"I can't understand why Jesus died?
Why did Jesus die and how did that save us?
God could have saved us anyway He wanted, He can do anything, so why did we need Jesus to die?
And how did His blood give us life?
God didn't need blood to forgive us... if He did, surely that is limiting His power?
These are my questions at the moment, so basic but fundamental."
These are some thoughts and questions from one friend to another :)
Meale, this one is for you! :)
.....................................................................
So all these questions got me thinking...and I am NO expert on the subject, most of this is just random ideas - and I don't have any scriptures to back it up (enter Bazza) - but I had a few thoughts about it and wondered if anyone else could shed some light on these questions :)
I have 2 thoughts:
Firstly, I'm not totally sure why Christ had to die...Maybe Christ didn't necessarily HAVE to die...is it possible that God knew that the world could not accept and hold such perfect love and He knew Christ would be rejected and crucified because of it?
Im not sure that it was the ONLY way God could save us...but its the way that things panned out maybe? Im not sure that God NEEDED BLOOD! I think God knew that WE needed blood! Because we are such crazy brutal people, maybe we were the ones who required Jesus' blood, not God. Is it possible that God just knew from the beginning of time what would eventuate and He worked through that and used Christ's suffering as a portal for our Salvation? Just like He works through all the suffering in our lives for the greater good? "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.
OR....
Secondly, if God did require Christ to die, was it because the fear of death is something us mere mortals can relate to? After all, giving your life up for someone else is the ultimate sacrifice! "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13.
And does the way Christ died have something to do with it? Because if Christ NEEDED to die...if God NEEDED blood, then it might not have had so much impact if Christ just died in a natural manner and not such a brutal manner? The way He died was severe and shocking...and if He had not been so brutally killed...how much of a sacrifice would His life have been? If Christ just died in a natural manner, surely there would be far less impact and reason for us to acknowledge what He actually did for us? Like there is beauty in the pain He suffered.
Isn't that what its about? That Christ was a living sacrifice?
The Lamb to the slaughter?
"For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.... Lo, I have come to do thy will... And every priest stands at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God ... For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" - Hebrews 10:11-18.
So maybe thats why God needed Christ to die! Because we can see time and time again in the Old Testament how God required perfect and spotless, living sacrifices and spilt blood as a sacrifice to Him, and after all, it is the blood that runs through our veins that keeps us alive...its where the life is...so is that where the symbology lies? Thats why we "eat His flesh and drink His blood" to remember Him and what He did for us!
Life in the blood = Life in Christ?
We also know that Jesus was perfect, and that the wages of sin is death, so the grave could not hold Him. Our death would therefore not be sufficient to atone for sin because atonement requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in just the right way. Jesus, the one perfect man, came to offer the pure, complete and everlasting sacrifice to remove, atone, and make eternal payment for our sin.
I guess the other thing to consider is that we all know its not about Christ's death...it's also about Christ's resurrection and His life, and what the resurrection represents. Maybe its about the physical representation of a new life in Christ, of second chances and of baptism, and how we can see that there is a new life in Him after baptism?
Maybe it all started with Adam and Eve, and the fall of man, and how sin came into the world, and how because of sin, we live and die and because death reigns in this world, God chose for Christ to die, so that we could draw comparisons by His death, in our daily dealings and daily lives.
Death is rife in our lives...its everywhere and it is mans ultimate fear! Maybe God knew that we as imperfect creatures would find value in Christ's death...maybe no other way would be as impactful or hold such sacred power in our hearts!
"He has also set eternity in the hearts of men" Ecclesiastes 3:11
Maybe its about showing us how fragile our earthly lives are, and that death is real and even though we are all destined to die one day, we too can be raised into perfection with Christ in the kingdom! Maybe if Christ didn't die...maybe if there was no physical representation, we would not have all these comparisons in our daily lives to draw inspiration from? And maybe if Christ didn't die, we wouldn't see Him in everything around us, like how animals must die brutal deaths to sustain us and nourish us, through their death comes life in us, and how every tree that grows, eventually dies, and when it dies, it gives back to the earth to provide more nourishment for new growth. Think about how hopeless our lives would be without the hope that Christ has put in our lives through the representation of His death and resurrection!
I guess these are good questions to ask...but when you really think about it, we are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed our sins away, and that by dying He disabled death itself. I guess the truth of the matter is Christ DID die...and he died the way He died, for US, and I suppose its secondary weather or not that was because the world could not hold such perfection or because God needed Jesus' blood for a specific reason for our salvation.
Any thoughts?
The point is...we have salvation through Christ's death! Which is the greatest gift in itself!
So lets remember Him today! Lets remember what He did for us!
Behold The Man!
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The Cup Of Life Outpoured
by Jim Cowan
Who am I, that I should receive
The cup of life outpoured?
The bread of life, the blood of Christ
The body of my Lord
Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief
Cause me to see You as You are
The King of glory, the Lord of love
The Shepherd of my heart
Lamb of God, Holy God
I come to receive You now
Come into my heart, fill my life
With Your very presence, Lord
To great for me
This wisdom of the Lord
To hold the Savior in my hand
And greater still, the gift of God
That I should be one with Him
Friday, 2 April 2010
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
The Measuring Stick
Have you ever wondered why we compare ourselves to others? We do it all the time! Do you ever feel like your not quite measuring up? To what you think God expects from you? To your own expectations of yourself? To other peoples expectations of you?
Measuring up is about perfection...and our lack of it.
I really battle with comparing myself to others sometimes...I find myself saying things like "Aaah...God why can't I be as spiritual as her" (sense my whiny, whingey tone ;) or "I wish I could pray like him", or "I wish I could sing like her" etc. I think there is something inside of us that makes us want to pull out our measuring sticks and hold them up to the people around us. Its horrible! Im not saying that we should isolate ourselves or withdraw from the awareness of others, or that we should dismiss the examples of what is attainable for each and every one of us through the people God portrays to us in the Bible, but I don't think we should compare ourselves to them. I think if we do, it can be really dangerous and destructive because comparing ourselves to others can leave us with feelings of inadequacy, which can not only make you bitter, jealous and resentful, but when we get obsessed with comparing ourselves to others, it also draws our focus to OURSELVES instead of GOD.
I think we all get caught in the trap of striving to measure up...we focus on ourselves and I don't think that was ever Gods plan. We are designed to focus on Him, that's the way He made us. So shifting our attention from ourselves to God should change our perspective. God longs for our obsession to be on Him. "I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." Isaiah 42:8
Every one of us suffers from a standard of perfection that's impossible to attain, and it leaves us with feelings of inadequacy and guilt...and the hard truth is, (bold statement to follow)...NONE of us can measure up to the perfect standard of Jesus. NONE OF US! And God knows this! Which is why, thankfully, we are saved by GRACE, and NOT our perfection. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making know to us the mystery of His will, according to his purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIm, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:7-10
However, should we still strive to be living lives that make God smile everyday??? YES!!! And yes, we should be aware of the areas of ourselves that need improvement, but I think God intends that we should "grow and bloom where we are planted" so to speak, that we should thrive in our own God given uniqueness so that we can all function together as a healthy body in Christ...and we all have our own part to play!
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." 1 Corinthians 12:14-20.
God made us in His image and knit us together in our mothers womb. He has searched us and He knows us. He knows every word before you speak it. Every prayer before you pray it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your purpose is to be a God-loving you. So why are we constantly trying to live up to the ideals and expectations of others? Maybe instead, we should start pursuing the passions that are written on our own hearts. Our own God given passions. Our role in the body of Christ is important! I think God wants us to stop trying to measure up to everyone else around us and be content in Him. You were made to be you, just like I was made to be me, and you are called to be uniquely you, for Him.
God loves us with an overwhelming, perfect love, and His mercy reaches past ALL of our inadequacies, our inferiorities, our imperfections and our weaknesses. Through the shed blood of Christ, Jesus came to earth to REMOVE these measuring sticks by which we measure ourselves and those around us. Gods grace is not bound by limits and it is a gift for anyone that seeks Him sincerely. We should find comfort and peace in Him, the one who gives us the gift of Grace...abundantly!
"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Romans 5:20.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
Measuring up is about perfection...and our lack of it.
I really battle with comparing myself to others sometimes...I find myself saying things like "Aaah...God why can't I be as spiritual as her" (sense my whiny, whingey tone ;) or "I wish I could pray like him", or "I wish I could sing like her" etc. I think there is something inside of us that makes us want to pull out our measuring sticks and hold them up to the people around us. Its horrible! Im not saying that we should isolate ourselves or withdraw from the awareness of others, or that we should dismiss the examples of what is attainable for each and every one of us through the people God portrays to us in the Bible, but I don't think we should compare ourselves to them. I think if we do, it can be really dangerous and destructive because comparing ourselves to others can leave us with feelings of inadequacy, which can not only make you bitter, jealous and resentful, but when we get obsessed with comparing ourselves to others, it also draws our focus to OURSELVES instead of GOD.
I think we all get caught in the trap of striving to measure up...we focus on ourselves and I don't think that was ever Gods plan. We are designed to focus on Him, that's the way He made us. So shifting our attention from ourselves to God should change our perspective. God longs for our obsession to be on Him. "I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." Isaiah 42:8
Every one of us suffers from a standard of perfection that's impossible to attain, and it leaves us with feelings of inadequacy and guilt...and the hard truth is, (bold statement to follow)...NONE of us can measure up to the perfect standard of Jesus. NONE OF US! And God knows this! Which is why, thankfully, we are saved by GRACE, and NOT our perfection. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making know to us the mystery of His will, according to his purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIm, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:7-10
However, should we still strive to be living lives that make God smile everyday??? YES!!! And yes, we should be aware of the areas of ourselves that need improvement, but I think God intends that we should "grow and bloom where we are planted" so to speak, that we should thrive in our own God given uniqueness so that we can all function together as a healthy body in Christ...and we all have our own part to play!
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." 1 Corinthians 12:14-20.
God made us in His image and knit us together in our mothers womb. He has searched us and He knows us. He knows every word before you speak it. Every prayer before you pray it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your purpose is to be a God-loving you. So why are we constantly trying to live up to the ideals and expectations of others? Maybe instead, we should start pursuing the passions that are written on our own hearts. Our own God given passions. Our role in the body of Christ is important! I think God wants us to stop trying to measure up to everyone else around us and be content in Him. You were made to be you, just like I was made to be me, and you are called to be uniquely you, for Him.
God loves us with an overwhelming, perfect love, and His mercy reaches past ALL of our inadequacies, our inferiorities, our imperfections and our weaknesses. Through the shed blood of Christ, Jesus came to earth to REMOVE these measuring sticks by which we measure ourselves and those around us. Gods grace is not bound by limits and it is a gift for anyone that seeks Him sincerely. We should find comfort and peace in Him, the one who gives us the gift of Grace...abundantly!
"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Romans 5:20.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
Friday, 26 March 2010
Just do something
I've been reading this pretty great book called "Just do something" by Kevin DeYoung. Its a liberating approach to finding God's will OR ...ehim...and i quote..."How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc." This little book is a mini pocket rocket! It has some eye opening, life changing wonderful things to say...and I totally recommend everyone who reads this to get your butt over to your nearest Koorong bookshop and buy yourself a copy! :)
OK...so all marketing ploys aside, I would like to share some cool thoughts with you...brace yourself...and let me reiterate - every inspired word below is all Kevin DeYoung...but i have tried to summarise as best as i can...sorry to disappoint... ;)
......................................................
The hesitancy so many of us feel in making decisions and settling down in life and therefore diligently searching for the will of God in our lives has at least two sources.
First, the new generations enjoy - or at least think they enjoy "unparalleled freedom." Nothing is settled after high school or even college anymore. Life is wide open and filled with endless possibilities, but with this sense of opportunity comes confusion, anxiety, and indecision. "With everything I could do and everywhere I could go, how can i know what's what?" - Enter a passion to discern "Gods will for my life."
Second, our search for the will of God has become an accomplice in the postponement of growing up, a convenient out for the young (or old) christian floating through life without direction or purpose. Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency and endless self exploration as "looking for Gods will", as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity. As a result we are full of passivity and empty on follow through. When it comes to our future, we should take some responsibility, make a decision, and just do something.
If God has a wonderful plan for my life, then why doesn't he tell me what it is? After all, our lives down here are a confusing mess of fits and starts, dead ends and open doors, possibilities and competing ideals. There are so many decisions to make and none of the answers seem clear. We seek relief from the responsibility of decision-making and we feel less threatened by being passive rather than active when making important decisions.
The way many Christians treat Gods will is no different than you might treat a horoscope. We come to God and we want to know "Is the job market good for Kevin today? Will I find my true love? Should I live in states that start with the letter A?" Our fascination with the will of God often betrays our lack of trust in Gods promises and provision. We want him to show us the end from the beginning and prove to us that He can be trusted. And so we obsess about the future and we get anxious, because anxiety, after all, is simply living out the future before it is here.
We should be hopeful in looking to the future because God is in control, not us. We must renounce our sinful desire to know the future and to be in control. We are not gods. We walk by faith, not by sight. We risk because God does not risk. We walk into the future in Gods-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is know to God. And that's all we need to know. Worrying about the future is not simply a character tic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God. Worry and anxiety are not merely bad habits or idiosyncrasies. They are sinful fruits that blossom from the root of unbelief. Gods way is to tell us that He knows tomorrow, He cares for us, and therefore, we should not worry. Lamentations 3:22-23
God expects us to make choices, confident that He's already determined how to fit our choices into His sovereign will. Passivity is a plague among Christians. Its not just that we don't do anything, its that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to Gods leading. When we hyper-spiritualise our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision and regret.
The fact is, most big decisions in life leave us feeling a bit unsettled. They are after all, big decisions, but this does not mean the Lord is with-holding peace about the decision to get you to back out. I'm not saying subjective decisions are wrong. We make decisions based on a 'feeling' all the time. But a subjective divining of Gods will should not be your decision making process. I'm just saying that we don't have to wait for the "all clear" feeling in our bones before we head out. Would God really spare us all from all accidents if we simply asked Him enough particulars and prayed hard enough at the start of the day? And how do we do His will anyway other than probing some subjective feeling in our gut that inevitably leads to much hand-wringing and second-guessing?
If there really is a perfect will of God we are meant to discover, in which we will find tremendous freedom and fulfillment, why does it seem that everyone looking for God's will is in such bondage and confusion? Christ died to give us freedom from the law (Galations 5:1), so why turn the will of God into another law leading to slavery? What a burden. Expecting God, through our subjective sense of things, to ping the way for every decision we face, no matter how trivial, is not only impractical and unrealistic, it is a recipe for disappointment and false guilt. And that's hardly what intimacy with Jesus should be all about.
God never assures us of health, success, or ease. But He promises us something even better, to make us...loving, pure and humble like Christ. In short, Gods will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus. So go get a job, provided its not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and start making some decisions in your life. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be IN Gods will, so just go out and do something.
So what is Gods will? Gods will is your growth in Christlikeness. God promises to work all things together for our good that we might be conformed to the image of his son. (Romans 8:28 - 29).
God wants us to stop obsessing about the future and trust that He holds the future. We should put aside the passivity and the perfectionism and the quest for perfect fulfillment and get on with our lives. God does not have a specific plan for our lives that He means for us to decipher ahead of time.
Paul, for example, on occasion, God directly told him to go somewhere, but most of the time Paul made decisions like the rest of us. He used rather tentative phrases like, "It seamed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28-29). In almost every case, he simply decided where to go and how to get there (Acts 20:16). We have no record in the New Testament of anyone anxious to hear God tell him what to do. Paul never sought out special words of knowledge concerning his future. He seems very concerned to know and obey Gods moral will. But when he gets to a fork in the road, hesitating and pleading with God to know which way to go seems completely foreign to the apostle.
What we should be doing is praying for wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God. Wisdom, in Proverbs, is always moral. The fool, the opposite of the wise person, is not a moron or oaf. The fool is the person who does not live life Gods way. Wisdom is knowing what God is doing as He commands. Isn't it interesting that we are never told in scripture to ask God to reveal the future or to show us His plan for our lives? But we are told - in no uncertain terms - to call out for insight and to cry aloud for understanding. In other words, God says "Don't ask to see all the plans I've made for you. Ask me for wisdom so you'll know how to live according to my book".
Gods word is living and active. When we read the Bible, we hear from God with a confidence we find in no other book and from no other voice. But the Bible is not a casebook. It doesn't give us explicit information about dating or careers or when to build a church or buy a house. We've all wished that the Bible was that kind of book, but it's not because God is interested in more than getting us to follow His to-do list, He wants transformation. God doesn't want us to merely give external obedience to His commands. He wants us to know Him so intimately that His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways our ways our ways, His affections our affections. God wants us to drink so deeply of the scriptures that our heads and hearts are transformed so that we love what He loves and hate what He hates. Romans 12:1-2 is the classic text about this kind of spiritual transformation. If we do these 3 things God asks in this passage, then we will be able to discern what Gods will is.
One of the virtues I appreciate most in others, and its a virtue I hope I have in some measure, is teach-ability. Are you willing to change your mind when another persons case has more merit than yours? Are you able to hear good advice when it comes from some mouth other than your own and may even contradict your preconceived ideas? If no one has ever heard you change your mind about something, then you are either a god or you have mistaken yourself for one. I can say without a doubt that I make better decisions with my wife. I make better decisions with the elders rather than without them. I am wiser when I listen to my friends first. Now, of course, often you just have to decide things on your own. And sometimes you need to make an unpopular decision because you know its right. But for most of our decisions we would do well to simply ask someone else. We spend all this time asking God, "what's your will?" when He's probably thinking, "Make a friend, would you? Go talk to someone. There is a reason I've redeemed a lot of you because you do fewer dumb things when you talk to each other. Get some advice. You might just hear My voice."
The way of wisdom means 3 things: searching the scriptures, seeking wise council, and praying to God. But what do we pray for if we aren't asking God to tell us exactly what to do? Firstly We ask God to open our minds so we can understand the scriptures and apply them to our lives. Secondly we pray for wisdom. The way of wisdom is a way of life. And when its a way of life, you are freer than you realise. God wants us to make good decisions that will help us be more like Christ and bring Him glory. And thirdly, pray for things that you already know are gods will. Pray for good motives in your decision making. Pray for an attitude of trust and faith and obedience. Pray for humility and teach-ability. Pray for His gospel to spread. You know that He wants these things in the world and in your life. Pray for them. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
Many of us want to spare ourselves poor decision making by waiting and thinking...but we can also miss good opportunities and waste valuable time by grinding the wheels of choice into a pseudo-spiritual halt before we pencil something in on the diary. Study the scriptures, listen to others, and pray continually, that's the best course of action, not just at the moment of crisis, but as a way of life. And as you engage in these practices, don't forget to make a decision - always with wisdom, always with freedom, and sometimes even with speed.
So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God!
:)
OK...so all marketing ploys aside, I would like to share some cool thoughts with you...brace yourself...and let me reiterate - every inspired word below is all Kevin DeYoung...but i have tried to summarise as best as i can...sorry to disappoint... ;)
......................................................
The hesitancy so many of us feel in making decisions and settling down in life and therefore diligently searching for the will of God in our lives has at least two sources.
First, the new generations enjoy - or at least think they enjoy "unparalleled freedom." Nothing is settled after high school or even college anymore. Life is wide open and filled with endless possibilities, but with this sense of opportunity comes confusion, anxiety, and indecision. "With everything I could do and everywhere I could go, how can i know what's what?" - Enter a passion to discern "Gods will for my life."
Second, our search for the will of God has become an accomplice in the postponement of growing up, a convenient out for the young (or old) christian floating through life without direction or purpose. Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency and endless self exploration as "looking for Gods will", as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity. As a result we are full of passivity and empty on follow through. When it comes to our future, we should take some responsibility, make a decision, and just do something.
If God has a wonderful plan for my life, then why doesn't he tell me what it is? After all, our lives down here are a confusing mess of fits and starts, dead ends and open doors, possibilities and competing ideals. There are so many decisions to make and none of the answers seem clear. We seek relief from the responsibility of decision-making and we feel less threatened by being passive rather than active when making important decisions.
The way many Christians treat Gods will is no different than you might treat a horoscope. We come to God and we want to know "Is the job market good for Kevin today? Will I find my true love? Should I live in states that start with the letter A?" Our fascination with the will of God often betrays our lack of trust in Gods promises and provision. We want him to show us the end from the beginning and prove to us that He can be trusted. And so we obsess about the future and we get anxious, because anxiety, after all, is simply living out the future before it is here.
We should be hopeful in looking to the future because God is in control, not us. We must renounce our sinful desire to know the future and to be in control. We are not gods. We walk by faith, not by sight. We risk because God does not risk. We walk into the future in Gods-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is know to God. And that's all we need to know. Worrying about the future is not simply a character tic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God. Worry and anxiety are not merely bad habits or idiosyncrasies. They are sinful fruits that blossom from the root of unbelief. Gods way is to tell us that He knows tomorrow, He cares for us, and therefore, we should not worry. Lamentations 3:22-23
God expects us to make choices, confident that He's already determined how to fit our choices into His sovereign will. Passivity is a plague among Christians. Its not just that we don't do anything, its that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to Gods leading. When we hyper-spiritualise our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision and regret.
The fact is, most big decisions in life leave us feeling a bit unsettled. They are after all, big decisions, but this does not mean the Lord is with-holding peace about the decision to get you to back out. I'm not saying subjective decisions are wrong. We make decisions based on a 'feeling' all the time. But a subjective divining of Gods will should not be your decision making process. I'm just saying that we don't have to wait for the "all clear" feeling in our bones before we head out. Would God really spare us all from all accidents if we simply asked Him enough particulars and prayed hard enough at the start of the day? And how do we do His will anyway other than probing some subjective feeling in our gut that inevitably leads to much hand-wringing and second-guessing?
If there really is a perfect will of God we are meant to discover, in which we will find tremendous freedom and fulfillment, why does it seem that everyone looking for God's will is in such bondage and confusion? Christ died to give us freedom from the law (Galations 5:1), so why turn the will of God into another law leading to slavery? What a burden. Expecting God, through our subjective sense of things, to ping the way for every decision we face, no matter how trivial, is not only impractical and unrealistic, it is a recipe for disappointment and false guilt. And that's hardly what intimacy with Jesus should be all about.
God never assures us of health, success, or ease. But He promises us something even better, to make us...loving, pure and humble like Christ. In short, Gods will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus. So go get a job, provided its not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and start making some decisions in your life. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be IN Gods will, so just go out and do something.
So what is Gods will? Gods will is your growth in Christlikeness. God promises to work all things together for our good that we might be conformed to the image of his son. (Romans 8:28 - 29).
God wants us to stop obsessing about the future and trust that He holds the future. We should put aside the passivity and the perfectionism and the quest for perfect fulfillment and get on with our lives. God does not have a specific plan for our lives that He means for us to decipher ahead of time.
Paul, for example, on occasion, God directly told him to go somewhere, but most of the time Paul made decisions like the rest of us. He used rather tentative phrases like, "It seamed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28-29). In almost every case, he simply decided where to go and how to get there (Acts 20:16). We have no record in the New Testament of anyone anxious to hear God tell him what to do. Paul never sought out special words of knowledge concerning his future. He seems very concerned to know and obey Gods moral will. But when he gets to a fork in the road, hesitating and pleading with God to know which way to go seems completely foreign to the apostle.
What we should be doing is praying for wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God. Wisdom, in Proverbs, is always moral. The fool, the opposite of the wise person, is not a moron or oaf. The fool is the person who does not live life Gods way. Wisdom is knowing what God is doing as He commands. Isn't it interesting that we are never told in scripture to ask God to reveal the future or to show us His plan for our lives? But we are told - in no uncertain terms - to call out for insight and to cry aloud for understanding. In other words, God says "Don't ask to see all the plans I've made for you. Ask me for wisdom so you'll know how to live according to my book".
Gods word is living and active. When we read the Bible, we hear from God with a confidence we find in no other book and from no other voice. But the Bible is not a casebook. It doesn't give us explicit information about dating or careers or when to build a church or buy a house. We've all wished that the Bible was that kind of book, but it's not because God is interested in more than getting us to follow His to-do list, He wants transformation. God doesn't want us to merely give external obedience to His commands. He wants us to know Him so intimately that His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways our ways our ways, His affections our affections. God wants us to drink so deeply of the scriptures that our heads and hearts are transformed so that we love what He loves and hate what He hates. Romans 12:1-2 is the classic text about this kind of spiritual transformation. If we do these 3 things God asks in this passage, then we will be able to discern what Gods will is.
One of the virtues I appreciate most in others, and its a virtue I hope I have in some measure, is teach-ability. Are you willing to change your mind when another persons case has more merit than yours? Are you able to hear good advice when it comes from some mouth other than your own and may even contradict your preconceived ideas? If no one has ever heard you change your mind about something, then you are either a god or you have mistaken yourself for one. I can say without a doubt that I make better decisions with my wife. I make better decisions with the elders rather than without them. I am wiser when I listen to my friends first. Now, of course, often you just have to decide things on your own. And sometimes you need to make an unpopular decision because you know its right. But for most of our decisions we would do well to simply ask someone else. We spend all this time asking God, "what's your will?" when He's probably thinking, "Make a friend, would you? Go talk to someone. There is a reason I've redeemed a lot of you because you do fewer dumb things when you talk to each other. Get some advice. You might just hear My voice."
The way of wisdom means 3 things: searching the scriptures, seeking wise council, and praying to God. But what do we pray for if we aren't asking God to tell us exactly what to do? Firstly We ask God to open our minds so we can understand the scriptures and apply them to our lives. Secondly we pray for wisdom. The way of wisdom is a way of life. And when its a way of life, you are freer than you realise. God wants us to make good decisions that will help us be more like Christ and bring Him glory. And thirdly, pray for things that you already know are gods will. Pray for good motives in your decision making. Pray for an attitude of trust and faith and obedience. Pray for humility and teach-ability. Pray for His gospel to spread. You know that He wants these things in the world and in your life. Pray for them. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
Many of us want to spare ourselves poor decision making by waiting and thinking...but we can also miss good opportunities and waste valuable time by grinding the wheels of choice into a pseudo-spiritual halt before we pencil something in on the diary. Study the scriptures, listen to others, and pray continually, that's the best course of action, not just at the moment of crisis, but as a way of life. And as you engage in these practices, don't forget to make a decision - always with wisdom, always with freedom, and sometimes even with speed.
So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God!
:)
Thursday, 25 March 2010
God give us...
God give us rain when we expect sun.
Give us music when we expect trouble.
Give us tears when we expect breakfast.
Give us dreams when we expect a storm.
Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations.
God play with us, turn us sideways and around.
AMEN!!!!
Give us music when we expect trouble.
Give us tears when we expect breakfast.
Give us dreams when we expect a storm.
Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations.
God play with us, turn us sideways and around.
AMEN!!!!
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
"Wait" by Russel Kelfer
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."
"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you.
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."
"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you.
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Forgiveness - The Peace in Trusting Him
Part 2 of Kev Fengers DYM talks...its long...but well worth it :)
Luke 5:17-23 Jesus heals a paralytic
The human race is made up of a whole lot of broken people. A lot of people will deny that they are broken, that they have faults, because it hurts the ego, but it takes clarity and courage to see the truth, that I am a sinner and that God loves me. One of the names Jesus is called is the great Physician. He came to heal the sick. He healed them of their physical ailments, and then he would also add: “Your sins are forgiven”. There is a very close link in scripture between Jesus healing people and sins being forgiven. This link is not there by accident. Firstly, forgiveness is not something that we can see from the outside, it is something that we can only feel and it takes place on the inside. So in order to show that forgiveness had happened, Jesus would accompany it with a miracle that people could see.
A miracle! Wow! Imagine witnessing a miracle! I freak out at the thought. I mean, I read it so many times in the bible that it has become one of those words I read and understand what it means, but don’t GET what it means. I am such a skeptic, that if I were to see a miracle happen, I’d be like … woah … how did you do that? This has to be a con! Maybe there was nothing wrong with him in the first place and he was faking it. I mean … we are talking about something that goes against everything that is natural. It goes against nature itself, that a man who was blind can see or that a man who was paralysed can walk. It can’t and shouldn’t happen; it’s just ‘not right’.
Well do you know what? Forgiveness is a miracle! Forgiveness is just ‘not right’. It is not natural to forgive someone; in fact forgiveness deeply offends the rational mind. The rational mind calls for justice! When someone has hurt us, or abused us, or taken advantage of us; or stolen peace of mind from us, or harmed or taken the life of someone we love… Why should we let that offence go? There is no rational reason why they should ‘get away’ with it. There is no rational reason why I should ‘let it go’ let alone try to have compassion on that person or pray for their growth. No, forgiveness is not natural … nor is it easy to do. And when it is so difficult for us to do, that also makes it difficult for us to accept. Why should I be forgiven for doing what I did? Well that’s just it. You shouldn’t be forgiven. The blind man shouldn’t see. The paralysed man shouldn’t walk. But Jesus made all that happen: He made the blind see and the paralysed man get up, take his mat and go home. And, get this: He forgives you your sins. That’s a miracle right there. You can’t see it from the outside, there may be no visual evidence at all (other than a smile), but that’ a miracle
And that brings me to the second reason for the link between healing and forgiveness in scripture is that there is a great healing power in forgiveness, for both the person giving forgiveness and the person receiving it. When whatever it is you were carrying, you put down. When you feel something – very nearly ‘a thing’ has left you. You are no longer carrying the load you were. Muscular tensions ease. You are less vulnerable to infection. Your immune system lifts. There is a physical healing that accompanies forgiveness. But, there is no external evidence that forgiveness has taken place, it’s internal. The evidence may only be in how we feel.
I recall in South Africa asking a group of young people who were not yet baptised into Christ, what was holding them back… And the overwhelming response was: “I don’t feel they were good enough.” They had a perception that in order to commit your life to Christ you had to get baptised to wash away your sins and then be a better person. They had this perception that you need to transform yourself from being a sinner into being a good person. But the reason you commit your life to Christ is precisely BECAUSE you’re not good enough. And if you try to transform yourself, you’re destined to fail. The only thing that can transform you, your heart, your behaviour, is the love of God.
What you are committing to when you commit your life to Christ through baptism is a relationship with him. You are making a choice in your life to take Jesus on as your Saviour and I believe that to be a wise choice. But it is important to bear in mind that you will continue to make poor choices after that. But in Christ, through our good choices and through our bad choices he does not condemn us. We need to understand and embrace that forgiveness.
Rom 8:1 Therefore there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So do we need to examine ourselves? Yes, but not to see if we have been good boys and girls, not to take stock of our lives, but to examine whether or not we feel forgiven. Do you feel forgiven? Do you feel free? Or are you filled with self loathing? Self loathing I believe is very detrimental to your spiritual well-being and can lead to trying to make yourself a better person. And when that fails, and it will, it can then lead to finding comfort in pulling others down. And that is not a place we want to find ourselves. That is certainly not a place of love and compassion and acting in the best interests of others. If you are feeling self-loathing and not feeling the peace and freedom of the forgiveness achieved for you, then you need to start reflecting on your relationship with God. Firstly, do you really know him? And secondly, do you really trust him? Do you believe that he loves you just the way you are?
Hebrews 10:12-14 tells us that this priest, Jesus, offered for all time one sacrifice for sins and sat down at the right hand of God, because by that one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So you’re not holy yet, you’re still a sinner, you still make poor choices, but you’re being made holy,
(Phillipians 1:6 says that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ).
So you are still being made holy, but you are forever perfect in the blood of Jesus. You may not feel perfect, but that’s because you still think its all about YOU: that it is YOU who is meant to be perfect. No, Jesus is the one who is perfect and what he did has covered your sins, forever. God is working on you. He is molding you into a masterpiece. He is making you. Discover your Maker! What he has said is that the sacrifice for sin is DONE! It was one sacrifice for ALL TIME. Whatever guilt you feel: Whatever you feel you deserve! That price has been paid! If you think you are worthless and deserve to die … That sacrifice has been made. You know the high priest used to go and STAND in the Holy place and offer sacrifices for sins year after year after year, but Jesus did it once and SAT DOWN at His Father’s right hand. So the High priest had to stand because he had to keep working, year after year making sacrifice after sacrifice, but Jesus made one sacrifice and then He sat down! The job was over: it’s done. When Jesus said: “It is finished”, he meant it. He’s done all he can for you… he’s given everything, and now he waits for you to accept what he has done.
So when you sit there on any given Sunday morning thinking: “I have done such and such wrong last week and I did this again this week and I’m still sorry I did it.” “I’m sorry again.” “I feel like such a slacker because I said I was sorry last week and now I’ve done it again and I know I’ll probably do it again next week.” You need to stop it! There is no condemnation. It’s not about what you did or what you are doing or even what you are going to do; it’s about what He has done. He has nailed sin and death to the cross and there is nothing that will take that away. That is history, it is done, it has been achieved.
Negotiating with God over sins every Sunday saying I’ll do better this week is a TRAP – Repeat after me … It’s a TRAP! … You want to be better? What are you going to do? Sin less? There is NOTHING you can do… He has done it all. As soon as you think you can earn anything by being a better person, you’ve fallen back into the trap. How can you feel free if you keep slipping back into the trap?
There are many people that live under a cloud of guilt and cannot seem to free themselves from it. I was one of them. Even after I was baptised, in fact especially after baptism, I kept trying to be a better person, I kept trying to sin less, thinking that somehow my effort was linked to my forgiveness. It sounded logical to me that that was what I should be doing. But it was a trap. How could I make myself perfect? And the more I failed, the more disillusioned I became and the more I became a prisoner of guilt. I had neglected to acknowledge that I couldn’t do it in my own strength. Oh if you’d asked me directly I would have said, no of course I can’t, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying. It was only when I understood that there is NOTHING I can do and NOTHING that I need to do, that I started to fully appreciate the love of God. Jesus has done it all. He has set me free. And now that I am free, I can choose how I want to live my life in His love. If I depart from His love, then I have all kinds of problems. If I try to take my inheritance and run, then I am like the prodigal son. But in His love, I trust him.
You know Peter is such an awesome disciple, because you can learn so much about human weakness through him. When Jesus declares that all his disciples will fall away that night, Peter argues. He boasts about how much better he is than the rest. Even though everyone here falls away, I’ll never fall away. Jesus says, you will Peter, you will disown me three times before the rooster crows. And he still argues, he says even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. What about you and I? Do we sit there on a Sunday saying: I’ll never disown you again? Peter disowned him and wept bitterly. How much did that affect him?
Well Jesus said in Luke 22:31 that Satan had desired to sift him as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. I believe Peter had a period of self loathing after he denied Jesus. And he would have been in a dark place, being unable to forgive himself for what he had done… after he had not only promised he wouldn’t, but been told exactly what he would do … and then he still did it. He wept. He felt the guilt … and so he should have. He had made a poor choice, but he didn’t let that guilt consume him, he didn’t say I am too sinful, I’ll never get it right, woe is me … let me go and hang myself. No, that’s what Judas did. I believe Peter got to a place of despair and what echoed in his head were the same words that he had said in John 6 when everyone was leaving because Jesus had said they must eat his flesh and drink his blood.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe you are the Holy One of God.” He acknowledged that there was nowhere else to go…
Are you feeling guilty? Where are you going to go? You can only go to God. Trust Him. Let him work with you. You know the forgiveness of God is so soothing… There is a psalm I want you to read, but before we do, we need to mention the context.
King David was considered a man after God’s own heart. But he made a series of compounding mistakes. He got lost. He was so lost that he could here nothing from his heart. Lust had turned to adultery … God’s voice calling DAVID … couldn’t hear it. Tried to pretend it didn’t happen. God wants him to acknowledge what he has done. Bathsheba is pregnant! How does David respond? Does he acknowledge? Nope, how can I hide this? I know I’ll get her husband to come home and sleep with her and so everyone thinks it’s his child. So he turns to deceit. But Uriah is has too much integrity to go home and sleep with his wife while his soldiers are fighting the battle, so he sleeps on his mat at the entrance to the palace with David’s servants. So that didn’t work… Does David acknowledge? No way, in fact he gets angry with Uriah and has Uriah killed. Can you see how things are just getting worse? And David is getting himself in deeper trouble, his guilt is making him do anything he can to deflect, minimise, justify, deny that he has done anything wrong. He is trying to hide his guilt his own way. That is what happens when we try to do things on our own. That is what happens when we don’t go to God and acknowledge our sin. David still didn’t do that after killing Uriah. O what does God do?
Well, remember how the Father runs through the train station looking for his child? Look at 2 Sam 12 and see how God comes to find him through Nathan the prophet.
God opens David’s eyes to what he has done, and teaches him that these things have consequences and that is the reality we have to face with our sins too. They all have consequences. David, when he is confronted with what he has done immediately feels the guilt and the shame and confesses that he has sinned against the Lord. (vs 13) Nathan the prophet tells him, “Yes, but the Lord has taken away your sin and you are not going to die.”
Don’t worry about that David, I’m not here to throw you to the law of sin and death. That’s taken care of. I’m here to tell you about the consequences of your actions. You know you have made some pretty poor choices and those choices are going to have some consequences. This is not to punish you for being naughty, but to help you understand that making poor choices is really not in your best interests.
So David thought no-one would know. But God knew, God could see his boy wandering off into danger and just like the mother in the train station, the Father comes running to find His boy, running to throw his arms around him. He sends Nathan the prophet to open his eyes and acknowledge the truth: To admit that he has sinned and to know that God loves him.
How do you think David would have felt after that? Let’s read Psalm 32
That’s what it means to be forgiven. He describes his anguish before he acknowledges his sin very well. His words are just so honest… and those famous words that the truth will set you free seem so appropriate every time I read this chapter. What does it mean to him to be forgiven? His sins are carried away, removed, and will not count against him. You can almost taste the extent of the peace in his heart. That’s what it means to be forgiven. It’s a supernatural miracle from God.
Video: Chiseling Masterpiece - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOIBnExlrw
Dad knows what’s best
Matthew 18:21-35 - The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
So, to recap, we’ve looked at how much our Father loves us. And we’ve looked at how he’s done everything he can for us and is just waiting for us to accept His love and forgiveness.
Now we are going to look at how we forgive others… and I would like to start by saying:
Forgiveness rarely occurs in an instant. It is usually a process. You may move through the process quickly, or you might stumble along backwards and forwards, getting stuck from time to time in seasons of un-forgiveness.
Now I have a question just to think about: Why do I need to forgive someone. If God already forgives people, why does he need me to forgive them as well? What’s with the double portion of forgiveness?
Remember that forgiveness offends the rational mind. It’s unnatural for us to forgive. Why does God want us to forgive others?
He knows that forgiving is actually good for you. It’s not that you are doing the other person a favor by forgiving them. It’s actually about you and the pain you are feeling. If you’re taking notes, I have 3 key points that we’re going to look at.
Why does God want us to forgive others?
• It frees you from bitterness and releases the chains of something that was or is holding you captive.
• When you forgive someone, you are more able to receive His forgiveness, because you understand that forgiveness is not something that can be earned, but that it is a gift … freely given.
• It is also something that transforms you, by the renewing of your mind. Naturally, your mind wouldn’t want to forgive.
The need for forgiveness begins with an act of betrayal, of cruelty, of separation, or of loss. You need to think about what that might be for you. Something may jump to mind straight away, it may take you a while, or you may not be able to think of anything.
Maybe someone has put you down, or been rude or disrespectful. But then maybe you are at the other end of the spectrum and have experienced unspeakable abuse and betrayal. Or perhaps for you, the thought of having to consider forgiveness at all is a major struggle: Such is the extent of what you have been through and may be continuing to go through.
If you can’t think of anything in your life, let me give you someone else’s shoes to stand in. In the news recently, a 19 year old man was arrested for abducting an 8 year old girl from her home, using her body for his sexual pleasure and discarding it in a gutter. Think about how that child’s parents might feel toward that 19 year old.
There are a number of things we need to talk about to understand what exactly forgiveness is and what it is not. If you’re taking notes there are 4 things that forgiveness is not that you need to be very clear about.
We need to understand that when we forgive others:
• Forgiveness is not the same as pretending that something never happened. It doesn’t mean forgetting that the event took place, because it did take place! It did take place!
• It does not mean that whatever took place is acceptable. It is still not acceptable and will never be acceptable. It will never be acceptable!
• Forgiving someone does not mean you need to be friends with the person you are forgiving. You may always be disgusted by what they have done. You may find you never want to see that person, speak to that person, or spend any amount of time with them.
• Forgiving certainly doesn’t mean putting yourself back in the same situation to allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of again. Nor does it mean you need to remain in a situation of abuse. If you are being abused, get out!
It is really important to consider these things that forgiveness is not, because if you think that forgiveness is any of these things, they can be a barrier that keeps you from forgiving.
False forgiveness: Forgiving because it is the right thing to do or forgiving out of duty - does not bring healing. This is not forgiveness from the heart, which is what God is seeking as we read in Matt 18.
It’s also worth mentioning that forgiveness can never be something that you bestow either as a triumph over someone or as a means to humiliate them or have power over them. No matter what you may call it, that is not forgiveness.
Right, so now that we are clear on what forgiveness is not, it’s time to look at what it is.
Forgiveness has a number of layers and elements and we’re going to look at 3 main aspects of what forgiveness is and what true forgiveness from the heart does mean:
• What forgiveness does mean is letting go of the anger and bitterness toward the person.
When there has been an act of betrayal, cruelty, separation or loss, bitterness toward that person can take root in your heart and Proverbs 4:23 says that ABOVE ALL ELSE, guard your heart, because from it flow all the issues of life.
Bitterness is a damaging thing and if we let that grow in our hearts, it can keep us from moving forward in the life of love that God has in store for us. Think of a rear view mirror in a car that allows you to see what is behind you, but it doesn’t get in the way of the vision required for moving forward. Now imagine that mirror were to grow and become the size of your windscreen. How do you move forward in your life of love when you are so bitter about what has happened in the past? You have let the bitterness drown out the voice of God in your heart.
• What forgiveness does mean, is taking the desire for retribution or justice and handing it over to God. 1 Peter 2:23 … So if you were to talk about the cost of forgiveness, this is it. Forgiveness is costly because it costs you your right to justice and it only costs one party. But it’s worth it.
• And what forgiveness does mean, is acknowledging that the other person is no more and no less deserving of God’s love than you are.
Luke 5:17-23 Jesus heals a paralytic
The human race is made up of a whole lot of broken people. A lot of people will deny that they are broken, that they have faults, because it hurts the ego, but it takes clarity and courage to see the truth, that I am a sinner and that God loves me. One of the names Jesus is called is the great Physician. He came to heal the sick. He healed them of their physical ailments, and then he would also add: “Your sins are forgiven”. There is a very close link in scripture between Jesus healing people and sins being forgiven. This link is not there by accident. Firstly, forgiveness is not something that we can see from the outside, it is something that we can only feel and it takes place on the inside. So in order to show that forgiveness had happened, Jesus would accompany it with a miracle that people could see.
A miracle! Wow! Imagine witnessing a miracle! I freak out at the thought. I mean, I read it so many times in the bible that it has become one of those words I read and understand what it means, but don’t GET what it means. I am such a skeptic, that if I were to see a miracle happen, I’d be like … woah … how did you do that? This has to be a con! Maybe there was nothing wrong with him in the first place and he was faking it. I mean … we are talking about something that goes against everything that is natural. It goes against nature itself, that a man who was blind can see or that a man who was paralysed can walk. It can’t and shouldn’t happen; it’s just ‘not right’.
Well do you know what? Forgiveness is a miracle! Forgiveness is just ‘not right’. It is not natural to forgive someone; in fact forgiveness deeply offends the rational mind. The rational mind calls for justice! When someone has hurt us, or abused us, or taken advantage of us; or stolen peace of mind from us, or harmed or taken the life of someone we love… Why should we let that offence go? There is no rational reason why they should ‘get away’ with it. There is no rational reason why I should ‘let it go’ let alone try to have compassion on that person or pray for their growth. No, forgiveness is not natural … nor is it easy to do. And when it is so difficult for us to do, that also makes it difficult for us to accept. Why should I be forgiven for doing what I did? Well that’s just it. You shouldn’t be forgiven. The blind man shouldn’t see. The paralysed man shouldn’t walk. But Jesus made all that happen: He made the blind see and the paralysed man get up, take his mat and go home. And, get this: He forgives you your sins. That’s a miracle right there. You can’t see it from the outside, there may be no visual evidence at all (other than a smile), but that’ a miracle
And that brings me to the second reason for the link between healing and forgiveness in scripture is that there is a great healing power in forgiveness, for both the person giving forgiveness and the person receiving it. When whatever it is you were carrying, you put down. When you feel something – very nearly ‘a thing’ has left you. You are no longer carrying the load you were. Muscular tensions ease. You are less vulnerable to infection. Your immune system lifts. There is a physical healing that accompanies forgiveness. But, there is no external evidence that forgiveness has taken place, it’s internal. The evidence may only be in how we feel.
I recall in South Africa asking a group of young people who were not yet baptised into Christ, what was holding them back… And the overwhelming response was: “I don’t feel they were good enough.” They had a perception that in order to commit your life to Christ you had to get baptised to wash away your sins and then be a better person. They had this perception that you need to transform yourself from being a sinner into being a good person. But the reason you commit your life to Christ is precisely BECAUSE you’re not good enough. And if you try to transform yourself, you’re destined to fail. The only thing that can transform you, your heart, your behaviour, is the love of God.
What you are committing to when you commit your life to Christ through baptism is a relationship with him. You are making a choice in your life to take Jesus on as your Saviour and I believe that to be a wise choice. But it is important to bear in mind that you will continue to make poor choices after that. But in Christ, through our good choices and through our bad choices he does not condemn us. We need to understand and embrace that forgiveness.
Rom 8:1 Therefore there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So do we need to examine ourselves? Yes, but not to see if we have been good boys and girls, not to take stock of our lives, but to examine whether or not we feel forgiven. Do you feel forgiven? Do you feel free? Or are you filled with self loathing? Self loathing I believe is very detrimental to your spiritual well-being and can lead to trying to make yourself a better person. And when that fails, and it will, it can then lead to finding comfort in pulling others down. And that is not a place we want to find ourselves. That is certainly not a place of love and compassion and acting in the best interests of others. If you are feeling self-loathing and not feeling the peace and freedom of the forgiveness achieved for you, then you need to start reflecting on your relationship with God. Firstly, do you really know him? And secondly, do you really trust him? Do you believe that he loves you just the way you are?
Hebrews 10:12-14 tells us that this priest, Jesus, offered for all time one sacrifice for sins and sat down at the right hand of God, because by that one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So you’re not holy yet, you’re still a sinner, you still make poor choices, but you’re being made holy,
(Phillipians 1:6 says that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ).
So you are still being made holy, but you are forever perfect in the blood of Jesus. You may not feel perfect, but that’s because you still think its all about YOU: that it is YOU who is meant to be perfect. No, Jesus is the one who is perfect and what he did has covered your sins, forever. God is working on you. He is molding you into a masterpiece. He is making you. Discover your Maker! What he has said is that the sacrifice for sin is DONE! It was one sacrifice for ALL TIME. Whatever guilt you feel: Whatever you feel you deserve! That price has been paid! If you think you are worthless and deserve to die … That sacrifice has been made. You know the high priest used to go and STAND in the Holy place and offer sacrifices for sins year after year after year, but Jesus did it once and SAT DOWN at His Father’s right hand. So the High priest had to stand because he had to keep working, year after year making sacrifice after sacrifice, but Jesus made one sacrifice and then He sat down! The job was over: it’s done. When Jesus said: “It is finished”, he meant it. He’s done all he can for you… he’s given everything, and now he waits for you to accept what he has done.
So when you sit there on any given Sunday morning thinking: “I have done such and such wrong last week and I did this again this week and I’m still sorry I did it.” “I’m sorry again.” “I feel like such a slacker because I said I was sorry last week and now I’ve done it again and I know I’ll probably do it again next week.” You need to stop it! There is no condemnation. It’s not about what you did or what you are doing or even what you are going to do; it’s about what He has done. He has nailed sin and death to the cross and there is nothing that will take that away. That is history, it is done, it has been achieved.
Negotiating with God over sins every Sunday saying I’ll do better this week is a TRAP – Repeat after me … It’s a TRAP! … You want to be better? What are you going to do? Sin less? There is NOTHING you can do… He has done it all. As soon as you think you can earn anything by being a better person, you’ve fallen back into the trap. How can you feel free if you keep slipping back into the trap?
There are many people that live under a cloud of guilt and cannot seem to free themselves from it. I was one of them. Even after I was baptised, in fact especially after baptism, I kept trying to be a better person, I kept trying to sin less, thinking that somehow my effort was linked to my forgiveness. It sounded logical to me that that was what I should be doing. But it was a trap. How could I make myself perfect? And the more I failed, the more disillusioned I became and the more I became a prisoner of guilt. I had neglected to acknowledge that I couldn’t do it in my own strength. Oh if you’d asked me directly I would have said, no of course I can’t, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying. It was only when I understood that there is NOTHING I can do and NOTHING that I need to do, that I started to fully appreciate the love of God. Jesus has done it all. He has set me free. And now that I am free, I can choose how I want to live my life in His love. If I depart from His love, then I have all kinds of problems. If I try to take my inheritance and run, then I am like the prodigal son. But in His love, I trust him.
You know Peter is such an awesome disciple, because you can learn so much about human weakness through him. When Jesus declares that all his disciples will fall away that night, Peter argues. He boasts about how much better he is than the rest. Even though everyone here falls away, I’ll never fall away. Jesus says, you will Peter, you will disown me three times before the rooster crows. And he still argues, he says even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. What about you and I? Do we sit there on a Sunday saying: I’ll never disown you again? Peter disowned him and wept bitterly. How much did that affect him?
Well Jesus said in Luke 22:31 that Satan had desired to sift him as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. I believe Peter had a period of self loathing after he denied Jesus. And he would have been in a dark place, being unable to forgive himself for what he had done… after he had not only promised he wouldn’t, but been told exactly what he would do … and then he still did it. He wept. He felt the guilt … and so he should have. He had made a poor choice, but he didn’t let that guilt consume him, he didn’t say I am too sinful, I’ll never get it right, woe is me … let me go and hang myself. No, that’s what Judas did. I believe Peter got to a place of despair and what echoed in his head were the same words that he had said in John 6 when everyone was leaving because Jesus had said they must eat his flesh and drink his blood.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe you are the Holy One of God.” He acknowledged that there was nowhere else to go…
Are you feeling guilty? Where are you going to go? You can only go to God. Trust Him. Let him work with you. You know the forgiveness of God is so soothing… There is a psalm I want you to read, but before we do, we need to mention the context.
King David was considered a man after God’s own heart. But he made a series of compounding mistakes. He got lost. He was so lost that he could here nothing from his heart. Lust had turned to adultery … God’s voice calling DAVID … couldn’t hear it. Tried to pretend it didn’t happen. God wants him to acknowledge what he has done. Bathsheba is pregnant! How does David respond? Does he acknowledge? Nope, how can I hide this? I know I’ll get her husband to come home and sleep with her and so everyone thinks it’s his child. So he turns to deceit. But Uriah is has too much integrity to go home and sleep with his wife while his soldiers are fighting the battle, so he sleeps on his mat at the entrance to the palace with David’s servants. So that didn’t work… Does David acknowledge? No way, in fact he gets angry with Uriah and has Uriah killed. Can you see how things are just getting worse? And David is getting himself in deeper trouble, his guilt is making him do anything he can to deflect, minimise, justify, deny that he has done anything wrong. He is trying to hide his guilt his own way. That is what happens when we try to do things on our own. That is what happens when we don’t go to God and acknowledge our sin. David still didn’t do that after killing Uriah. O what does God do?
Well, remember how the Father runs through the train station looking for his child? Look at 2 Sam 12 and see how God comes to find him through Nathan the prophet.
God opens David’s eyes to what he has done, and teaches him that these things have consequences and that is the reality we have to face with our sins too. They all have consequences. David, when he is confronted with what he has done immediately feels the guilt and the shame and confesses that he has sinned against the Lord. (vs 13) Nathan the prophet tells him, “Yes, but the Lord has taken away your sin and you are not going to die.”
Don’t worry about that David, I’m not here to throw you to the law of sin and death. That’s taken care of. I’m here to tell you about the consequences of your actions. You know you have made some pretty poor choices and those choices are going to have some consequences. This is not to punish you for being naughty, but to help you understand that making poor choices is really not in your best interests.
So David thought no-one would know. But God knew, God could see his boy wandering off into danger and just like the mother in the train station, the Father comes running to find His boy, running to throw his arms around him. He sends Nathan the prophet to open his eyes and acknowledge the truth: To admit that he has sinned and to know that God loves him.
How do you think David would have felt after that? Let’s read Psalm 32
That’s what it means to be forgiven. He describes his anguish before he acknowledges his sin very well. His words are just so honest… and those famous words that the truth will set you free seem so appropriate every time I read this chapter. What does it mean to him to be forgiven? His sins are carried away, removed, and will not count against him. You can almost taste the extent of the peace in his heart. That’s what it means to be forgiven. It’s a supernatural miracle from God.
Video: Chiseling Masterpiece - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOIBnExlrw
Dad knows what’s best
Matthew 18:21-35 - The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
So, to recap, we’ve looked at how much our Father loves us. And we’ve looked at how he’s done everything he can for us and is just waiting for us to accept His love and forgiveness.
Now we are going to look at how we forgive others… and I would like to start by saying:
Forgiveness rarely occurs in an instant. It is usually a process. You may move through the process quickly, or you might stumble along backwards and forwards, getting stuck from time to time in seasons of un-forgiveness.
Now I have a question just to think about: Why do I need to forgive someone. If God already forgives people, why does he need me to forgive them as well? What’s with the double portion of forgiveness?
Remember that forgiveness offends the rational mind. It’s unnatural for us to forgive. Why does God want us to forgive others?
He knows that forgiving is actually good for you. It’s not that you are doing the other person a favor by forgiving them. It’s actually about you and the pain you are feeling. If you’re taking notes, I have 3 key points that we’re going to look at.
Why does God want us to forgive others?
• It frees you from bitterness and releases the chains of something that was or is holding you captive.
• When you forgive someone, you are more able to receive His forgiveness, because you understand that forgiveness is not something that can be earned, but that it is a gift … freely given.
• It is also something that transforms you, by the renewing of your mind. Naturally, your mind wouldn’t want to forgive.
The need for forgiveness begins with an act of betrayal, of cruelty, of separation, or of loss. You need to think about what that might be for you. Something may jump to mind straight away, it may take you a while, or you may not be able to think of anything.
Maybe someone has put you down, or been rude or disrespectful. But then maybe you are at the other end of the spectrum and have experienced unspeakable abuse and betrayal. Or perhaps for you, the thought of having to consider forgiveness at all is a major struggle: Such is the extent of what you have been through and may be continuing to go through.
If you can’t think of anything in your life, let me give you someone else’s shoes to stand in. In the news recently, a 19 year old man was arrested for abducting an 8 year old girl from her home, using her body for his sexual pleasure and discarding it in a gutter. Think about how that child’s parents might feel toward that 19 year old.
There are a number of things we need to talk about to understand what exactly forgiveness is and what it is not. If you’re taking notes there are 4 things that forgiveness is not that you need to be very clear about.
We need to understand that when we forgive others:
• Forgiveness is not the same as pretending that something never happened. It doesn’t mean forgetting that the event took place, because it did take place! It did take place!
• It does not mean that whatever took place is acceptable. It is still not acceptable and will never be acceptable. It will never be acceptable!
• Forgiving someone does not mean you need to be friends with the person you are forgiving. You may always be disgusted by what they have done. You may find you never want to see that person, speak to that person, or spend any amount of time with them.
• Forgiving certainly doesn’t mean putting yourself back in the same situation to allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of again. Nor does it mean you need to remain in a situation of abuse. If you are being abused, get out!
It is really important to consider these things that forgiveness is not, because if you think that forgiveness is any of these things, they can be a barrier that keeps you from forgiving.
False forgiveness: Forgiving because it is the right thing to do or forgiving out of duty - does not bring healing. This is not forgiveness from the heart, which is what God is seeking as we read in Matt 18.
It’s also worth mentioning that forgiveness can never be something that you bestow either as a triumph over someone or as a means to humiliate them or have power over them. No matter what you may call it, that is not forgiveness.
Right, so now that we are clear on what forgiveness is not, it’s time to look at what it is.
Forgiveness has a number of layers and elements and we’re going to look at 3 main aspects of what forgiveness is and what true forgiveness from the heart does mean:
• What forgiveness does mean is letting go of the anger and bitterness toward the person.
When there has been an act of betrayal, cruelty, separation or loss, bitterness toward that person can take root in your heart and Proverbs 4:23 says that ABOVE ALL ELSE, guard your heart, because from it flow all the issues of life.
Bitterness is a damaging thing and if we let that grow in our hearts, it can keep us from moving forward in the life of love that God has in store for us. Think of a rear view mirror in a car that allows you to see what is behind you, but it doesn’t get in the way of the vision required for moving forward. Now imagine that mirror were to grow and become the size of your windscreen. How do you move forward in your life of love when you are so bitter about what has happened in the past? You have let the bitterness drown out the voice of God in your heart.
• What forgiveness does mean, is taking the desire for retribution or justice and handing it over to God. 1 Peter 2:23 … So if you were to talk about the cost of forgiveness, this is it. Forgiveness is costly because it costs you your right to justice and it only costs one party. But it’s worth it.
• And what forgiveness does mean, is acknowledging that the other person is no more and no less deserving of God’s love than you are.
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