MaryFreeman

One of the hardest concepts to learn is forgiveness.... There are things that people do or say that hurt badly.... And it is so hard to say "I choose to forgive".... Some folks have a hard time because they think that if they do forgive then they have to let that person back into their lives again.... That misconception comes from the 7 x 70 verse....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Mat 18:21 KJV) Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
(Mat 18:22 KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

My pastor says "True forgiveness requires change, true repentance gives it.".... Jesus told the woman in the town square "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."

The above verses do not deal with letting someone back into your life.... They deal strictly with forgiveness.... This person may or may not have access to you in one way or another.... If they do.... And you cannot avoid even limited contact.... Then it matters not how many times they say something stupid.... Or do something rude.... Because you are to forgive anyways....

It is not for that persons benefit that you do it either.... They may not even care that you did.... It is for you.... So that your heart stays tender and open to the Lord.... And there is the not so insignificant fact that Jesus said if you don't....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Mat 6:14 NLT)"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
(Mat 6:15 NLT)But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

I'm sure this will come across as rather intrusive to some folk.... That's ok.... You'll heal.... Jesus is coming back.... He is coming soon.... He will rapture His church.... And if our sins are not forgiven..... We will be left behind to endure the 7 most horrific years mankind has ever known....

The words are written in red.... And that is just as good as being carved in stone.... I once told a lady "I have no choice.... I have to forgive.... It's written in red...."

I know this is a hard thing to do.... I have done it.... And there are times when you cannot avoid a person who habitually does or says things they shouldn't.... But forgiving them doesn't mean you have to deliberately put yourself in their path again....

I have had to cut a couple of people completely off.... Not have anything more to do with them.... Because they kept doing or saying harmful things to me or my family members.... And sure.... I was angry.... But I told them to stay away because I wasn't about to let them keep right on going.... And neither showed any sign of stopping.... And my childrens lives were being disrupted.... Some would say I am not walking in love....

My pastor would say I am walking in love towards those kids....

Sometimes in order to walk in love towards one person.... You must allign yourself against another....

Nevertheless.... I still had to forgive those people.... And I can almost guarantee you that if either were told I had.... Neither would care.... I had to forgive them because "it's written in red".... Not to say that anything that isn't written in red is negotiable....

But still....

JESUS said it....

Jesus gave the parable of the servant who was loosed from a debt by a the compassionate king.... This servant went out and found another who owed him some small amount.... When the servant pleaded with him for mercy the wicked servant had none.... But went and threw him in jail....

And then....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Mat 18:32 KJV)Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
(Mat 18:33 KJV)Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
(Mat 18:34 KJV)And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

Now we all know that the wages of sin is death.... Can you imagine what would happen if what we rightfully owed God came due? If because we wouldn't forgive someone else.... God had to say to us "Shouldn't you have had compassion on your fellow man as I had compassion on you?"

Notice the lord of that servant delivered him to the tormentors.... And he stayed there til he paid his debt....

But our debt is impossible for us to pay.... Which is the reason Jesus came and died.... Which is why our Father can forgive us.... But what would happen if that debt came due? If it was reinstated because we chose not to forgive another?

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Mat 18:35 NLT)"That's what My heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart."

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

I truly believe in these last of the last days.... These breathless calm before the storm minutes of the last days.... This means those of us who stomp our feet and cross our arms and simply refuse to obey "forgive and it shall be forgiven".... Are in for a rough row to hoe....

God cannot look on sin.... He cannot be near it.... And He will not allow it into His holy city.... He is a merciful God.... Yet all throughout the bible we see that He is also Holy Holy Holy.... We cannot sit in rebellion and stubbornly refuse to do what we know is His will and expect to enter into His kingdom....

And once we allow unforgiveness in our heart.... It makes room for friends.... Another foothold for satan to climb up into our lives and wreak havoc.... I have noticed that with unforgiveness comes bitterness.... A hardness that seems almost impenetrable.... And a change in charicter.... Just not the same person anymore.... Or rather.... In some cases.... The old person creeps back in.... But that is preventable....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Eph 4:22 NLT) throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
(Eph 4:23 NLT)Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
(Eph 4:24 NLT) Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
KING ME!
(Eph 4:22 KJV) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
(Eph 4:23 KJV)And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
(Eph 4:24 KJV) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:
　
The word renewed in the Greek is ananēoō .... Which means to renovate, that is, reform.... Have you ever renovated a room? When one renovates a room they are taking a room formerly used for one purpose (a diningroom) and redecorating.... Carpeting.... Ventilating.... Whatever they have to do.... To be able to use it for a completely different room (bedroom, or bed and bath).... This is what the Holy Spirit wishes to do with us.... Take a person who was a vessel of wrath.... Used for satans purposes (the diningroom) and make them into a vessel of light.... Used for Gods glory (the bed and bath)....
　
When we see that word renew we think of refreshment and recharging.... Right? But it is so much more than that.... My pastor says often that God does not leave a person the same as when He found them.... Same said another way.... God does not come into a persons life and NOT make changes.... Significant ones.... He renovates us! Takes a person who is used for one purpose and refashions them to use for His purposes.... Which is a complete 180 for most of us.... The new man.... And the way to keeping that new man.... To keeping the old man pinned to the cross.... Is to allow the Holy Spirit to renovate your thoughts and your attitudes....
The more we resist Him.... The more we stubbornly refuse to obey Gods commands.... The more the old man takes over.... And soon we find ourselves stalled.... Stagnant and stinky.... No growth or production of fruit.... Because we have something stopping up the works....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Heb 12:14 LITV) Eagerly pursue peace and holiness with all, without which no one will see the Lord,
(Heb 12:15 LITV) watching diligently that not any lack from the grace of God, that "no root of bitterness growing up" may crowd "in on you", and through this many be defiled; Deut. 29:18
(Deu 29:16 AMP) You know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came through the midst of the nations you crossed.
(Deu 29:17 AMP) And you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.
(Deu 29:18 AMP) Beware lest there should be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose [mind and] heart turns away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a [poisonous] root that bears gall and wormwood,
(Deu 29:19 AMP) And lest, when he hears the words of this curse and oath, he flatters and congratulates himself in his [mind and] heart, saying, I shall have peace and safety, though I walk in the stubbornness of my [mind and] heart [bringing down a hurricane of destruction] and sweep away the watered land with the dry.
(Deu 29:20 AMP)The Lord will not pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall settle on him; the Lord will blot out his very name from under the heavens.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

I saw the passage listed at the end of the verses in Hebrews.... And thought I would take a look.... And the more I look into things with an eye towards writing this volume of SHOOT'N.... The more I find to write.... So I checked Deuteronomy out with a New Testament eye.... And so much came to me from the Lord.... Look how it says we came out of the land of Egypt.... Well each of us can use Egypt figuratively as the land of sin and shame we were once in.... The darkness that surrounded us before God brought us out and into the Light.... So we could be children of light (Eph. 5:8)....

To turn away from the Lord our God for the New Testament believer is to completely disobey and disregard God's leading in your life.... Like refusing to forgive.... Among other things.... I use unforgiveness as just one example.... And there are many.... These things we choose to do instead of doing the will of God can be likened to the idols of wood and and stone.... Of silver and gold.... These things we hold onto with all our might and nurture and cherish in the deep parts of our hearts.... They produce a poisonous root that bears nothing but "gall and wormwood" (bitterness and moral decay).... Our hearts get hard and our moral compass starts acting like we're flying over the Bermuda triangle....

And all of a sudden posting pictures of ourselves less than fully clothed is ok because after all we aren't naked.... Dressing our children like witches and demons is ok because after all it's only playacting.... And watching horror flicks isn't bad because after all it's only a movie.... Fairies and "good witches" and magic are innocuous because after all they "fight for right"....

In short.... We start living again like the stupid godless people we once were.... And there are those of us who flatter ourselves by saying we will have peace and safety even though we practice the things God says not to practice.... Same thing said another way.... We think that because we once chose to confess Christ as our Lord and Savior.... We can live and do what we will on this earth and still inherit the kingdom of heaven....

But our God is a jealous God.... Nothing gets put before our God.... He will not share His glory with any other.... Whether it be of wood.... Stone.... Precious metal.... Or the evils we allow to grow in our hearts and take over our lives.... The things that make us hypocritical.... Hateful.... Judgmental....

Proud....

Things like this bring down a "hurricane of destruction".... These things destroy everything good in our lives.... Which is what satan wants.... It is.... After all.... What he came to do.... To steal kill and destroy.... But we can stop him in his tracks....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(1Pe 5:8 AMP) Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
(1Pe 5:9 AMP) Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset--rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

So how do we stay well balanced? What makes us vigilant and cautious? How do we get rooted and firm in faith?
I was in church last night and Pastor Francis was sharing things he studied and discovered.... I still wish I had his notebook.... He had a legal pad with 5 pages covered front to back.... On the word of God.... And here are just a few things he discovered are attributes of the word of God.... And he found these JUST in Psalms 19:7-14....

Gods word perfects, converts (renovates!), restores, transforms, enlightens, makes wise, endures, renews, is sure, is right, is clean, is sweeter than honey, warns you, and has great rewards.

Pastor Francis says that as we walk with God, He will show us things to stay away from.... His word warns us! Not that we are constantly walking around with our noses stuck in the bible.... But the more we read it.... The deeper we engrain his word in our hearts.... The more we trust in and rely on Him.... The more vigilant and cautious we can be.... Because we have the Holy Spirit to call things to mind....

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY?:

(Joh 14:26 AMP) But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.

SHOOT'N FROM THE HIP:

How does God tell us things? Folks run around looking to hear a voice.... A resounding "THOU SHALT NOT!" They look for touchy feely sensate "signs".... And the biggest trouble with that is they generally find one.... I mean the bible is cool with them and all but they are more interested in the titilating excitement of "signs and wonders"....

Not that those things aren't cool.... Don't get me wrong.... But they should not be looked for.... Because it is not the signs and wonders that will set you free.... It isn't the miracles that will put out a warning in your heart when you get near danger.... It is the word of God....

Pastor Greg likes to say "If you have the word without the Spirit you will dry up.... If you have the Spirit without the word you will blow up!"

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