Forgive Them and Love Them

Do we really know to what measure we must forgive?  I can say I have forgiven somebody, but have I really forgiven them and do I really know how to forgive?  I had to ask myself this question many times. 

My father was not a nice person and he made life miserable for me, our family, and any other person that became a part of his life.  I labeled him a terrorist before the word became popular. I remember as a kid in high school I would avoid seeing him for months at a time even though we lived in the same house.  We had a side entrance and I knew his schedule so it was easy to plan how not to see him. 

He died six years ago without ever saying the words “I love you” to me.  I can’t remember a time that I truly loved my dad.  So, it was a relief for me not to have to face him anymore and the fear he brought to my life. Through it all, I had emptiness in my heart.

As I go around talking with people I hear their stories on how they have forgiven a person.  It goes something like this: “I have forgiven John, but……I have forgiven Jane, but…….”  I interrupt them immediately and tell them that there is no “but” in forgiveness.  What they are telling me is that they still have that ping of un-forgiveness whenever that person comes into remembrance. You may have forgiven them once, but you may have to forgive them over and over again as it says in Matthew 18:21-22 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.  Symbolically, we have to forgive over and over even if it exceeds seventy times seven.

Being a believer in God, I had to forgive my Dad and even though he is dead.  I had to understand how his sin affected his life and the lives of others, but God still loved him just as much God loves me.  My Dad just did not know how to love because he was not taught the love of our Heavenly Father.  Once I was able to separate his sin from the person God created and loved, I was able to bring about healing in my life.

I want to share with you what the Lord showed me. I already knew how to forgive my Dad when thoughts of his offenses come to mind even to this day.  Somehow this was not working for me because I did not feel at peace because I did not love my Dad.  It is only when I started this process of confession that the healing became complete.  I pray this short prayer out loud confessing my forgiveness for my dad and confessing out lout how much I love him. 

Father God, I forgive _________ for all their offenses towards me.  Father God, I love ______ who you created in love. 

What we say can be a blessing or a curse.  Our verbal confession of forgiveness and our verbal confession of love for those who have offended us is a blessing not only for the person but for us. 

Shout out to the Lord your confession of forgiveness and love for the person who has offended you so that God will forgive you. 

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  Matthew 6:14-15

‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (As the Lord loves you)  Matthew 22:39

I pray the love from our Heavenly Father helps you overcome any un-forgiveness so that there is healing in your life.

Baal - The Spirit of Idolatry

God never ceases to amaze me in the way He works.  A few weeks ago, as I was reading about the Prophets in the Bible and I knew very little about Baal.  Baal and idolatry was a central topic in the OT.  The Bible talks about Jezebel who convinced the vast majority of the Jews to worship Baal and only a very few refused to worship Baal. It was the worship of Baal that caused the Jews to be taken captive to Babylon.   I know how powerful the spirit of Jezebel was in the Old Testament and how powerful the spirit of Jezebel is in today’s world.  I began to ask the question: “How powerful is Baal if Jezebel herself worshipped Baal and she convinced her husband King Ahab and millions of Jews to worship Baal?”

I began to get revelation and understanding about Baal.  One understanding that I got is how much we don’t know about the spirit of Baal working in the world today.  Baal was a dominate force in the OT.  Understand that Baal has not gone anywhere.  Baal is doing to us is exactly what Baal did to the Jews in the OT.  Satan never changes either and his mission is to destroy us.  Last Thursday at our morning peer group, Pastor Tim gave me a booklet (24 pages) by Kyle Idleman called “gods at War.”  You can order the whole book (234 pages) from their website (www.godsatwar.com).  I put this piece together from this resources and what I have learned in the last three weeks about Baal and idol worship.  Please note that we too often we look at Baal as singular when in fact Baal may represent thousands.

There are gods at war within each of us. They battle for the throne of our hearts, and much is at stake. This is why idolatry is the most discussed problem in the entire Bible and a subject that is relatively ignored as being a huge issue in the world we live in. Behind every sin struggle that we have is a false god that is winning the war in our lives. Don't give in to the myth that gods are only statues that people of other cultures worshiped long ago.  Entertainment, pleasure, romance, beauty, pornography, sex, money, success, power, acknowledgment, and life style, are just a few of the gods that vie for our allegiance in today's society.  Perhaps, our biggest idol is our own thinking (religious thinking, pride, addictions, anger, depression, un-forgiveness, rejection, unloving, self- hate, unloving, self-righteous).  Self-sufficiency opposes the Gospel.  If we continue to do things (SIN) contrary to what God tells us to do and if we don’t listen to GOD; we have made our thinking a god. 
Behind every sin we struggle with there is really a more significant issue of idolatry.  Sin is the fruit, but the idolatry is the tree from which it grows.  More than a thousand verses speak to idolatry and more than fifty commands in the first five books speak to idolatry. Isn’t it amazing that the first two commandments in Exodus 20:3-4 (NLT) are about gods?

1. “You must not have any other god but me.
2. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.

As long as you want anything so very much, especially more that you want God, it is an idol.

The problem is that the instant something takes the place of GOD, the moment it becomes an ending to its self rather than something to place at GOD’S throne, it becomes an idol.  When someone or something replaces the LORD GOD in the position of Glory in our lives, then whoever or whatever that is, has by definition become our god.

Idolatry is not an issue, it is THE issue.  Idolatry isn’t just one of many sins; it is the one great sin that all others come from.  GOD knows that behind every sin that we struggle with, behind every discouragement we deal with, behind the lack of passion and purpose we live with is this issue of idolatry.  They are false gods that are warring for the throne of our heart and until they are dethroned and LORD GOD takes His rightful place, we will continue to struggle and we will not have victory.

To identify the gods in your life, look at what is central to your life.  What are the golden calves dominating your life?  What has become a substitute for GOD in our lives?  To describe the concept more clearly, anything that becomes the purpose or driving force of our lives probably points back to idolatry of some kind.  Take a mental inventory of what you do throughout the day and determine if what you do brings Glory to GOD.  If you still can’t figure it out, just turn on the television (programing, commercials, and news) and it will show you who your gods are.  The television is a reflection what our world has become and who our gods are.

We are wired for worship, but we often end up valuing and honoring idols and these gods dominate our lives.  Take heed of what the Bible say about the corrupt church in Revelation 2:20-24 (NLT)

²⁰ “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols (Baal). ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

²² “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

Jonah 2:8-9 (NKJV) ⁸ “Those who regard worthless idols (gods), Forsake their own Mercy. ⁹ But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed.  Salvation is of the Lord.”  The person who has regard for idols cannot appropriate the mercy GOD desires to bestow.

Zechariah 13:2 (NKJV) ² “It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.  GOD’S cleansing during the age of the Messiah will be radical.  The unclean spirit is rare OT reference to GOD’S decisive dealing with demons.  The prophets are false prophets who continue to speak during the days of the Messiah.

The Bible give us a choice and we need to choose before is it too late.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV)

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰ that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Amen!

 

Vision

Greetings,

I was lead to write this article early this morning.  I was meditating on Luke 13:28 months ago when I received a vision and I want to share this with you.

There Will Be Wailing And Gnashing Of Teeth.

Luke 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

As I was spending time with the Lord few months ago, this vision came to me.  I was hesitant, but I think it is important to tell you about this vision. 

The vision is about the people who have practiced lawlessness and have been cast into the furnace of fire by God’s angels (Matthew 13:41-42).  “Wailing and gnashing of teeth” is the suffering of the wicked because of the evil that they have done all their lives such as anger, hatred, un-forgiveness, pride, idolatry (etc.), and how they have treated others.  In the course of their life, Godly people have been put in their path and they chose to ignore them. 

This is the part that was astounding to me.  The wicked including believers (Matt 7:21-23) who practice iniquity are in the fire wailing and gnashing their teeth because of all the thousands of sins in their life that are being brought into remembrance at the same time.  They are being flooded with thousands of these thoughts at the same time continuously without any relief.  These words “Why did I do things and why did I not listen” rang from their mouths.  The remembrances of these sins are pounding them over and over and they will be in torment for eternity.  

My prayer is that we look at ourselves and determine what is in need of improvement in our lives.   I pray that we all make every effort to reach out to others and spread the Gospel so that they can be saved from the fiery furnace . 

Matthew 13:37-43 (NKJV) He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Blessings,