“Then Peter came to him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'” Matthew 18:21-22 Has there been someone in your life who has hurt or offended you over and over and over again? If so, you’ve long since gotten tired of forgiving him/her. You say to yourself, “this is going to go on forever, do I need to forgive forever?” Yes you do …but let’s look at forgiveness. When a problem lies with the person offending, there’s nothing you can do to change that person. Let them go. Let them go to be who they are. Just accept them as they are, not who you would like them to be. Let them abide in their own mindset, that is the way they are and they can't change that. Don’t make it your problem. Let’s say someone steals from you. The person has a problem, a weakness, a sin, and that makes up that person’s life. You can't change them, so let them abide in their condition. If you understand that you cannot change them, don’t let it be YOUR problem. It’s between them and God. Leave it there. The secret is in not allowing the sinful nature of someone else to become YOUR problem. Your demands and pleadings will change nothing, because they are not able to change themselves any more than you are able to change yourself. Oh, you might say, they have a huge problem, mine isn’t so big. That’s not the point. The point is that we are all living in a fallen human nature, and that means we all have weaknesses and there’s no way for us to change that in ourselves. So if you can’t change yourself, how can you demand that someone else must change? Let them be who they are, warts and all. It’s not your place to try to change them, you couldn't do it anyway. The one and only thing you CAN do is to intercede for them in prayer and fasting. But many times while you’re interceding for someone else, the Lord will point out something in yourself that needs to be changed. That keeps us humble. There is another element in the process of forgiveness that many overlook, and that is that we have an enemy. Not a person, this is an enemy who lost his place in heaven and is consumed with hatred for God and for all that God loves. If a person is born-again, that person becomes hated by Satan, and Satan is clever in how he orchestrates attacks against them. He knows your weaknesses and that’s where he will attack, determined to bring you down. He’ll strike out at you through family, through loved ones, through anyone and everyone he can use to hurt you. Recognize him as the source. The ones he chooses to hurt you are only his puppets. Once you thoroughly understand this, and it is CRUCIAL that you understand it, then when someone says or does something hurtful to you, you’ll recognize it as an aggression of Satan himself against you, not the person that he uses. How can you hate a weak person for something that Satan himself caused to say or do something to hurt you? It’s not the person, they’re just weak enough to be an easy tool for Satan to use against you. KNOW your enemy. Never hate a person for what Satan has used them for against you. Jacob’s son Joseph was hated by his brothers because his father loved him. The brothers conspired against him and abandoned him, sold him as a slave. But God was watching. He raised Joseph up, sending him to Egypt where he became a high-ranking official in Pharaoh’s court, and head of all the storehouses. Later, a famine hit the land of Israel, and Joseph’s brothers had to go down to Egypt to get food. Imagine their shock when they found that Joseph was now an official in Egypt, and …he was in charge of the food supplies! Joseph could have simmered in hatred. Who wouldn’t? But Joseph was a man of God, and listen to what he said to them: “But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid, I will provide for you and your little ones.’ And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.'” Genesis 50:20-21 Contrast that with what he COULD HAVE said! Forgiveness takes great humility. But it's very powerful. Have you ever seen a bitter person? Do you shudder at their misery? That’s what happens to a person who feeds on hatred and anger. The bitterness eats them up. It destroys them. And that is exactly what Satan wants, so he can use their bitterness against you. Take your hurts to the Lord and give them to him. He will heal your wounds, and through your forgiveness he will move on the hearts of those who hurt you, and the end of it can be something truly glorious, if not for them, certainly for you.
"Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with the whole heart!
They also do no iniquity, they walk in his ways."
Psalm 119:2
One has to be born again in order to understand this passage. I can testify to the "before and after." Before I was born again, I thought only on how to achieve what I wanted in life. I knew God was there, but I did not know him. That didn't bother me because my idea of him was of someone far, far away, unreachable, so I didn't think of him much. I only thought of myself and of what I wanted in life.
Then one day, the Lord came into my life. Its a long story, but it's a day that I will remember till the day I leave this earth, because it was the single pivotal event in my life, the most important and life-changing thing that has ever happened to me, or that ever will. It happened in a moment, suddenly. I began that day in my usual darkness, but at around 11:00 in the morning an event took place and a man and woman brought me to the Lord, and I was born again. The only way I can describe it is to say that the light went on in the darkness. It changed everything.
No, I wasn't perfected on that day, when someone is born again he is born as a babe and has to grow in the Lord. It would take much learning and many many stories (and I do have many) to mature me in the Lord. That takes a lifetime, and as much as I have grown, I must yet grow even more.
But the light was on. If you're in a very dark room and someone turns on the light, it makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it? You see what you were UNABLE to see before. And once that light is on, you can't UNsee, the truth, the darkness is gone. I even saw things I didn't understand, but the point was that I saw. And it changed everything, EVERYTHING. My whole view on life was instantly and dramatically changed - in a moment.
On that day, I had an appointment scheduled for the following week with a psychiatrist and one with a medium. But by 12:00 on THIS day I cancelled them both. I knew beyond any shadow of any doubt that the doctor couldn't help me, and I lost interest in the medium. I knew that something dramatic had taken place within me, and I knew that that was ALL that matters. I have never, EVER regretted what happened that day, even though the powers of hell were going to do all they could to destroy me and I would taste trauma and loss, affliction and calamity. The Lord knew what was going to happen, and he gave me the following verse to remember and keep within my heart:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name, YOU ARE MINE.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
nor shall the flame scorch you,
for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;"
Isaiah 43:1-3
And so it was. He has never left me nor forsaken me, even in times when I stumbled, times when I was wrong. His faithfulness is unquestionable. His faithfulness is totally reliable.
Then for every trial and trauma, he later multiplied blessing in happy things, joyful things, totally unexpected things I could never have anticipated before. I experienced both the agony but then the ecstasy from his hand. These are the things that make up the life of one who walks with God. He walks WITH you, you are never alone.
The most important element in the born-again experience and then in one's walk with God is ...God's Word. He taught me from the very beginning that IT'S ALL ABOUT HIS WORD, the Bible, the holy Scriptures.
"Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors."
Psalm 119:24
They are our counselors, no other counsel will do.
vs 9:
"How can a young man cleanse his way?
by taking heed according to your Word."
Psalm 119:9
At times his Word brought pain into my life. When he speaks truth, sometimes that truth can be terribly painful. But once embraced, the joy and the freedom that came forth was as though I had drank a cup of awful-tasting medicine, but it made me well. That's how it is with the Lord. He knows that our success in our walk with him will necessitate some painful learning lessons, but the bottom line is that it's ALWAYS for our good.
God loves his own as a tender Father, but he does all that's necessary to grow us up. He might let me touch the hot burner in order to convince me not to touch it again, but once learned, it's learned forever. Truly the ways of God are unknowable, except as we experience them and then through them - we come to delight in his ways.
vs 30-31:
"I have chosen the way of truth,
your judgments I have laid before me.
I cling to your testimonies;"
Once experienced, the only desire in life therefore becomes to know him more, to grow more - whatever that takes - and to tell others the wonders of walking with God. It's such an adventure. The delightful thing about it is the knowledge that this learning will go on for as long as one lives. That is the delight of my heart.
vs 18:
"Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from your law."
Truly, those wondrous discoveries open up more and more as time goes on. Oh come people, come and walk with the Lord with me. You will find him steadfast, faithful, trustworthy, true, and utterly, utterly delightful.
More:
Born Again -What Does That Mean?
"I hope in your Word." Psalm 119:147 Greatly blessed is the one who puts his hope in the Word of God. This world is fallen and its principles are contrary to the Word of God; indeed, the Word of God is foolishness to the world. And those IN the world ...are unable to receive the Word of God. "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are FOOLISHNESS to him, NOR CAN HE know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1st Corinthians 2:14 When faced with a difficulty, most run to the world for help and direction. Is THIS not foolishness then? What am I saying - that one should not go a doctor when needed, or to an expert in the area of our need? No, I'm saying that when one has a problem, his first recourse should be to go to the Lord and surrender the difficulty to him, putting it all under his sovereignty and asking his direction. He should ask the Lord for guidance - which the Lord will surely provide. Only AFTER one has brought it all to the Lord, THEN he can go for help unless the Lord says otherwise. What exactly IS the Word of God? The Word of God, the Bible, is breathed of God and its continuity is unmistakable. From Genesis to Revelation it is the unveiling of who God is, who we are, why we're here, where we're going, and how to get there. From Genesis to Revelation it's all about the fallen state of mankind, and the atonement for him that Jesus Christ, God's son, achieved for all who would put their trust in him. The Bible is not just words, the words are alive: "For the Word of God is LIVING and powerful..." Hebrews 4:12 A bit hard to understand maybe, but we're dealing with something supernatural and we don't need to understand it with our human intellect. Jesus Christ is the answer to all things. He created all things, and all things hold together in him. "FOR BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MAY HAVE THE PREEMINENCE." Colossians 1:16-18 If God goes to such lengths to teach us about his Word, should we not make his Word the foundation of our lives? Is that not his intent? Do we not insult him by going for help anywhere else first? For every situation in our lives, God has an answer. Sometimes it's not the answer we would expect. How can we know, unless we have brought it to the Lord first? Sometimes God heals, and sometimes he doesn't. Why is that? And the answer is: we don't know why, but we can be sure there is a specific reason because everything that happens in the life of the believer has passed first through his hand. He often chooses rather to use the difficulties in our lives to mature us. Therefore, we need to get HIS direction in our problem, and likewise in every problem we face. "That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perishes,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ..."
1st Peter 1:7 One night my sister and I had returned to the home we grew up in because our mother was going to have very serious surgery the next day and she might not survive it, so the family was called. Back in the bedroom we had shared as children, we went to the Lord about the situation. We had pretty much accepted the fact that our mother would probably be taken to heaven the next day, so our prayers were for strength to get through it and to be a light to our unsaved loved ones. Suddenly, the Lord appeared "in the spirit." That means I saw him but not physically - like in a dream, I don't know how else to describe it, but it was very, VERY real. He was standing at the end of our beds and he spoke saying, "everything is going to be all right." I was absolutely shocked. I surely was not expecting that! I leaped out of the bed and ran to my father and said, "the Lord says everything is going to be all right!!!" My father didn't react either positively or negatively because he just couldn't believe that the Lord would speak to me. The next day we went to the hospital and my mother had her surgery. And everything was all right. She went on to live many more years after that, into her nineties. On the other hand, many times the Lord chooses not to heal. I knew a woman deeply loved by multitudes of people she had brought to the Lord. She developed a medical condition and scores of people, hundreds of people were praying for her healing. In spite of all that, she died. I saw her the night before she died and upon leaving I said, "I'll see you again," not knowing she was going to die the next day, and though she couldn't speak, her eyes lit up and she shook her head yes, yes, YES! It was not God's will to heal her at this time, though SO many people were praying for her. And she was fine with that. We need to have enough faith to accept it when God says, "No." The most important thing in life is finding out what God's will for any situation is, and THEN we proceed to use the helps in the world that are available to us. That's what faith is all about - it's putting God first, allowing God to be the Lord in every situation in life, and giving him time first to speak to us through his Word, the Bible. "I hope in your Word." Psalm 119:147 Let this be the foundation of your life, and your life just might go differently from what you thought. And to you who believe, he has promised to work everything out for the good, and I can surely testify the truth of that! "And we know that ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 Not to everyone, but to those who are his.