matter? Yes, it certainly may lead one to conclude that, but that would be a very immature, very un-Christian attitude, wouldn’t it? (And a very incorrect conclusion, I might hasten to add.)

Let’s look at another Scripture that may help us further understand justification (which was Paul’s subject in Romans 4 anyway):

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

So for those who “walk in the light” (and it doesn’t take a great amount of study to understand what “in the light” means), the blood of Jesus “purifies” us when we sin? Right, but it’s important to notice what word John used here — purifies. Not purified. Not will purify. Purifies. Present tense — meaning that when we sin, that’s when Jesus’ blood purifies us. It’s immediate. Don’t take verse 7 of the chapter in isolation though. I encourage you to read the entire chapter of 1 John 1 for the full context. In that vein, please understand I’m not minimizing our confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness. Both of those are aligned with Scripture and are things someone in a right relationship with God will just naturally do.

So, back to the question that brought us here: “When is a Christian forgiven?” A Christian is forgiven at the moment that person sins. The work of Jesus on the cross has already seen to that. And that, my friend, is cause for rejoicing!

To the Uttermost

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them — Hebrews 7:25. This context is highlighting the supremacy and glory of King-High Priest Jesus Christ, in contrast to the glories of the Aaronic priesthood of Israel. Summing up only part of it, the Hebrews author says the above of Jesus High Priest.

Because of the kind of God-Savior He is, GREAT High Priest-Jesus is able to save us to the farthest extent of His own Divine capabilities.

“To the uttermost” means “to the end” or “to the farthest extent.” Because of the kind of God-Savior He is, GREAT High Priest-Jesus is able (powerful and sympathetic enough) to save them (us) to the farthest extent of His own Divine capabilities. As far as God could go, Jesus Lord went! (He still does.)

Consider that:

  1. He went from the farthest reaches of eternity to the farthest corners of the earth in order to seek, find, and save us.
  2. He went to the very last end of His earthly life, His last breath, to save us.
  3. He went to the very farthest and darkest realms of our sin and rebellion in order to save us.
  4. He went on His saving journey from heaven to the cross out of the uttermost love which even God can generate.
  5. He continues to go to the farthest extent into our burdens and trials in order to help us in them all.

You may want to think on that — what it says about Him, and not only what He DID but what He presently DOES for you — what it says about what He thinks toward you — what it means to where you now are, or have been, or shall be.

Abortion is WRONG (psychologically) – 2

Posted on by Bob Mathews

We previously noted that abortion is wrong because of the painful and long-term PSYCHOLOGICAL effect it can have upon the woman involved.  With that in mind, consider the issue of GUILT. Guilt has a normal and healthy function within the human heart. (We are speaking of actual guilt, in contrast to false guilt feelings – another very important thing to understand, but not here.) A rightly functioning conscience will blow the whistle when violated. Sometimes conscience will prevent one from aborting.
But too often, that is not the case.

Consider the person who made such a drastic choice, and continues to live with guilt and remorse because of it. There may have been no guilt during the actual event, but now there has been time to think, regret, grieve. The pain and permanence of that decision hover overhead like a dark cloud.  Nobody mentioned the emotional overload that can follow. What can be said or done about that?

The most important thing to know is that one can be FORGIVEN. The apostle Paul assures that all transgressions (sins) are forgiven in Christ – Colossians 2:13. It has been said that, if Jesus’ death on the cross did not cleanse all sin, then it did not cleanse one sin. Think on that. And that includes the “unforgivable.” The need for forgiveness is very real in every human heart. The certainty of forgiveness is equally real. Nothing addresses guilt and self-hate as does the amazing grace of God in Christ. If I turn my wrong turns over to Him, He will forgive me and help me to forgive myself.

Being forgiven is not the same as being healed…I won’t FEEL forgiven but I still AM forgiven.

That brings up the second aspect of psychological abortion-recovery. Being forgiven is not the same as being healed. I may have trouble forgiving myself!  Sin has consequences. King David of the Bible committed grievous sinS, and thought the whole episode to be a done deal. But the harvest he reaped was very bitter for a very long time. He buried four sons because of those sinful choices! The 32nd Psalm reveals David’s anguish of heart and loss of health during the time he refused to come to terms with his wrongfulness. Post-abortion emotional suffering can have the same effects or worse.

The good news is that the king came to terms with his wrongness toward both God and man – Psalms 32 & 51. And, the even better news is that the Lord fully forgave David and later used him mightily in His kingdom plans. After dying 1,o00 times because of his short-sighted decisions, David found life again in the God of beginning-again!

Where the wandering and painful path of my grieving intersects the Interstate of God’s forgiveness, healing begins. And it does so from the outside in! That is, emotional healing starts with knowing the eternal forgiving love of God for me – I John 4:10. As I lay claim to (believe) that, emotional healing begins on the inside of me.  Now, it may take time. Relapses into doubt and regret may occur. I won’t FEEL forgiven but I still AM forgiven. The feeling will follow the fact, as railroad cars follow the engine.

These words are no bandaid. The post-abortion bleeding heart needs a tourniquet. In all this about one of the heart’s most wearisome burdens, I thought it critical to spotlight a very present hope for those who hurt over the past. If this is you or someone you can perhaps help, memorize the truth of Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

robert

Abortion is WRONG – #1

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Following Sunday’s talk about unborn life, a couple of you inquired about my skipping the slide enumerating the many aspects of abortion’s wrongness.  Keep in mind that  we are talking about the legalized extermination of 60,000,000+ unborn lives!  People!  Think about the myriad of ways that kind of destruction can affect a participant, or, for that matter, an entire culture.  (By comparison, we are rightly horrified and nauseated by the slaughter of 4-6 million innocent Jews by Nazi Germany.  Now, you and I are discussing 60 million+ abortions to this point in the U.S., and the slaughter of 46 million EVERY YEAR throughout the world!)

Under the following heading, I outline some of the ways in which abortion on demand is so very wrong. (Of course, that, labeling a thing as “wrong” is automatically a red flag in our times.)  Well, Jesus warned us to expect that and more – John 3:19,20.  See what you think.

Abortion on demand is WRONG:

Theologically  –  because it militates against the very power and purpose of God Who is the Creator and Giver of every life.  It is wrong in how it treats the God Who is doing the making and shaping work of Psalm 139.  Abortion is theologically wrong.

We are talking about the legalized extermination of 60,000,000+ unborn lives!

Morally –  because it jettisons both Scripture and good conscience in exchange for a quick fix.  “Moral” relates to “right and wrong.”  But we increasingly don’t care about that – Isaiah 5:20.  We just want a quick fix for our temporary problem.  Its all about ME:  my situation, dilemma, family embarrassment, financial circumstance, ambitions, MY LIFE, on and on.  Situation ethics always makes it about how I FEEL, not what is right and wrong.   Hey, have I ever wondered how abortion FEELS to that little unborn one?  The very fact of life-taking is enough for God to judge us.  Add to that the suffering and pain inflicted upon the defenseless.  How can we THINK of it, much less go through with it?  Google “fetal pain,” and, along with that, view the results of various abortion procedures.  Do that for yourself.  Quick fix, my eye!  Why, we give more dignity and protection to sea turtle eggs!  Abortion is morally wrong.

Psychologically  –  because it can trigger immense emotional trauma within the lives of those who have made the choice.  Abortion is not just a physical thing, such as sneezing.  There is an EMOTIONAL side to it.  In the nation of Finland, suicide occurs three times as often among women who have aborted.  What do you make of that?  And, look into post-abortion depression.  With that, look at post traumatic stress syndrome and notice the similarity in effects.  Did you know that those who have had abortions are more likely to be under psychiatric treatment, experience adverse personality changes, admit to usage of alcohol or tranquilizers, and have greater social isolation?  And does it not break your heart when a woman still sobs every year when the “birthday” of her aborted child rolls around?  This is a side effect which Planned Parenthood and abortionists (and most public school “family life” curricula) dare not mention.  Why not?  Abortion is psychologically wrong.

There is more to all this.

robert