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21 Principles that will free you…

29 Jun

Forgiveness is a spiritual dynamic that affects the lives of every human being, but more so the lives of all born again believers in Jesus Christ.  Whether you find that you have been the victim of someone’s transgression or you are the one who transgressed someone else, youwill find that you will eventually have to deal with forgiveness at some point in your life. 

Take time and adopt some of these principles into your life and you will find that you can free yourself from bitterness and resentments you may be harboring:

  • Principle (1):      Make allowances for others’ faults.         Colossians 3:13
  • Principle (2):      You must always forgive.                       Luke 17:4
  • Principle (3):      Extend mercy to your offender.              Matthew 18:33
  • Principle (4):      God delights in showing mercy.             Micah 7:18b
  • Principle (5):      The Spirit of God is who directs you.      Galatians 5:17
  • Principle (6):      Don’t repay evil for evil.                          1Peter 3:9
  • Principle (7):      It’s not in you to continue sinning.          1John3:9
  • Principle (8):      Love covers a multitude of sins.             1Peter 4:8
  • Principle (9):      Forgiveness must come from the heart.  Matthew 18:35
  • Principle (10):    You decide your fate.                            Matthew 6:14,15
  • Principle (11):    Love God and man.                              1John 4:21
  • Principle (12):    Compassion rules the day.                    Luke 6:36
  • Principle (13):    Stand firm against the devil.                  James 4:7
  • Principle (14):    Any amount of faith works.                    Luke 17:6
  • Principle (15):    Do what is right.                                   Matthew 5:24
  • Principle (16):    Live to please Christ.                            Colossians 3:12, 13
  • Principle (17):    Duty calls.                                           Luke 17:9, 10
  • Principle (18):    God chooses to forget sin.                    Hebrews 10:17
  • Principle (19):    Live through the Holy Spirit.                  Galatians 5:25
  • Principle (20):    All sin opposes God.                            1John 3:4
  • Principle (21):    Confession must be made for sin.          1John 1:9
 
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Posted by on June 29, 2011 in Christian living, Forgiveness, Sanctification

 

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For those who have an ear, let them listen to what the Spirit of the Lord says…

26 Nov

Christmas is the time of year when Christians remember and celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a remembrance of the beginning of the manifestation of Old Testament prophecy of the coming of the Messiah; the Savior of the world. It is a sacred time of reflection; a time of worship and praise of the faithfulness of the promises of God the Father. So, be careful.

Everywhere you look and listen (television, billboards, newspapers, internet, radio etc.), you see a different gospel being spoken of. It is a gospel that isn’t focused on the birth of Christ. It is a gospel of fulfulling personal desires and wants; of pleasing others; of commercialism. You have to look extemely long and hard if you want to find anything that speaks of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection; if you find it at all. Even our churches are moving away from this focus through the utilization of “non-traditional” Christmas plays. Be careful that you are not someone that would fall into this snare.

Our salvation from the wrath and condemnation of God is the reason for Christ’s birth. If He never was birthed into history, all would still be condemned to the lake of fire and the second death. But because He came, He provides a way for all to be saved from this punishment; for all to have a way to receive eternal forgiveness and have eternal life with the Godhead. This is what we are to be thankful for during Christmas. This is what needs to be remembered. This is what is meant by the saying “Christ is the reason for the season”. By the season it is meant when in human history Christ entered the realm of time; when He took on human flesh to complete the will of God the Father.

Be wise in how you govern yourself during this time of year. It is easy to fall victim to apostasy; to respond to a different “gospel message”, if you stop listening to the Spirit of the Lord who resides in you. Christ deserves your worship, praise, time, attention and gift during this time. Tell those who do not know Christ that the greatest gift they have to give is their life. This is more important than any gift they could give to anyone. Tell them to give their life to Christ; ask Him to come into their heart and be their Lord and Savior.

For those who have an ear, listen to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to you…

 
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Posted by on November 26, 2010 in Christian living, Salvation, Sanctification

 

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A promise to be fulfilled…

15 Aug

Isaiah 61:1 contains a promise for all who are brokenhearted.  The promise is that Jesus Christ is anointed, appointed and sent to heal your broken heart. 

This is a wonderful, hope-filled promise that so many Christians let slip by when they are offended by someone.  Instead of them allowing Christ to invoke his blessing of healing upon them, they fall victim to the desires of their flesh and waddle in anger, rage, and a desire for revenge and payback.  They let bitterness and resentment build a wall between them and their offender which keeps them in the shackles of an unforgiving spirit.

For those of you out there who have an ear that is sensitive to Jesus’ voice, let them hear and act accordingly.  Cast your care upon Him and let Him fulfill His promise to you.  Honor Him in that way and free your heart from the shackles of unforgiveness.

 
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Posted by on August 15, 2010 in Christian living, Forgiveness, Sanctification

 

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The battle is more real than you think…

02 Aug

To forgive someone is an act of your will.  It is releasing someone from the guilt of the offense they did to you and bringing restoration.  But before one can come to this point of resolve, one must overcome the battle that rages inside of themselves.  The battle is with their flesh; for the flesh wants payback, revenge, justice and punishment to come upon the offender.  One must win this battle in order to succeed in the area of forgiveness. 

Understand, your flesh “talks” to you very convincingly about keeping alive your resentment and anger.  Even though you plead the blood of Christ over your mind, thoughts and emotions, the flesh perseveres.  You can find yourself having a verbal debate with your flesh about what you should and should not do to your offender even when you have made up your mind to forgive that can go on for days at a time if you have not learned how to crucify your flesh.  You can find yourself cyclically going in and out of forgiving someone. 

So know that the battle is a real live battle that goes on in your mind.  But  also know the Lord has given you the means to defeat it.  In 2Corinthians 10:5 you are told that “we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”. 

You see, the battle is won by not allowing the thoughts of revenge, payback, punishment, etc. to run wild inside of your thinking, but to capture every one of them and make them obedient to what Christ has told you to do toward your offender.  He will bring those thoughts  into submission and you will find victory over them.  So don’t get frustrated if you find yourself battling with thoughts to forgive or not.  Follow 2Corinthians 10:5 and watch the Lord fight for you.

 
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Posted by on August 2, 2010 in Christian living, Forgiveness, Sanctification

 

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If the truth be told…

25 Jun

There are many people in the kingdom of God who “front” forgiveness.  They claim to have forgiven a person for an offense committed against them but still hold some kind of aught deep down inside.

Who are they trying to impress?  Why not just be truthful?  This kind of behavior only backfires in the end.

Remember the only person you have to please is Christ the Lord.  When you “front“ you dishonor Him, not to mention the devastation it has on your character and integrity. 

Learn to fear the Lord and sincerely live life the way He commands.  Forgive from your heart and not your head.

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2010 in Christian living, Forgiveness, Sanctification

 

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Who holds the “key”?

14 Oct

When you look at an offense from the perspective of an offender, something very interesting presents itself.  The offender finds him/herself at the mercy of the one they have offended.  Even though the offender may have an attitude of pride or justification for what they have done, and is not interested in asking for forgiveness, they are still at the mercy of the one they have offended.

Why?    Because if the offender comes to repentance for what they did to you then they would come with a contrite heart and guilty conscious in need of being released from their state of wretchedness; and only the one they have offended could release them. 

Now, it is true that the offender can ask the Lord to forgive them, and He will, but they still would have to “square” things with the one they have hurt.  They would have to reconcile with that person.  Therefore, they would have to come to that person to be “released” from their condition by asking them to forgive them.  Isn’t that interesting?

 
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Posted by on October 14, 2009 in Christian living, Forgiveness, Sanctification

 

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Is your obedience to the Word of God centered properly?

07 Oct

In reality, the born again believer’s life is to be centered entirely on the Word of God. In practice you will find it is “relatively centered” most of the time. There are areas in the believer’s life that are designated to be “off limits” to God; areas that are governed by the secular, self-centered dogmas of the day rather than by the eternal wisdom and understanding of God.

Forgiveness is one of these “relative centering” areas, where the requirements that God has set forth in Scripture pertaining to how to deal with an offense causes struggle in the lives of many born again believers.

Christians are the last people who should be struggling with forgiveness. They should be well equipped to work through their emotional hurt and bring the necessary reconciliation that is required. Sadly though, many are found responding to offenses like an unregenerate soul does – unbiblically.

I believe the fault lies in either their not knowing what biblical forgiveness is all about or in their not wanting to be obedient to what the Lord is telling them to do. What do you say?

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2009 in Christian living, Forgiveness, Sanctification

 

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