Forgiveness Is God's Business

I wrote this as a note in facebook because of some posts I had seen that were negative about other people but I decided to write it in my blog because the Lord nudged me :)  I hope it speaks to your heart as you read.  I also hope its one of those times you can say amen and not oh me!  God bless.

If you have something against someone or something to say to someone, say it to their face, not their facebook.

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:25

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Romans 3:23

In these last days satan knows he must step up his plan to destroy our lives, he is pulling out all the stops and using every means he can because he knows he is losing, he knows his days are numbered and prophecy is soon going to be fulfilled.  The Bible says son will turn against father and daughter against mother, division is coming.  Choose you this day whom you will serve.  Do you serve a master that feeds you lies and deceit or one that offers the promise of a life everlasting.  If you buy into satan's lies and deceptions no matter how small they might be you have made a choice.  

If you say to yourself or to anyone, I cannot forgive or I will not forgive that person for what they have done, you are putting yourself in the position of God and very close to blasphemy.  Forgiveness is God's right, forgiveness is God's business.  If we cannot forgive others, how is our Father in Heaven going to forgive us.  Remember the parable of the master and servant, the master forgave the debt his servant owed but then that servant went right out and had another jailed for money he owed him.   

I'm not perfect and don't claim to be but I know that someday I will have to stand before God and answer for every deed and every word, even idle ones.  Every night when I ask for forgiveness I also ask God to forgive those who have hurt or wronged me because I do not want anyone to suffer for things they have done and especially not to me.

So in this note to whoever reads it, if I have wronged you or even if you "think" I have wronged you, I am asking you to forgive me and I want it known that I do not hold anything against anyone.  For anyone in my life that has ever wronged me or that I "thought" did, I forgive them.  I would hate to go to my final resting place in the twinkling of an eye and think I had left any unfinished business.  Life is to short to hold grudges.  God intends for us to know joy and peace, it was never His intention for anyone to be lost.  We can't be perfect but we can strive daily to live as God instructs us in His word.  Jesus with His last few breaths said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do"...  (Luke 23:34)  If Jesus can forgive us for the sin we have committed that sent Him to that old rugged cross to die, who are we to withhold forgiveness from anyone.  Have we given our lives for their sins?  

Pray with me...

Father, I love you today, I want to do what is right in Your eyes.  Forgive me for my sins whether known or unknown, help me to start again to try and serve You and do what is pleasing to You.  If anyone holds anything against me today, whether real or a misunderstanding, Lord help them to find it in their heart to forgive me.  Father if there is anyone that I am holding animosity or unforgiveness towards, help me today to let it go, to cleanse my heart so that I may be healed.  Forgive those who have wronged me, sinned against me, and those I believe have wronged me.  I do not want anyone to stand before Your judgement seat for something they have done to me.  I want my mind and my heart to be clear when I myself stand before you.  I ask this in your Son's precious and Holy name.  Amen

To Sin or Not to Sin, Is that the question

If God loves to forgive, why not give Him more to forgive? If forgiveness is guaranteed, do we have the freedom to sin as much as we want? Paul's answer in Romans is a very forceful NO!

Romans 6:1-2, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.

Such an attitude, deciding ahead of time to take advantage of God shows that we do not truly understand the seriousness of sin. Jesus paid for our sins with His very life so we could be forgiven. The availability of God's mercy and forgiveness must not become an excuse for careless living and moral laxness. In other words, we cannot deliberately do something we know is wrong and justify our fleshly wants and desires by saying, "it will be all right, God will forgive us for doing this because we want it so badly"!! And woe be to us if we cause another to sin also!! This goes back to a previous blog about the choices we make. If we choose to sin, we may not even believe anyone else is going to get hurt, or worse yet, we think it is okay if only one or two people get hurt! The choices we make ultimately affect more than us whether we think they do or not. The devil would have us think we are not hurting anyone but ourselves but just by our very witness to others we could be causing hurt, confusion, anger, anxiety. What if someone turns completely away from God just because they observed our behavior. God forbid!

God is holy and He WILL NOT be associated with sin. If your desires are contrary to any of God's laws-He is not in it. Again, God will NOT arrange anything for us that is contrary to His word. Therefore, if it isn't God, we must conclude it is satan once again trying to make a wrong look right. 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

We can try to rationalize sin any way we want to but sin is still sin. In these last days even many preachers and pastors will be led astray. Many of those will lead others astray. 1 John 2:3-4 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Romans 6:12-14 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

1 Peter 5:8-10 8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

We have assurance in God's word that He will deliver us from temptation, He will always provide a way of escape, it is, however, up to us to take that way and follow Him instead of our own fleshly desires. Do we want the world? Do we want God's permissable will? Or, do we want to walk in God's perfect will? Are we truly seeking His will or only our own? Those are the questions.

We are ALL called of God, teachers, preachers, singers, visiting the orphans and widows, cleaning the church, sharing the gospel in the grocery store, etc. all is a calling. We all have a responsibility to make sure we do not use our calling nor our gifts for personal gain. 1 Peter 5:2 2Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Our calling and our gifts from God are to edify Him and for the betterment of others, not to tear anyone down or justify our own desires. Ephesians 4:1-6 1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 1:4 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Clearly to sin or not to sin is NOT the question.

Until next time,

His servant, tawanab

Pray for peace in Jerusalem

If I say I love you....

John 4:20-21..20) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21) And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

It is easy to say we love God when it doesn't cost us anything more than weekly attendance in church. The real test is how we treat the people in front of us--our family, fellow believers, our neighbors. We cannot fully love God while neglecting to love those created in His image.

Love is a choice - an action.

John said "God is love" NOT "love is God". The world has turned the word love into a selfish and shallow word. The world thinks love is what makes you feel good and is willing to sacrifice even their own moral principles and those of others to obtain such love. That is selfishness, not real love!! Jesus is our example of real love. Read 1 Chorinthians 13:4-7.

Our society confuses love with lust. Unlike lust, God's kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is totally unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is possible only if God helps us set aside our own desires and instincts so that we can give love while expecting nothing in return. Thus, the closer we come to Christ the more love we will show to others. Jesus is our example of real love. God is the source of our love, He loved us enough to sacrifice everything for us. He sees inside our hearts and loves us anyway. This is the way we should love. If God who created us can love us through (inspite of) our sins, who are we not to love one another "inspite of" our differences, "inspite of" what we perceive their actions or words to show us about them.

I've heard people say they've "tried" to love so and so but they just can't because they act like hypocrites or they lie or they don't do this or don't do that. It isn't up to us to judge. God doesn't instruct us to judge, in fact, He instructs us to "judge not". Luke 6:37, Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive and ye shall be forgiven. God instructs us to love, He gave His only son, the supreme sacrifice to die for those very sins in all of us that we so easily point out in others but don't see in ourselves. Luke 6: 41, And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? When Jesus died on the cross, He didn't say, "this is for Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not for John, Peter and Tawana", He died for ALL, so that we ALL could be forgiven. Remember His words in John 13:34, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Love is a choice - Christ "chose" to love us.

How well do you display your love for God in the choices you make and the actions you take?

1 John 4:16-17 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17) Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world.

Thank you

pray for the peace of Israel

God bless

TawanaB