Psalm 130:4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
Oh Friends, it’s the second day of 2010! How are we doing with those New Year resolutions? Have we broken any as yet? In particular, are we keeping the one that I asked us to make, stepping up our righteous living a notch? Hn! I guess some of us are still in partying mode, but that shouldn’t prevent us from leading a righteous life, since the two are not mutually exclusive. However, I want to share a quote that will certainly raise our standing with God if we take it to heart and adopt it. Robert Muller claims: ‘To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of LOVE. In return you will receive untold peace and happiness.’ And that my people is gospel! Forgiveness is a unique thing that brings peace to one’s soul and spirit. You feel like a great weight has been lifted off your chest or shoulders. I can personally attest to that. Forgiveness sets you free my people! And lack of it is one of the main causes of all the problems in our world. Too many of us are too ignorant and stubborn to forgive, so we go around riddled with resentment, anger and hatred, holding a lot of petty things in our hearts against friends, families and even strangers. Unfortunately that only increases our stress level and causes further illness. Oh my brethren, we’ve become so self-centred and small-minded that we take umbrage at the smallest slight, then to make matters worse we go around carrying that unnecessary baggage of resentment and/or anger. It oftimes shows up in acts of revenge; some non violent, like verbal and emotional abuse, but far too many of a violent nature, stabbings, shootings, beatings and terrorist activities. And sadly, it seems to be very ingrained in our youth and they are bearing the brunt of it. A lot of the time too, we’re only doing ourselves harm, cause the person(s) to whom our righteous anger and unforgiveness is directed either doesn’t know or care. Please remember what Jesus said about forgiveness: ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’ (Mat.6:14-15) And what is the prayer pattern Jesus taught us, which most of us pray, though often by rote, not really thinking about what we’re saying? ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Mat.6:12) It’s plain, simple language Friends: as we forgive, so will we be forgiven. We can’t ask the Father to forgive us, if we’re not forgiving others. Now what does our quote say? ‘To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of LOVE.’ And where does LOVE come from? From God! So if we’re not forgiving then we’re not truly LOVING either. And as the Psalmist asks: ‘If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?’ (Ps.130: 3) Oh Friends, none of us will stand, because we’re all children of iniquity. ‘But there is forgiveness with thee.’ That’s for sure my people! Our God is the most forgiving Being in the universe. He declared it from the very start: ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…’ (Ex.34:6-7) Yes Friends, those were the Lord’s own words, so how can we doubt them eh? He proclaimed them to Moses through a cloud, his second time up Mt. Sinai to have the Ten Commandments written over. If He wasn’t very forgiving and merciful the Israelites would not have had so many chances of disobedience. Nehemiah also acknowledged the Lord’s great penchant for forgiveness. Having admitted his people’s sinful behaviour, he said; "but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook them not.’ (Neh.9:17) And if you read that whole chapter, you will see how Nehemiah itemizes all Israel’s ungodly deeds, but always returns to the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy. So my people, how can we deign to ask forgiveness of our God, or anyone else, and not reciprocate eh? That brings to mind Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant, who owed his master ten thousand talents, but begged for mercy and time to pay when his master called for payment. The master had compassion on him, forgave him the entire debt. But that same servant, when asked for mercy by one of his fellow workers on a hundred pence debt, refused and had him cast in jail. The other workers told the master about it. He got angry and said to the unforgiving man; ‘O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldn’t not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?’ (Mat.18:32-33) Then he had him thrown in jail till he paid his debt. And what was Jesus’ point? ‘So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.’ (Mat.18:35) Note Friends, ‘from your hearts,’ not a superficial forgiveness, because the heart is where our God always looks. Time has run out, so we’ll continue this tomorrow, God willing. Till then, Much LOVE!…the most important element of LOVE…FORGIVENESS…
Oh Friends, it’s the second day of 2010! How are we doing with those New Year resolutions? Have we broken any as yet? In particular, are we keeping the one that I asked us to make, stepping up our righteous living a notch? Hn! I guess some of us are still in partying mode, but that shouldn’t prevent us from leading a righteous life, since the two are not mutually exclusive. However, I want to share a quote that will certainly raise our standing with God if we take it to heart and adopt it. Robert Muller claims: ‘To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of LOVE. In return you will receive untold peace and happiness.’ And that my people is gospel! Forgiveness is a unique thing that brings peace to one’s soul and spirit. You feel like a great weight has been lifted off your chest or shoulders. I can personally attest to that. Forgiveness sets you free my people! And lack of it is one of the main causes of all the problems in our world. Too many of us are too ignorant and stubborn to forgive, so we go around riddled with resentment, anger and hatred, holding a lot of petty things in our hearts against friends, families and even strangers. Unfortunately that only increases our stress level and causes further illness. Oh my brethren, we’ve become so self-centred and small-minded that we take umbrage at the smallest slight, then to make matters worse we go around carrying that unnecessary baggage of resentment and/or anger. It oftimes shows up in acts of revenge; some non violent, like verbal and emotional abuse, but far too many of a violent nature, stabbings, shootings, beatings and terrorist activities. And sadly, it seems to be very ingrained in our youth and they are bearing the brunt of it. A lot of the time too, we’re only doing ourselves harm, cause the person(s) to whom our righteous anger and unforgiveness is directed either doesn’t know or care. Please remember what Jesus said about forgiveness: ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’ (Mat.6:14-15) And what is the prayer pattern Jesus taught us, which most of us pray, though often by rote, not really thinking about what we’re saying? ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Mat.6:12) It’s plain, simple language Friends: as we forgive, so will we be forgiven. We can’t ask the Father to forgive us, if we’re not forgiving others. Now what does our quote say? ‘To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of LOVE.’ And where does LOVE come from? From God! So if we’re not forgiving then we’re not truly LOVING either. And as the Psalmist asks: ‘If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?’ (Ps.130: 3) Oh Friends, none of us will stand, because we’re all children of iniquity. ‘But there is forgiveness with thee.’ That’s for sure my people! Our God is the most forgiving Being in the universe. He declared it from the very start: ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…’ (Ex.34:6-7) Yes Friends, those were the Lord’s own words, so how can we doubt them eh? He proclaimed them to Moses through a cloud, his second time up Mt. Sinai to have the Ten Commandments written over. If He wasn’t very forgiving and merciful the Israelites would not have had so many chances of disobedience. Nehemiah also acknowledged the Lord’s great penchant for forgiveness. Having admitted his people’s sinful behaviour, he said; "but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook them not.’ (Neh.9:17) And if you read that whole chapter, you will see how Nehemiah itemizes all Israel’s ungodly deeds, but always returns to the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy. So my people, how can we deign to ask forgiveness of our God, or anyone else, and not reciprocate eh? That brings to mind Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant, who owed his master ten thousand talents, but begged for mercy and time to pay when his master called for payment. The master had compassion on him, forgave him the entire debt. But that same servant, when asked for mercy by one of his fellow workers on a hundred pence debt, refused and had him cast in jail. The other workers told the master about it. He got angry and said to the unforgiving man; ‘O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldn’t not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?’ (Mat.18:32-33) Then he had him thrown in jail till he paid his debt. And what was Jesus’ point? ‘So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.’ (Mat.18:35) Note Friends, ‘from your hearts,’ not a superficial forgiveness, because the heart is where our God always looks. Time has run out, so we’ll continue this tomorrow, God willing. Till then, Much LOVE!…the most important element of LOVE…FORGIVENESS…
SCRIP-BITS 