The healing power of forgiveness

Malachi 4:2 “But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.”

Job 42:10 “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

Pray for them that despitefully use you,…

“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends”

Here is something to really consider….see Job praying for his friends….seeking the blessing of God on them and their lives….even after their mocking and accusing of him….

….then receiving the blessing of God for himself.

It is interesting to note that clear instruction for our prayers to be answered….is…

………Believing God for them….And being willing to forgive:

Mark 11:22-24 “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Mark 11:25-26 “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Trespass here means to offend…..unintentionally or willfully. And how may times, either by carelessness in our words or actions….or by our stifling the Holy Spirit….do we “trespass” against the goodness of God?

Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

This can not be done naturally….but it is a spiritual act of the will. For only those things done by the Holy Spirit through us, mean anything to God. It is an act of faith in God….and in His Word.

“Father, in believing obedience to You, I lift up these up to You; to see Your Will done in their lives,….in the circumstances they are in now, and all Your plans and purposes for them.”

This we can ask for them, before God….for we are asking His Will done in their lives.

Romans 12:19-21 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

There are two ways we can “heap coals of fire on their head”…..

….first, that your acts of kindness will cause a burning in their hearts to know…

…”how you can do this? After what I have done to you? how can you be kind to me?” The coals of fire will burn in their hearts, till they come to know about the Lord Jesus, who forgives sin.

…second, that your acts of kindness will cause a more severe burning in Hell,….the coals of fire of remembrance to what they did to one who treated them with kindness, instead of vengeance.

Mark 11:22, 25-26 “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

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

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

(We are forgiven every sin….completely, where justification is concerned….when we are born again. But in a very real sense, we need to confess our sins….each one, that the fellowship and power of His life (grace) may flow down to us through His Holy Spirit.

And when we do not forgive others, as we have been forgiven by God…..we quench the Holy Spirit. And when we refuse to get the matter taken care of…..even as the Holy Spirit is trying to empower and help us….we grieve Him.

“But if we do not forgive, neither will our Father which is in heaven forgive our trespasses”…..but will let them pile up and come between us, till we seek His fellowship in confession….and becoming healed from our hurt and anger.)

If we would be heard of God then we must be willing to forgive.

Forgiving another is always….”for Christ’s sake”. It is not excusing their wrong…..but it is placing it in the Hands of the Almighty.

“Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord.”

Forgiveness is freedom for us from their influence in the matter.

(And when the Adversary brings it up again…..for often he will…..then we must not let him destroy our liberty….but again affirm that it is God’s to deal with.)

When the will is exercised for forgiveness….through our obedience and conformity to Christ’s Way….there is the real healing power for the soul….

….for we are freed from the bondage of jealousy, anger, fear,….and I think most important, the hurt itself. (And their are so many terrible and degrading hurts performed….yet Christ has freedom from them, if we want it.)

People want justice…..and God is just. But when we think of justice for others, we must….pause and consider. God’s justice for me fell on Christ….as He suffered on the cross of my salvation. Now I receive mercy instead of justice. My debts to God’s Judgement are paid….

Should I now seek to interfere with what Christ is doing to, or for others? Or should I trust Him,….and let Him deal with them, as He wills.

For His Will is best. Who knows what our submission will do, for us.

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

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Thy Mercy, O Lord

Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.”

His mercy is a wonderful characteristic of God.

Mercy is the kindness of God to those who are sinners.

God shows mercy for mankind in general, which includes: light, heat, rain/water, food. The external mercies for life.

Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

But to His beloved Church,……His mercies are internal, and eternal, as well.

He brings them closer by His love and Care, by the mercy He gives. This mercy includes their Salvation:

Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost”

(The first time “merciful” is used is with Lot, [Genesis 19:16] who was saved from the destruction with the rest of the wicked in Sodom and Gomorrah. “The Lord being merciful unto him”.)

The mercy of God lifts up the trembling sinner, so they can see God, in the face of Jesus Christ.

And brings comfort and knowledge of the character of God, to those who are following after…….seeking a closer relationship to God.

James 3:17 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

God’s mercy completes (perfects) the work He has started within us;…….He will not desert us, because we fail Him;……..rather, in mercy, He sanctifies us……and preserves us by His Word, that we may be kept in the love of God.

Jude 20-21 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

God’s grace holds us up,……in power.

God’s mercy puts His arm around us in love,…..and keeps us close to Him….leading us into His life for us.

We, who are called to follow Christ Jesus, are called to show mercy to others,……..because God has shown it to us:

Remember Jesus telling of the Good Samaritan?

Jesus was using this illustration to a lawyer who asked how he could have Eternal Life. (Luke 10:25).

He did this to “tempt Him”.

(Now, lawyers were those who were to know the scriptures, and interpret what they meant to the everyday life.)

When Jesus asked him,…….”What is written in the law?”

(This was often the way Jesus dealt with those that should have known God’s Word…..to take them back to what it really says.)

Quite confident in his answer; the lawyer said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

(Perhaps if he had left the last part out,…….he could have walked away in pride,……..but putting that last part in there, about his neighbor,……made him responsible in a way that had to be shown outwardly.

In other words, did this lawyer really believe the scriptures…..was this the way to eternal life? Then he should love God and treat his neighbor as he treated himself.)

And Jesus made this clear to him when He said, “….this do, and thou shalt live.”

Automatically the lawyer tried to defend himself against what Jesus had just told him.

“So who is my neighbor?”

Jesus then tells of the Good Samaritan.

We know the story: The Samaritan was the only one, among three, who had stopped in a place where robbers were,…….to help a robbed and wounded man.

He also paid with his own money to keep him in the inn, and for care for him.

So, Jesus asks this lawyer: Which one was the neighbor to the man that fell among thieves?

In other words, ” Which man acted in God’s Way?”

Luke 10:37 “And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus, Go, and do thou likewise.”

The scriptures never say whether this lawyer got the message Jesus preached to him…..but we should. We should be merciful, for God is merciful to us.

And what a great and wonderful characteristic of God it is!

This is mercy: The kindness of God to us, who are sinners.

And this kindness, we should show to others,……as He did to us.

Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands.”

The Lord will complete my education in His school of life,

and bring me to have His likeness, by His mercy;

for His mercy endures, and lasts through my whole life experiences, and forever;

for He will never forsake His work in me.

Proverbs 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

We all need to be corrected…..and we are very fortunate, if a friend comes to us and tells us what we need to hear…..because they love us.

As Hebrews says, correction is grievous…..but afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11)…to them that are exercised by it.

But…..the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

An enemy does not care about us….they will flatter….not because they care….but to gain from us….or mock us….when we fall.

And such an enemy, we all will experience, sometime…….and it is a warning to us all….not to be tricked by flattery….or show;….

….but to value true friends….who tell you the truth….in love. (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Jesus was betrayed by a kiss:

Luke 22:47-48 “And while He yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss Him.

But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?”

In the Hebrew tradition, a kiss was the sign of friendship and affection, and a deliberate yielding of my will, as a matter of principle and duty, to another.

A kiss was given to one that was a friend or relative…..for it was a sign, not only of affection , but of loyalty.

There is the kiss of the Father toward the Prodigal Son….”and he fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)

That kiss said everything to the boy who ran away from duty and His Father’s house. That kiss said, “I forgive and love you,….welcome home, son.”

There is the kiss of the woman on Jesus feet…..for the love of One who could save her from her sins.

……Luke 7:44-46) “….she hath washed my feet with tears….this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet….this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.”

There is the holy kiss of brotherhood and submission to one another……Romans 16:16 “Salute one another with a holy kiss….”.

And again this shows friendship and loyalty.

So how terrible was the kiss of betrayal?

When Judas went to betray Jesus…..he went to the chief priests for money….”What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” (Matthew 26:15)…

…the sign he gave them was a kiss.

What kind of monster was he…….that he would use the very sign of friendship and submission…..to bring death to One who had admitted him into His discipleship ?

In the Old Testament, there are prophesies concerning Christ’s coming….in humiliation….

….and the betrayal of “mine familiar friend”…

Psalm 41:9 “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.”

…and the thirty pieces of silver was prophesied of, as well.

Zechariah 11:12 “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.”

But the means of betrayal….the kiss….was Judas way of pouring contempt upon the Lord!

It was not just hypocrisy….it was vicious malice. It was Judas’ desire to to pour upon Jesus’s heart…..true pain.

Matthew 26:48-49 “Now he that betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying. Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He: hold Him fast.

And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed Him.”

Judas could have come with the multitude to take Jesus, by pointing Him out.

But no,…..Judas wanted it to hurt….to humiliate….to despitefully use Him…

….and so he chose a kiss to betray Christ.

Even then, Jesus speaks to Judas….not to the multitude, yet….but to one who could still turn and seek forgiveness, then….

Matthew 26:49-50 “And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed Him.

And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come?…..”

Luke 22:48 “But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?”

“Here Judas, is an opportunity to repent and get My forgiveness….if you will just confess to Me…nothing will change,….but you can be saved.”

But he is silent…..backing away from the only One who could forgive him….and is lost….later throwing away the money he had gained….and his life. (Matthew 27:3-5)

Then Jesus, though betrayed,….speaks in power to this mob, who had come with “lanterns and torches and weapons.” (John 18:3)

John 18:4-6 “Jesus….went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?

They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus saith unto them, I am He….

As soon then as He had said unto them, I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground.”

They could not stand before the Son of God! He spoke and they fell backward….totally unable to stand before Him, or touch Him….if He would but speak the Word!

(They fell backward….not forward in submission to Him….but backward showing that they must bow….if He would but speak.)

He waited for them to rise…..for all things had been brought about…..for the Purpose of God for our salvation.

He was taken…..”led as a lamb to the slaughter….and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation?

For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.

And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death;

because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;

He hath put Him to grief:

when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed,

He shall prolong His days,

and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”

(Isaiah 53:7-10)

Because He died, and was risen again…..we are in His hand forever.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,….let us submit ourselves unto our Friend Jesus….and His corrections…….and stay away from flattering and deceitful kisses.

The truth is always harder to hear…..but lies are much harder to live with.

Believe

God has always wanted His people to believe Him…..but the stress of believe is in the New Testament….we are to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

(In the Old Testament, all together, there are 45 times….believe, believed, believeth are said.

In the New Testament believe is said 121 times; believed 92 times, believeth 41 times, believing 8 times, believest 8 times, and believers 2 times.)

John 11:26 “And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

To believe is to put the whole weight of our existence upon. Most illustrate it as a chair….to sit down and put your feet up, so that your whole weight is on it.

I have always like this definition…..the term weight is so right…..for our life is made up of all sorts of weight.

We are made of a spirit….which when we are lost is dark…..and that is great weight.

We are made of a soul which is our personality, which is usually clothed in many layers of “fashion….of the world’s fashion”. What weight is there!

And our body….the weight of which is so worried about these days!

When we believe on Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, we need to put all our weight upon Him.

We believe He will save and keep us….spiritually, personally, and physically.

To believe is not a mental exercise….

I have reasons, so I believe.

No, to believe is to see Christ Jesus….whether He is placed before you by the Bible,…or by witness;….

….we ‘see’ Him.

He is the Son of God, Who died for our sins…and was raised the third day, that we might have newness of life, in Him.

Our hearts are then drawn to Him by the Father (John 6:65)….and we believe….resting on Him….for ourselves.

John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Once we are born again….we are to continue to believe Him (put the weight of our existence upon Him)….for He alone can give us the life we should have.

If we are to preach….He must not only be the message, put the power.

If we are to teach….He must be the lesson, and the give the understanding of it.

If we are to witness….we must show Him.

If we are to take care of our household, He must strengthen and guide us….hold our hands as we speak to our children….and let them go into adulthood.

(It matters not the job….My husband used to work on a boat, [much later he was called to preach]….and the Lord told him, there……”for ye serve the Lord Christ” Colossians 3:23-24.

On the boat, he was serving Christ, as well as anywhere else.)

Our believing, has a direct impact on the results of what we ask:

Matthew 8:13 “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

Mark 9:24 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

One was spoken to a Roman centurion…..

…one to His disciples,….

…..and one to a Israelite father, distraught over seemingly everyone’s inability to help his son, including himself

(The father said, “I believe, help mine unbelief”. And there is a place for this prayer: when we are in distress and at the end of ourselves.)

The answer is the same.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ….for the request given….

….for we place our weight….ourselves…..on Christ Jesus…in this.

Believe Me, Jesus said, all through HIs ministry….for I am come “to save those which are lost.” (Matthew 18:11)

The last time He spoke to the multitudes of Israel, He spoke again of the one requirement for light and life:

John 12:36-37 “While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide Himself from them.

But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him:”

What of us? We have seen many things He has done. Are we believing on Him?

The last time He spoke to the chief rulers and Pharisees before His arrest, He spoke of believing on Him, and His Father God:

John 12: 42-46 “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.

And he that seeth Me seeth Him that sent me.

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.”

And in His discourse going to Gethsemane, He spoke of believing to His own disciples….

….believing is putting our whole weight upon. They were soon going to be tested in ways they had not even considered.

They all said they would stand with Him….even in death (Mark 14:31)….but it is hard to know what is in our hearts in the hour of temptation….

….that is why “believe” is so important.

(When we believe, we place ourselves on Christ, the Rock. We often shake and tremble on the Rock, but He is stable, solid, faithful….and will recover us, strengthen us, and restore us.)

John 14:1, 10-12 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.

Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works that these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.”

After this, He spoke of abiding in His love…..and of the Holy Spirit…..but He did not speak of believing.

Now they just had to do it.

Were there failures? Yes, but they believed….and went on to abide in His love, receive the Holy Spirit in power, and show Christ Jesus to a lost world.

Where is our belief taking us? Let us follow Christ’s example, and go on in His love, by the Holy Spirit,…and show forth our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Next Step

Joshua 6:20 “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people when up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

(This was the battle at Jericho….for six days all the men had walked around the city with the priests carrying the Ark, silently….once.

Then the seventh day, they walked around seven times….and when the trumpets blew…..they shouted….and the walls fell down.

The men then went up, right where they stood at that time, and fought….taking the city.)

This requires some consideration on our part:

This was their first battle for the land that God would give them

It was a battle won by God, for only the Might of God could make the walls fall down, as they did.

It was a battle won by faith and obedience, for God honored their walking around….waiting seven days….and their shout.

It was a battle won by the sword….for God honored their fighting against the inhabitants of that wicked city.

This should have been a pattern for all other battles:

Getting specific direction about the battle.

Informing the people.

Being Obedient….in silence and shouting; in walking and in fighting.

Israel was to be a Theocracy…..which means that they were to be ruled by God…through His Law, and His priests….coming before Him with their sacrifices and offerings.

As such they were to be a showcase nation of brothers, living faithfully to God and each other….for the whole world to see.

But….

Amos 3:1-3 “Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

(Remember, “iniquities” is anything unequal to their high calling as God’s servants and citizens.)

Paul writing to them, as a church, wrote:

Hebrews 5:12 “When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God;

and are become as such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”

After all they had been through, and after all they had seen and experienced (the day of Pentecost, the miracles, outflow of brotherly love, standing with Christ at first, in the day of persecution)………yet they were still babes in Christ.

Believers…..but never having gone on to maturity of affections.

How can such privileges not bring about Christian maturity?

How could they not be, under such miracles and power, be grown up in Christ?

It is one thing to be born along in the Spirit with the wonder of His works in HIs church….many people do this.

It is another to have established a personal relationship with Christ…..coming under that authority and power ourselves.

The Lord said:

Isaiah 28:9-10 “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; Line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”

If we would go on to maturity….this is the path that we must tread.

For precept must be upon precept.

And line upon line.

A precept is a commandment; to put in order. God’s Word is given….not as a suggestion….but as precepts….commandments so that we can put our lives in order before Him.

And a line upon line. How many things do we want to change…..”no it can’t be just that strict….just that way, Lord.” But it is. It is a narrow way….which leads to Heaven….and if we are citizens of the Great King, Jesus Christ; we must follow His lead all the way there.

Obedience does not save us, the Lord Jesus Christ does that…

….but we will never know Him…whom to know aright is to have salvation….without it.

God blessed the faith, obedience….even in the shout at Jericho for His ancient people….

God promises to bless a cup of water given in His Name (Mark 9:41)….

…for it is not what is done…..but what He has called us to do…..great or small….for Him, that counts.

There will be great miraculous things…..after all He saved us…and that is a great miracle, after our sin and rebellion…against Him.

There will be times of blessing…..and times of persecution (verbal and physical).

There will be brotherly love and…..yes, sadly, betrayal.

For we are His servants and citizens of Heaven…..we are not of this world, though we live in it. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

But we can follow HIs precepts…..and walk the line of His example, in peace and joy….and get that maturity of affections that He has for all His children.

Will we?

Revelation 3:17 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

We are not just one of these,….but all of these.

We should be crying out, like Paul…..”O wretched man that I am, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)

But, according to the Lord….the Faithful and True Witness against us….we are unaware of our true condition….

….we think we are rich. Rich here means “abounding with”.

John 10:10 “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

But in Laodicea, if we have His eternal life….we are not abounding with it….but we are poor in the things of God. In those things He looks for in His beloved children. (Philippians 4:6-8)

We do not have the reality of what we profess. That is why our Counselor speaks first of our buying from Him, by devotion and obedience….gold, tried in the fire.

Revelation 3:18 “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

Gold speaks of God in my life. Gold tried in the fire is pure gold….the dross or admixture of other influences….burnt out.

Peter, when writing the Jewish Christians dispersed throughout the world, wrote….(and I think it is a call to us Laodiceans, as well)…

1 Peter 1:3,6-7 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy (there is abounding life again)…hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

(Christ’s sacrificial death gives us salvation from sin…..Christ’s resurrection gives us life…abundant life.)

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

In Laodicea, perhaps we have forgotten that the trials we face, are all part of the purpose of God to “burn away” the flattery,…and the fear of those circumstances around us….

….we become more dependent upon His life within….and as we look more and more to Him, and less and less to ourselves or others…..His life starts to abound within us…and then through us:

And this is what the “white raiment” speaks of….our being clothed upon with the righteousness of Christ…..so that we may do righteousness, or righteous acts (Rev. 19:8) by the Holy Spirit through us….which requires yielding to Him.

We become…”a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21-22)

If you look at what is said about this vessel unto honor….

….we are sanctified or set aside to God, by the Holy Spirit….and by ourselves yielding to the Holy Spirit.

We are “meet for the Master’s use”…or easily used, profitable to the Lord!

(I know when I use a knife in the kitchen…esp. a paring knife….I have a favorite. It fits my small hand, and I can use it easily. I do not have to grasp it hard,…I can just cut with confidence. So we can be in the hands of the Lord….easy to use, for whatever job)

We are “prepared unto every good work”….we are always present before Him, to hear His Word,…relying upon His Holy Spirit to show us the words and attitudes….and to do “every good work” through us….(whether they are “important” or “insignificant” to us)

We started this with the verse that says….”Because thou sayest”.

And then, what the Lord says.

Who are we going to believe?

If I am, in the sight of the Lord wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked….and I am…and so are you, Laodicean….

….what are we to do about it?

Well, Jesus Christ calls us to “repent”….be zealous and repent. (Rev. 3:19)

How much time we have left to become vessels unto honor….to get the gold of God in our lives (not just in our hearts by faith,…but in our everyday lives)…we can not tell.

A few months ago, I would have “said” that my health was good. But in a night, all that changed…and I was sidelined for weeks.

Jesus Christ stands at the door of the Laodicean Church….but it is to me, to you, to each one of us….that He speaks to:

(Revelation 3:20). “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:”

He is ready to do for us…..are we ready to let Him?

“If any man hear My Voice,”

His Voice by His Word, by His Holy Spirit within us, by preachers and teachers, by circumstances …are we listening for His Voice to us?

“And open the door”

The door we open is our lives. We opened our hearts to Him in salvation….but this is a call to a life, open and receptive to Him.

“I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”

When the Faithful and True Witness says, “I will”…we can count on it. His companionship, His provision, His Presence….what would we lack?

Let us start with:

Romans 14:22 “Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemned not himself in that which he alloweth.”

What is it that we condemn ourselves in?

Set that right, and go on with Him. The rest of our lives are ahead….let us become lives which manifest Him…ready to do what He commands.

Confession 

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession of sin is imperative if we are to have the fellowship with the Lord, and the grace we need to walk in the light (1 John 1:7) from the Lord.    

        Our confession should be as soon as we recognize we have sinned.   “Forgive me, Lord for my anger….letting my frustration come out my mouth,…..my own way of doing this,  not relying on You as I should….not speaking up for You.”     Whatever our sin is,  we can confess it to Him to remove the deading influence it has on our life,  with Christ Jesus.

        Confession is getting honest with the Lord about our sin, and letting His mercy and grace work in us to cleanse us from it’s stain in our thoughts and hearts….and remove the desire….or the reason for it.

Psalm 85:8 “I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints:  but let them not return again to folly.”

The confessions in the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, are three of the most heartfelt confessions for the people of Israel.

I have always been amazed at the confessions in prayer in these three books.  

(They are all in the ninth chapter of each book…where they pour their heart out to God,  to once again forgive the iniquity and sin of His people.  

        They are all concerning the people who are in, or  came out of the captivity.   

In “the captivity”,  God sent His people to be taken and carried to foreign lands…slaves to foreign kings….to chasten them for their sin.   

         Taking them out of the land He gave them, to show them the seriousness of their idolatry and their forgetting of the Law He had given them.)

But these who pray,    do not put the sinners in a far off place from themselves….no,  they include themselves in their prayers for forgiveness.

Let us take a look at forgiveness from God.  

Psalm 130:3-4 “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,  O Lord, who could stand?

       But with You there is forgiveness,  that you may be feared.”

 Col. 1:13-14 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

       In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

(Forgiveness of God is seen as a fountain….washing away our sins and cleansing us, from it’s  defilement (from it’s influence, in our hearts and conscience) 

forgiveness means pardon , deliverance (no longer under the rule of it), liberty, remission (to release from guilt and it’s penalty).

Daniel in Babylon,…..high,  in what we would call,  influential circles…..yet a man so in love with God and His purpose….he lays everything aside three times a day to seek God for Israel.   A man who read the scriptures….so when the time was coming close for Jeremiah’s prophecy of a return to Israel for the captives,….he prayed that it would come to pass, and God would help those willing to return.

      Then, (and here comes the confession part)…..Daniel came to the Lord in confession for his nation, who had forsaken the covenant of God and after many times of calling Israel to repent,  had been driven into captivity.   He was one of the captives as well….knowing the subjection to a foreign king….in a foreign land….away from the Temple and the sacrifices.

       Daniel prays, confessing the sins of Israel…and seeks the Lord…..that He, in mercy, might act for Jerusalem and the Temple…and for His people…

….but in his confession,  he includes himself.  

Daniel 9:9-10, 17-18 ” To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him 

        And have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

        Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.

        O my God, incline your ear and hear. …for we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness,  but because of your great mercy.”

At the appointed time (Jeremiah had prophesied the captivity would be for seventy years)…under Cyrus, king of Persia,  all the willing captives were allowed to go back to Israel….but they were also given liberty to seek a free will offering from the other Israelites that did not want to return….and Cyrus gave the vessels of the House of the Lord, and returned them. (Ezra 1:2,5,7,11 “all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400….) 

Years later, Ezra was of the priestly family…who was returning to Jerusalem with more of these vessels and quite a few families….years after the first went back.

      Yet after having come to Jerusalem, having a victorious trip through enemy country to bring people and supplies to those in Israel, without a guard from the king(Ezra 8:21-23)….

….. where there should have been joy….there is shock and sadness, as the people tell him of the sin of mixed marriages.

        So, after he delivers the supplies….he falls down, in sackcloth and in mourning for the sinful state that his people were in.

       He didn’t try a pep talk….he took his sorrow to the Lord and confessed for Israel….including himself.  

Ezra 9:3,5-6,9-11, 14 “As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.

         And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 

         Saying:  “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens

        For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us….but has extended to us His steadfast love….to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God…

        And now, O our God, what shall we say after this?  For we have forsaken your commandments,

        Which You commanded…saying, the land that you are entering….is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands,….

        Shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations?…”

 Under Ezra’s guidance, the people who had done this, put away these….and made a covenant with the Lord, not to do this any more.        

Under Nehemiah, governor…appointed by the Persian king, the people confessed how all through their history, they had set aside God’s Word and sinned….leading to the captivity that they had been through…the fact that their nation was a subject to other kings.

Nehemiah 9:32-33, 36-38 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,  who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us,….

       Yet You have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

       Behold, we are slaves this day: in the land You gave to our fathers to enjoy it’s fruit and it’s good gifts,…

       And it’s rich yield goes to the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins…..and we are in great distress.

      Because of all this we make a firm covenant….”

This covenant was made with all their priests and leaders….to follow the law of Moses….to do all the commandments of the Lord,  His rules and statues….to honor their God, the Lord.

These confessed,  trusting God for answers to the sin,  to the rebellion,  to what they could not do themselves….which was…..move the heart of others to repentance.

But each confessed…..and from that confession….God heard and answered in correction and then in peace for His people.

God will hear and answer our confessions as well….for in these times, we need His peace and fellowship, to keep us.

Who can turn God from His Purpose?

Isaiah 14:24 “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:”

Can anyone win an argument with God?

Is there any Christian that believes that they can have the last word with God?

These might seem like odd questions….after all we believe in the Sovereignty of God….

…..to accept the Sovereignty of God is to take our place as His creatures…..before the Creator…..and agree that He can do what He will with His own.

Do we?

Hear the Word of the Lord…

Isaiah 14:27 “For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?….”

(Who shall break God’s purpose….who can set it aside?

None.)

“…..And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”

(When He is ready to judge…..or ready to bless…..who will be able to stop Him?)

Romans 8:35, 37-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do we believe this for ourselves? I see it quoted….and hear it,…often..but do we believe it?

If God has saved you…..He will not give up on you….

Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will perfect (complete) that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands.”

(He may leave us in our sins for a while, because we are slow to leave them……to show us the terrible defilement of them.

He may be silent…..making us feel His absence [even though He never really leaves us].

He may use circumstances to awaken or correct us….

….but everything He does…..is to bring us to Himself….the only place of safety….because He loves us.

Hebrews 12:5-6 “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children,

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of Him:

For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son who He recieveth.”)

The same principle of God’s faithfulness to us…..to see us complete in Him….

…is spoken of by the Apostle Paul:

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.”

(When we consider that Paul was a Persecutor, and a blasphemer, yet found mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ….

….who then became persecuted, and slandered,…for Christ’s sake…..gladly!

He was someone who could say that Jesus will “sanctify you wholly”…..

….for Christ did this for Paul.)

Wherever we are at in our spiritual growth…

(and if you are born again….you are called to “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 2 Peter 3:18)

….there is more. As long as you live….He has more for you to accomplish….to experience with Him.

Who can know all of His mercy….or grace….or blessings?

Are there not people you know, who do not know Him…..or who have “fallen” on hard times, as the prodigal?

Then let us seek His purpose for them….by prayer, and witness.

And in doing so….let us remind ourselves of His great patience, mercy, and love to us.

The mercy of God finds us wallowing in the muck and mire of the world….and shines a light on Christ.

The grace of God brings us out of the muck and mire of the world….in Christ’s power and gives us joy.

The patience of God works His Will in us….HIs character in us….and His love in us.

Amazing God we serve.

Let us yield to His purpose (which includes correction and blessing)…..His call for today….His leading, even though we do not know the Way….and His love for ourselves, and others.

Of His Fulness

John 1: 16 “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

As born again ones, we have received…of His fulness.

What does that mean?

There is the fulness of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

As Jesus said when He was here….about the filling of the Spirit…

John 7:38-39 “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

(But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive:…)”

In scripture the “belly” signifies our innermost life…and it is an amazing prophesy of the way the Holy Spirit works through believers….from the inside out.

He does not require works for God….without love to God.

And that goes into the next “fulness” we receive….(and notice it is again in the inner man)…love

Ephesians 3:16-17 “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,”

God is love, and therefore when we are born anew….He places by His Spirit, love for Himself…..and love to others.(Eph. 4:30-32)

The next fulness is grace…..grace for grace. The grace applied, sets the stage for more grace. The grace that we use is never lost….but added to, by more grace.

For it is God, giving of Himself to us.

We should always be filled to our capacity, to our overflowing.

Romans 5:17 (Williams Version) “For if by one man’s offense, death reigned thru that one (Adam)

to a much greater degree, will those who continue to receive the overflow of His unmerited favor and His gift of right standing with Himself, reign in real life thru One, Jesus Christ.”

To continue to receive of His fulness….we need to continue to receive Himself (Jesus Christ)….certainly as Savior….but also as my Lord, as Just and Holy, as Merciful even to His enemies, as a Rebuker of evil, as Mediator, as my Counselor, as the Word.

His fulness here is….the overflow of His grace and His righteousness.

The grace we receive from Christ Jesus changes us into the same image.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

But we all, who have an “open face”…..one which will continue to receive the grace given.

As the Holy Spirit creates within us the desire for true spirituality….God’s goodwill works a good work in us (Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.)….

…qualifying us for more tokens of His goodwill and grace.

It is not that we “earn” His fulness….but that we just receive them.

John 1:7 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”

As we see ourselves in the light of Jesus Christ….facing the truth about what is shown us about ourselves….

….His grace will be applied…..which is God’s unmerited favor of power for our lives.

His power is what we need to do anything.

It gives us wisdom to know what to do and how to do.

It gives us sanctifying influences to keep us standing with Him, in this circumstance.

It gives us peace throughout the circumstances.

And mostly it gives us a knowledge of His Presence with us. This is indeed power to live and reign in the life He leads us in.

And then His fulness gives us Light to shine abroad.

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Imagine being a light, which can not be hid…..so that “they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”(Matthew 5:14-16)

That Light can so shine thru us….

For “good works” in this world is the showing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through us.

2 Corinthians 4:10 “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

When we deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Christ….His life also will be made manifest.

“Manifest” here is to render apparent, to publicly declare….in our mortal flesh! How wonderful that God could use me,….us….to render apparent to others the life and character of Jesus…..creating a hunger for the reality we have, in the hearts of others.

Let us lay aside our Weights.

Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

First, let us consider these weights. Just what are they?

These weights are anything, and everything, that hinders us spiritually.

External things,……that we can drop or lay aside.

To run well, you should not be burdened with anything.

Good things or bad things. For often we can be entangled in “good” things, to our loss; as well as those “bad” things, which we know are not for us.

Those duties that God requires at our hand, cannot be considered weights.

Weights are those things we have a choice in.

These weights are things in our life that are not necessary for our walk in Christ Jesus.

They do nothing to help, and even though we may not see it at the time; they do a lot to hinder.

They get our eyes off of Christ and on to a goal that He has not sanctioned.

Some of our friendships may be weights.

Certainly, our failures from the past, present or future, may be weights……

…..For if we have confessed them, and forsaken them, they are to be set aside; and we are to go on with Him….we are not to be going over them in our minds, again and again.

1 John 1:7-10 “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Walk in the Light, confess your sin, and stay with it till you know you are cleansed.

This ” cleanseth” is for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It is always there to be had of us. We are cleansed and made new, every time we come to the fountain of His precious blood.

Don’t try and run with the burden of your sins, for your race will be hindered.

And this is what the writer of this letter is saying to all who would be recognized in Heaven for there walk of faith.

Lay aside every weight.

Drop them, to run with patience the race that is set before you.

This race is not a hundred yard dash;…..but a long distance run.

So pace yourself, by knowing your Lord is running with you; next to you, in this race.

This is your race; not for someone else…..it is your faith He wants to increase in love, joy and peace.

It is you, He is interested in; for that is why He saved us.

It is those that complete the race, that are crowned.

He is not looking for speed, but diligent endurance. Perseverance…….going along, day after day.

Anything from the Holy Spirit will not burden you down.

If you have anything of God that is dragging you down, the devil has added to God’s will, in some way.

For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

We should all come to the Lord, and His light,….that He might show us what are the weights which hinder us.

And as He does, let us quickly lay them aside,….for they hinder our race, our fellowship with Him, and our receiving the promise of His liberty in our everyday lives.