Who is lavish with forgiveness?

Our heavenly Father is not stingy with forgiveness. In fact, He is not stingy with anything but as a Father who loves, he is extravagant with everything. He is love and love forgives without even having to think about it. It is just His way. He cares like no one we know.

Sometimes I have felt unforgiven but it is not His problem. It is who I am listening to. He is very lavish with forgiveness. May I see it more and more. He is close at hand. He is near.

Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness. Isaiah 55

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“If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.” ~~Jesus

Jesus challenges us to forgive others. It is a clear command and unambiguous. That is our part to do. When we do, GOD forgives us. He is also clear that if we don’t forgive others, GOD won’t forgive us for missing GOD’s goal for our life.

Really? Yes, really. He said it. I think He meant it.

May I forgive. May I root resentment out of my heart and life.

“If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from GOD’s part.” ~~Jesus (Matthew 6:14 The Message)

“You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others.” ~~Jesus

Jesus has set the bar high in some cases. We all want to be forgiven. To receive that in all its fullness, we need to forgive others. We can do that through the power of His Holy Spirit. We are the forgiving people!!

“You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others.” ~~Jesus

“Why are you so skeptical?” ~~Jesus to religious scholars (and now, Page 2)

Jesus had said to a paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.” This infuriated the religious scholars. They whispered “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.” Catch that? Blasphemy. Who is Jesus to forgive sins? Jesus asks them why they are so skeptical. There He is, the Son of God. He can forgive sins. God has given Him that authority. He also knows that may be a tough pill to swallow. So, he says “Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . .” (he looked now at the paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

They started out skeptical and ended up praising God. That is Jesus and that is us some days. Starting out skeptical. Ending up praising God. It is our choice.

“Why are you so skeptical?~~Jesus to religious scholars

“Son, I forgive your missing God’s goal for your life.” ~~Jesus to the paraplegic he was about to heal

Jesus is impressed by bold belief. Boldness, while it may seem outrageous to us, helps us stand out to Jesus. Jesus is bold Himself. Rather than say “Be healed”, he says I forgive you. That didn’t go over too well with the religious types of the day. Too bad, so sad. He said it and it was true. And with that, the man was healed.

Will we be bold? If so, that impresses Jesus. And that is a very good thing.

After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said,  “Son, I forgive your missing God’s goal for your life (sins).”

“And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment.” ~~ Apostle Paul

God has chosen us for a new life. It is a life of love. It’s characteristics are:

• Compassion
• Kindness
• Humility
• Quiet strength
• Discipline
• Even tempered
• Forgiving

And so, we should wear love everyday. It is a garment we should always put on.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. Colossians 3:12-14

 

Forgiveness is a huge thing

Forgiveness is huge in God’s world. He is love. He forgives us. We must forgive others. Jesus emphasized this over and over. It is in the “model” prayer he gave us. To ignore it is to give our enemy an opening. We don’t want or need that.

And so, there must be no delay. We must forgive, over and over. We are forgiven. Let’s get on with it. Now.

The focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways! 2 Corinthians 2:9-11

 

I should pause

Easier said than done some days. Someone says something and off I go. I react. I speak. I regret it.

God’s wisdom teaches me to pause. I should forgive what they say. I should forget what they say.

His wisdom teaches me to pause.

Smart people know how to hold their tongue; their grandeur is to forgive and forget. Proverbs 19:11

And be thankful

What is important in being thankful? After a long list on how we ought to live, Paul adds “and be thankful”. Being thankful comes from being compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. Being thankful comes from being clothed in love.

May I be compassionate and kind. May I love like Jesus. May I be thankful.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17 TNIV Bible 

 

 

 

In spite of frustration

“How can we ever manage to love unselfishly, to serve humbly and patiently in spite of frustration, if we do not live on God’s forgiveness?”
—— Peter G. vanBreemen

We've never seen anything like this!!!

Jesus has this way of baffling the religious community. The reaction is “He can’t talk that way” or “He can’t do that”.

When Jesus arrives on the scene, miracles happen and religious people can’t control what he is doing. When Jesus does His outrageous miracles, we rub our eyes. We’ve never seen anything like this. He is doing what He sees the Father doing. He is bringing heaven to earth. Wow!!!

We have never seen anything like what Jesus can do. May we believe that in our core.

Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.” Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . .” (he looked now at the paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:6-12 The Message) 

Left behind

God has abandonded the old plan. He has completely left it behind. He did it in Jesus our Master. So, what is the essence of the new plan, His agreement with me? It is that I will know Him. I won’t have to teach my friends how to do it. I have a relationship with Him through Jesus. We will all know Him. He doesn’t remember what I was like before. I am absolutely forgiven the debt that couldn’t be paid before anyway.

It is in my heart to do so. It is in my mind all the time. That is it!!

‘This is the new plan…. ,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my way in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their friends, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will forgive their wandering heart and will remember their missing the mark no more.’ Jeremiah 31:31-34

Boy, that feels better.

Robert Schueller says one of his most popular sermons was titled “I Never Knew How Heavy my Luggage was until I Stopped Carrying it.” He asks “What heavy luggage have you been carrying too long? And at what price?

Old sorrows? It’s time to bury the dead.
Old sins? It’s time to accept Christ’s forgiveness.
Old setbacks? It’s time to believe in beginning again.
Old insults? It’s time to let the past be the past.
Old hurts? Angers? It’s time to accept the spirit of forgiveness. Let God exercise justice.”

God knows what we need to be happy and healthy. He knows what we need in order to love.