Ezekiel 3:10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee, receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Oh Friends, it’s been a rough beginning, for I’ve just spent a fair amount of time seeking a suitable Bit to illustrate the third part of the forgiveness principle that we’re to talk about today, and unfortunately could not find one that truly satisfied me. This passage from Ezekiel is a compromise. It’s either that I’m too finicky, seeking perfection, or I just don’t know what I’m doing. In either case, please overlook the ole fella’s shortcomings, if you consider them such. But wait nuh mih Friends, our God is at work here again! I just realized that to overlook my deficiency is a form of forgiveness, so that means you’ve got to forgive me cause I’m only human and thus imperfect. Hn, hn, hn! That’s why they say b.s baffles brains. Anyway, the last couple days we talked about God forgiving us, and we forgiving each other. But my people, all this talk of forgiveness means absolutely nothing unless we do the third part of the principle, that’s accepting it. Yes Friends, regardless of all the generous forgiveness of God and man, it does no good until we personally receive it. As the Lord said to Ezekiel: ‘Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.’ The important part here my brethren is that we accept, we receive that forgiveness in our hearts and souls. And that’s where many believers flounder. They talk about God’s forgiveness, but they don’t actually accept it in their innermost beings, they just hear it with their ears. Consequently they walk around feeling guilty and depressed in spite of all their prayers of repentance and pleas for forgiveness. In that respect, we’re making a mockery of Jesus’ sacrificial death and God’s ingenious plan to provide mercy and forgiveness for our sins. To forgive basically means to let go, to absolve, to cleanse, to release from blame, shame and guilt. But just check out the great number of us who have not allowed our souls to be cleansed of guilt and shame for wrong doing that’s been both forgiven and forgotten long ago. Yes Friends, many of us have committed wrongs way back when, and the people we’ve wronged, either didn’t know they’d been wronged, or they forgiven us and forgotten the wrong, but we still bear that pain and guilt in our hearts. My people, that’s possibly the most important factor in all of the forgiveness talk; learning to forgive ourselves. If we don’t learn that, and remember forgiveness is a learned activity, it will all just be sham, a mouthing of meaningless words, and we’ll keep ourselves mired in a cesspool of guilt and pain when there’s absolutely no need for it. Oh, by the way, I might also need your forgiveness for aimlessly rambling or making mistakes because all of this is coming straight from the heart. But I’m not worried, cause I know that you all are such wonderful, god-fearing people steeped in the principle of forgiveness…Oh, I can already feel the LOVE and forgiveness coming through, and I accept it most graciously in the depths of my soul. (smile) I’m just trying to practice what I preach. But seriously though Friends, forgiveness is a huge element in our faith. It can either set us free or keep us unnecessarily tied up in chains of guilt, pain and shame, thereby causing us to lead a less than successful life. Life is rough enough as it is, we don’t need to make it any rougher on ourselves, so in our best interest we have to focus on the reception and acceptance of all and any forgiveness that comes our way. To end, let’s see if we can tie everything together in a brief overview. And I’m going to surprise those who think I can’t be brief. (smile) So here goes. Forgiveness means not exacting either punishment or redress for a wrong; pardoning, absolving, overlooking, exonerating. And that’s exactly what our most merciful, forgiving God has done for us; He’s pardoned, overlooked, exonerated our sins for ever, by sending His only Son Jesus, the only sinless Being available, to die on an old rugged cross and pay the hefty price His justice and righteousness required. That made Jesus our Lord, Saviour and Master, and He’s decreed that forgiveness is only available through repentance and belief in His Holy Name. But by the same token, since the Father was so generous to forgive us our wrongs through His death, He wants His followers to forgive each other, and in the same measure that we forgive, the Father will forgive us. The Lord’s scales must be finely balanced. However, all of the above is simply rhetoric and of no real value unless we actually receive that forgiveness in our hearts and allow our wrongs to be actually cleansed from our souls. Only then is forgiveness really beneficial. And my Friends, true forgiveness is so refreshing and cleansing! It gets rid of all the negative emotions that clog up our soul when we think we’ve been wronged. And though it might not have any effect on the ‘forgivee,’ believe me, it greatly affects and lightens the burden of the forgiver. In this one respect I guess it’s wise and okay to be selfish. So let’s all be selfish nuh! Let’s forgive each other like we crazy, for the benefits are overwhelming. But remember we have to also receive and accept that pardon, of both God and man, deep in our hearts and souls for us to feel, reap and enjoy those wonderful benefits. Much LOVE!…with plenty forgiveness… and plenty acceptance too…
Oh Friends, it’s been a rough beginning, for I’ve just spent a fair amount of time seeking a suitable Bit to illustrate the third part of the forgiveness principle that we’re to talk about today, and unfortunately could not find one that truly satisfied me. This passage from Ezekiel is a compromise. It’s either that I’m too finicky, seeking perfection, or I just don’t know what I’m doing. In either case, please overlook the ole fella’s shortcomings, if you consider them such. But wait nuh mih Friends, our God is at work here again! I just realized that to overlook my deficiency is a form of forgiveness, so that means you’ve got to forgive me cause I’m only human and thus imperfect. Hn, hn, hn! That’s why they say b.s baffles brains. Anyway, the last couple days we talked about God forgiving us, and we forgiving each other. But my people, all this talk of forgiveness means absolutely nothing unless we do the third part of the principle, that’s accepting it. Yes Friends, regardless of all the generous forgiveness of God and man, it does no good until we personally receive it. As the Lord said to Ezekiel: ‘Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.’ The important part here my brethren is that we accept, we receive that forgiveness in our hearts and souls. And that’s where many believers flounder. They talk about God’s forgiveness, but they don’t actually accept it in their innermost beings, they just hear it with their ears. Consequently they walk around feeling guilty and depressed in spite of all their prayers of repentance and pleas for forgiveness. In that respect, we’re making a mockery of Jesus’ sacrificial death and God’s ingenious plan to provide mercy and forgiveness for our sins. To forgive basically means to let go, to absolve, to cleanse, to release from blame, shame and guilt. But just check out the great number of us who have not allowed our souls to be cleansed of guilt and shame for wrong doing that’s been both forgiven and forgotten long ago. Yes Friends, many of us have committed wrongs way back when, and the people we’ve wronged, either didn’t know they’d been wronged, or they forgiven us and forgotten the wrong, but we still bear that pain and guilt in our hearts. My people, that’s possibly the most important factor in all of the forgiveness talk; learning to forgive ourselves. If we don’t learn that, and remember forgiveness is a learned activity, it will all just be sham, a mouthing of meaningless words, and we’ll keep ourselves mired in a cesspool of guilt and pain when there’s absolutely no need for it. Oh, by the way, I might also need your forgiveness for aimlessly rambling or making mistakes because all of this is coming straight from the heart. But I’m not worried, cause I know that you all are such wonderful, god-fearing people steeped in the principle of forgiveness…Oh, I can already feel the LOVE and forgiveness coming through, and I accept it most graciously in the depths of my soul. (smile) I’m just trying to practice what I preach. But seriously though Friends, forgiveness is a huge element in our faith. It can either set us free or keep us unnecessarily tied up in chains of guilt, pain and shame, thereby causing us to lead a less than successful life. Life is rough enough as it is, we don’t need to make it any rougher on ourselves, so in our best interest we have to focus on the reception and acceptance of all and any forgiveness that comes our way. To end, let’s see if we can tie everything together in a brief overview. And I’m going to surprise those who think I can’t be brief. (smile) So here goes. Forgiveness means not exacting either punishment or redress for a wrong; pardoning, absolving, overlooking, exonerating. And that’s exactly what our most merciful, forgiving God has done for us; He’s pardoned, overlooked, exonerated our sins for ever, by sending His only Son Jesus, the only sinless Being available, to die on an old rugged cross and pay the hefty price His justice and righteousness required. That made Jesus our Lord, Saviour and Master, and He’s decreed that forgiveness is only available through repentance and belief in His Holy Name. But by the same token, since the Father was so generous to forgive us our wrongs through His death, He wants His followers to forgive each other, and in the same measure that we forgive, the Father will forgive us. The Lord’s scales must be finely balanced. However, all of the above is simply rhetoric and of no real value unless we actually receive that forgiveness in our hearts and allow our wrongs to be actually cleansed from our souls. Only then is forgiveness really beneficial. And my Friends, true forgiveness is so refreshing and cleansing! It gets rid of all the negative emotions that clog up our soul when we think we’ve been wronged. And though it might not have any effect on the ‘forgivee,’ believe me, it greatly affects and lightens the burden of the forgiver. In this one respect I guess it’s wise and okay to be selfish. So let’s all be selfish nuh! Let’s forgive each other like we crazy, for the benefits are overwhelming. But remember we have to also receive and accept that pardon, of both God and man, deep in our hearts and souls for us to feel, reap and enjoy those wonderful benefits. Much LOVE!…with plenty forgiveness… and plenty acceptance too…
SCRIP-BITS 