Forgiveness can be beyond our natural human capability. Paul when he was left alone and deserted by
everyone, he said, “May the Lord not lay it to their account.” Even Jesus on
the cross said, “Father forgive them they know not what they do.” Jesus did not say, “I forgive them.”
When Stephen was stoned he prayed, “Let not this sin
be laid to their account.” It’s our natural
instinct whenever we or our loved one is hurt and rejected by someone to want
revenge. Only Christ through us can
forgive others.
Then he fell on his
knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When
he had said this, he fell asleep (died). Acts 7:60
At my first answer no
man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may
not be laid to their charge. 2 Timothy 4:16
Our abandonment was laid on Jesus whether it was
through death or divorce, a parent or another believer. Jesus was abandoned by all his disciples and
so was Paul. When I first became a
believer at 17 years old, I had some conflicts with my parents as a Christian
and then a scripture spoke to my heart.
Even if my father and mother
abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Psalm 27:10
I find it’s easier to abandon others when we have
been abandoned. Because my parents were
unsupportive it was easier to not be supportive (more natural) of my children
at times and because I was abandoned by a spouse it was easier to want to
abandon my husband when his 13-year old daughter moved in four months after we
were married when things got difficult.
Sort of reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the two
pilots bailed out. When Indiana woke up,
no one was flying the plane.
My husband refused to let go of my parachute when I
wanted to bail out. It’s harder to let
go of a person who was supportive of our dreams and who did not let go of us in
life. A person who abandoned us and was
not supportive of our dreams it’s easy to let go of. It’s easy to leave a church, if people and the
pastor were not supportive.
It has been harder for me to let go of my mother and
my husband because they were supportive of my dreams where my father and others
had more conditional love for me.
I can’t imagine if what happened to Jesus, happened
to one of my children how I could forgive a person for doing that, but God
could forgive what happened to his son on our account.
I had a situation as a 12-year old where I had a
relative who tried to harm me, and I kept it hidden from my family. I wish I could have been the better person
and given forgiveness. My father was an
unbeliever and I just was afraid my dad would do something to him since my
father did not control his temper at times and recently when I told my brother
about it he concurred that my dad may have killed him. The person never repented to me and they died
a rather harsh death. It was “our”
secret, but I wish I could have gone up to that person when I became a believer,
and said, “God forgive you.”
Unfortunately, back then I heard more legalistic
teaching and it reminds me of that scripture, “Whatever you bind on earth will
be bound in heaven.” I did not lose this
person from their sin against me. I
retained his sins.
If you forgive anyone's
sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not
forgiven." John 20:23
Our account has been wiped clean through Jesus blood
and we appropriate that blood to other people when we forgive them as an act of
our will. We are forgiving and accepting
them in the person of Christ.
To whom ye forgive anything,
I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it,
for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 2 Cor. 2:10
Be kind to each other,
sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.
Ephesians 4:32
It helps me whenever I’ve had a bad thought about
someone who has hurt me usually with unkind words or deeds to say, “Lord bless
them.” Same when I have had people on
the hi-way with road rage, I’ve asked God to bless them.
Jesus said if we just love those who love us there
is no reward in that. It’s when we love
and bless our enemies there is a reward.
"If you love those who
love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.”
Luke 6:32
Many people are in a prison in their lives. It can be a prison in their minds they have
put themselves in. Some people walk up
to a casket after thirty years and say to a dead body, “I forgive you.” Some people are in the prison of unforgiveness.
I’ve had several encounters with divorced people
like this or that spouse was unfaithful. I meet a lot of people who have experienced a
tragedy and they are in a prison of offense against God or what someone has
done to them.
Then the angry king
sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
Matthew 18:34
We are warned in Revelation that Satan will put some
in prison. A minister gave a prophesy
before he died to his son that in the last days that Satan was going to come
against ministers with thoughts and different sexual temptations and it would
be a fierce battle. I believe we are
entering the last days. The battles are
getting more intense.
I know your tribulation
and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they
are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 'Do not fear what you are about to
suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into
prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 'He, who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes
will not be hurt by the second death.' Revelation 2:9-11
God accepts us and he will not abandon us. I have met people who believe God has
forsaken them after their spouse died.
Many people live too much by feelings and circumstances. When it talks about being kings in this life,
it’s ruling over our circumstances, fears, and putting our faith in God’s
word. Let God’s word be true and every
man a liar.
Our ministry as believers is the ministry of
acceptance and reconciliation.
And all of this is a
gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given
us this task of reconciling people to him.
2 Cor. 5:18
It took me a while to overcome not having my husband’s
arms wrap around me at night and I heard a minister say that our brain at times
will tell us that we are unhappy. So I’ve
retrained my brain to say every day, “Lord I thank you for a roof over my head
and a comfortable mattress.” I lived in a
tent for about two years with my son in a missionary group traveling around the
U.S. and I had to learn to retrain what I ate because my mother’s cooking was
different than living in a group of 250 people and what they ate. I lost 20 lbs. when I first joined that
ministry, because I did not like the food. We can “retrain” our thinking.
I want my rewards in life to be from God --- not man
and those are doors of favor that God can open up in my life and the people he
wants me to work within these last days. I find that not all open doors have been from
God. It’s seeking the opportunities that
God opens up although even Paul said a wide effectual door was open to him, but
there were many enemies.
There is a wide-open
door for a great work here, although many oppose me. 1 Cor. 16:9
Its seeking our rewards from heaven (seek first the
kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.)
After this, the word of
the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your
shield, your very great reward." Genesis 15:1
Look, I am coming soon!
My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they
have done. Rev. 22:12
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
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