“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil [souls][humans]. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Luke 6: 35 – 37 NASB

Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you. For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.. Eccl 7:21 – 22 NASB

SCRIPTURES COPIED FROM: http://www.blueletterbible.org/

THIS ONE IS PERSONAL. I HAVE CHOSEN TO EXPOSE MYSELF IN THIS REGARD SIMPLY BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME ALREADY KNOW MUCH THESE EVENTS. I AM NOT LOOKING FOR YOUR PITY. I WANT TO USE THIS VERY PERSONAL EVENT TO SHOW YOU HOW I FIRST LEARNED FORGIVENESS.

IT IS TO THEM, THE WELL INTENTIONED DRAGONS, THAT I DEDICATE THIS INSTALLMENT ON FORGIVENESS. I REALLY LOVE YOU, HONESTLY, COMPLETELY. AND IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I LOVE YOU.

I am going to share with you a special case under the heading of Forgiveness. It is a case that I struggle with. To forgive and to be forgiven. This is about accepting God‘s forgiveness, yet dealing with the unforgiving souls who insist that you are still damaged goods, in spite of what God has done. In a later installment (Which I have not decided if I will post) I will deal with an extreme case of hatred, and where forgiveness comes into the picture.

20 years ago, God told me that my first marriage was going to end. I knew a week before it happened that it was coming. God let me know in no uncertain terms that, if I will cling to Him during this storm, He would sustain me, restore me, and make me stronger in the Lord than I could imagine. The clouds were in the sky, but the storm had not hit, yet.

Although I could see this storm coming, I had not prepared my heart for the intensity of the storm. And it was intense. The year leading up to this storm, I had really begun to stray from God, through various acts of self righteousness. I had become a Pharisee of the first order. God had given me the privilege of seeing Moslems come to Christ in my ministry. God had given me the privilege of seeing witches, satanists, and gang members come to the Lord. He used me as His pen to draw the picture of salvation. But in my pride and arrogance, I felt I could take it from there, and pretty much excluded God from His work in me. I had stopped bible reading and prayer. I began to allow the little foxes of sin and pride into my garden. Eventually, I was screwing up my life, and didn’t understand it was my fault.

Then the storm hit.

My heart was not prepared for it, even though God had let me know in very clear terms it was coming. The right thing for me to do would have been to repent of my sin, humble myself before the Lord, seek His forgiveness, and cling to Him for all I was worth. But because I didn’t heed God’s warning, I was not able to withstand the unbearable intensity of losing my wife.

Even then I had the opportunity to repent and turn to God. I failed that test, too. I was letting my confusion, frustration and anger do my thinking. I was allowed to have my way, and I was left to my own devices. And I fell into even more sin than I could imagine was possible.

I left behind a trail of destruction.

Later on, I met my current wife. I was still damaged goods. The day I met her, the very instant I saw her, I had a vision of things to come. I saw us married, and I saw my child. I actually saw Hannah, years before she was born. (There is more to that, and remind me to tell it to you).

What I saw scared me so badly, I ran away from her and hid for 6 weeks. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t back down from anything. But THIS vision truly horrified me. See, I knew deep in my soul that I had not done business with God. I had a lot of repentance to do. I had a lot of forgiveness to seek and give. I was seriously damaged goods.

Eventually, I screwed up my courage and called her, and we dated and eventually got married. A year later, Hannah was born.

But I still lived in rebellion to God. By this time, I genuinely began to crave that sweet relationship with God, but I wanted that relationship on my terms. I didn’t want to go through the very hard time of repentance. And I had some repenting to do.

Eventually, I let sin get the best of me again. It was one of the big ones, and it caused a great deal of hurt in my marriage.

The details are none of your business. But I sinned. And I never sin in half measures.

The damage was bad. Family on both side of the fence let me know in no uncertain terms what a schmuck I was. Some even told me I would be better off dead. Some cursed me to my face, and spared no expense telling everyone and everything that would listen what an incredible sin I had committed. It affected my ability to make friends, it affected my ability to get a job (I live in a small town). I was given the scarlet letter. In the view of these well meaning dragons, I was irredeemable, and there will be no forgiveness to be had. People told me to my face that they want me to leave, go away, never return, to do my wife a favor and disappear. I genuinely got to see the dark side of the children of God.

Eventually, people I had never known would confront me about this sin. I learned that, not only do religious people love to hate, but they love to gossip, too.

I had begun to crave the presence of God in my life, and I wanted so bad to have a prayer partner. While I was at work, one day, the guy that delivers our welding gases drove up. He was very nice, very friendly. Somehow, we began to talk about God. I told him that I had fallen out of fellowship with God, and want to know the presence of God in my life. He prayed with me and for me. He told me I can come by his work-place anytime I wanted to pray with him. He gave me his phone number. I was so overjoyed, I actually started crying right there, in front of my co-workers. I actually had someone to talk to, who wanted to work with me on the return to God.

A week later, I needed to go to that guys’ work place to buy an additional bottle of acetylene gas. While my order was being filled, I went to that guy. Instead of shaking my hand, I was met with a great deal of hostility. It turned out that he was also a prayer partner with one of the well intentioned dragons who told me my family would be better off if I were dead. I saw genuine hate in this man’s eyes. He let me know what that well intentioned dragon had told him. I was devastated that in an instant, a person I just met, who would pray with me, would turn on me with such vengeance.

My wife had a heart attack.

While she was in surgery, and I was waiting in the waiting room, I was told that one of my wife’s friends wanted to talk to me. I got her phone number, and after I got home, late that night, I called her. It started out alright. I wanted things to go well, as I have always admired this person. I mean I genuinely loved this person. The conversation suddenly turned ugly. She let me know that there is no way that healing in my relationship with my wife would happen. That this friend had been trying with all her might to get my wife to leave me and move in with her. I was, once again, informed that the local world would be better off if I just went away.

I think it was this turn of events, my wife having a heart attack, her friends and relatives continually letting me know that it would be best if I just went away, seeing the dark hearts of Christians who couldn’t forgive, that I knew then I was genuinely lost to God.

I wrote in another installment on Forgiveness how to return to a forgiven state, and how to forgive. The above events in my life are where I had to learn this process.

1. I turned to God. I had to get back to the fundamentals of the faith, here. I confessed that I know there is a God. I confessed that I know that this God is THE creator, the great I AM of Scripture, the one who created us Humans. I confessed that man fell from God just as I had fallen from God. I confessed that God gave His only begotten Son to die for the sins I have committed, so I will not have to face God’s wrath, but have eternal life in Jesus Christ. Then I confessed my anger.

I was angry at me. A Lot.

I was angry at Christians who could not offer a healing hand, but offered only condemnation. I was angry, angry, angry. It was a deep and abiding anger that burned hot. This was the hardest thing for me to face. My anger. God showed me how my anger does not further the Kingdom of God.

Until I could learn to place that at the feet of God, and let Him take it out of my heart, there would be no further progress in my restoration to Him. Period. This kind of anger has no place in the Kingdom, and I cannot return to the service of God if I insist on being angry. It took from around 2007 to 2012 to work through that. But God did His wonderful work in me, and helped me be rid of that hate and anger. It is gone, now. It is a distant echo. God has shown me what I need to learn from it, and has healed me. The lesson I learned here is, I cannot turn to people for help. I must first turn to God. People will be too married to their opinions and agenda to be able to help. And I learned that that, too, is OK. We are all human, and have things to work out with God. It is not my place to judge them, or be angry with them.

2. BE WILLING. I was in love with my anger. It was all that drove me. I had forgotten that there is more power in a whisper of God’s love than there is an a ton of anger and hate. So this was a hard one foe me. Here were people speaking death into my life, into my marriage, and “In the name of the Lord” letting me know just how irredeemable I was. I was hurt, disappointed, angry, and these feelings had become so familiar, and so normal to me, that letting go of them was worse than having surgery with out pain killers. (That happened to me once, it was awful).

But, Just as Jesus prayed in the garden, the night before His arrest, “Not my will, but thine.” It took a lot of work for me to be willing to give up my anger. I loved having an excuse to throw tantrums. But God wanted to turn me into a man of God, not a child of the world. I had to be willing to release that anger, hostility, rage, and resentment of all those well meaning dragons. And, with the power of God’s grace, I did, and do, and will. I willed that my will align with God’s will. Not for their snakes, but mine. My attitude had no place in God’s will for my life. If I want to truly return to Him, I had to let go of anger. And the more my will aligned with God’s desire for my life, the more anger diminished, until it was only a memory. And I was surprised by the intense JOY that replaced the anger. Obedience to God brings joy, even when you think your world is going to hell. I understood grace. I felt mercy. From there, it was a simple thing to let go of my hurt and anger, and forgive all the well intentioned dragons. It is easier to accept those Christians who speak death in my life. They honestly think they are doing the right thing. How often had I thought that about my anger and hurt. I get it. We are all saved, but we are all incomplete. We are all having to grow. Now I am able to understand what Jesus meant when he prayed on the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

I AM FREE!. I AM FREE! I AM FREE!!! Free to dive deep into the word of God, free to love. Free to pray for those who hate me. Free to serve God. Free to pray with my wife, who has forgiven me my sin. What a joy it is to be married to the most incredible woman in the world. I could search all my life and not find a woman as wonderful and great as she is.

I have given up “my right” to anger and hate, and unforgiveness. For the first time in 20 years, I feel free, loving, forgiven, and I feel hope. I feel JOY. I can dance with King David and sing that the Lord my God, the Living God, has restored my soul.

It doesn’t matter one whit what people will say to you, about you, against you. There is NOTHING on this earth you can do about it EXCEPT FORGIVE THEM. Then you can let it go, and you will find you actually really love these well intentioned dragons. REALLY love them and care about them.

The are just as fallen as you are. You need to worry about your own walk in the Lord. Even if you have to do what I did and return to the fundamentals and grow from there.

I have not ever felt this freedom before. EVER. What a glorious God we serve. What a powerful God he is that he can root out my sin and hold me close, and tell me he loves me. It no longer matters who else loves me, not now that I know where I stand with God.

Listen, people who have their minds made up about you will only change when God deals with them. Not a minute sooner. You may raise people from the dead, right before their eyes, and they might still speak death into your life. It is OK, the religious of Jesus’s day did the same thing.

Now, go, sit at God’s feet, and do business with the Lord. I can tell you, as one who has come out of that bath, it is good, it is joy, it is clean. God is GREAT. And I thank God for this freedom.

I really want to hear from you if you need prayer. I don’t care what evil you have done, I will not turn you away. I can do this because it is what God has done for me.

I genuinely love you in the Name of Jesus, and because of God’s great love in my heart.

Now, go be about it.

David G. Perkins.

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Faith, Uncategorized

The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness, Part 2

“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matt 6:12 – Part of “The Lord’s Prayer” given by Jesus Christ

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt 6:15-16 – Spoken by Jesus Christ

I apologize for the inevitable length of this installment. I am doing my best to condense this without leaving out the important stuff. There will be other parts following this one, but this part will help complete the groundwork of the battlefield of life where Forgiveness is our greatest weapon.

A great deal of this depends on you. It depends on the state of your heart, and your willingness to genuinely forgive. I will be covering this in this installment. I appreciate your patience and indulgence with the length of this article.

In part one I covered a few of the stumbling blocks in our daily walk in Christ, where it comes to forgiveness.

1. Being willing and desiring to forgive. It is MY WILL that is forgiving or unforgiving.

2. Rehearsing over and over again the litany of wrongs done to you.

3. Pride – the belief that the person who offended you ought to know you are offended and ought to come to you to ask for forgiveness, that YOU shouldn’t have to go to them. (This one is a whopper, as Jesus himself went to the people who needed forgiveness instead of the other way around.)

4. Fear – Fear of being taken advantage of, Fear of rejection, fear of being misunderstood.

Most of our unforgiveness toward others can be boiled down to these 4 things. I have no doubt you can come up with more than this list, but I think these are the roots of unforgiveness.

Sometimes these stumbling blocks hang around, impeding your walk for various reasons. Perhaps you have to continue to forgive someone who insists on hurting you. Perhaps you are angry at them, or angry for some other reason. Perhaps you harbor anger and don’t even know it.

Before anyone decides I should walk in their shoes, let me tell you. I have been hurt deeply by people I love completely. The details are none of your business, but I genuinely do understand the intense pain of betrayal, of intentional deception, of abandonment by brothers in the Lord. I have been disowned, cursed, gossiped about, lied to, and some have done far worse things than this to me. So believe me when I tell you, I understand the pain of the deep hurt by loved ones.

When this type of hurt happens, you feel as if you are in an explosion. Nothing is the same again, ever. It takes time even to realize how real this situation is. It takes time to regain your bearings from the intensity of this sudden hurt. Your friends may abandon or betray you, your loved ones will offer you anything but hope and mercy and grace. Those closest to you will judge you.

These are hurts that take time to get over. The hard part about this hurt is, if you are not careful, you will let anger and bitterness grow roots and take over your heart and mind. When this happens, your ability to love and trust and commune with the Living God is impeded by the bitterness that flows in your veins.

I am begging you today, if this is you, find a way to stop yourself from getting deeper involved in the anger and bitterness. The last 20 years of my life are the result of me losing my bearings, and taking matters in my own hands.

When Jesus was instructing the disciples on how to pray, He included this phrase, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matt 6:12. After that, He continued to instruct his disciples saying, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt 6:15-16

You will know when you have unforgiveness because your joy in the lord is diminished, your communion with Him feels incomplete. You have a stumbling block keeping your walk from being joyous,, fulfilling and growing. You are at a standstill with God.

Listen to these hints from the Spirit of God. If there is unforgiveness between you and God, it is likely because you have unforgiveness between you and someone else. Or unconfessed sin. God will wait right there with you, as long as it takes until you take care of your business. The good news is that God will be with you because He always empowers obedience to Him.

If God acted in any other way toward you, while you hold bitterness and unforgiveness and anger in your heart, then He would be contradicting His own nature. He would be condoning sin.

Jesus taught that we reap what we sow. An unforgiving spirit affects every aspect of your life. It will come back to you with interest. When it does, this is when anger and bitterness can set root.

An unforgiving spirit will generate in you a critical spirit. Unforgiveness is detrimental and destructive, and will influence everything else you try to do. If you find yourself being overly critical or overly cynical, there is a chance you are harboring unforgiveness, that has given root to bitterness.

When Jesus was teaching the disciples about forgiveness, Peter (A man I can clearly identify with), asked Jesus: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”

“Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matt 18:21-22

Was Jesus telling Peter you have to forgive someone 490 times, then all bets are off? No. Forgiveness takes practice, and Jesus was telling Peter you must forgive repeatedly. The good news is that, the more you do it, the better you get at doing it.

In other words, Jesus was telling Peter, and the others, that there is no measuring rod. I can tell you that, by the time you get in to the habit of forgiving, you actually lose count. We do not return insult for insult, but we bless those who curse us, and pray for those who despitefully use us. When you get in this habit of this kind of Grace and Mercy, forgiveness will grow in your heart until you have a joy about forgiving. In other words, When you can learn to forgive, you will find there is NO LIMIT on forgiveness.

Forgiveness comes from your heart, not your lips. How many times has someone said or done something to offend you, and immediately they said “I’m Sorry”, and you said “I forgive you”. Then after they left, you couldn’t wait to tell everyone you know how you were wronged?

So the burning question here is, since Jesus has forgiven you ALL you have done against God, how many times and things will you forgive others?

Unless forgiveness comes from the heart, it is not forgiveness. You don’t really have to forget, either. If it is genuine forgiveness, when it comes to your mind later on, it will be in the form of lessons learned.

To not forgive means you would rather wear the chains of slavery to anger and bitterness. Some people actually fall in love with their anger and bitterness. It gives them something to wallow in as an excuse to not do business with God. It feeds our vanity to be this way. We get to present ourselves as the wronged ones, and try to illicit sympathy form others, so you can look like you are really suffering for your faith.

THIS is really a faithless act, and is sin, too. It is pride and fear that keeps you in chains.

Who are you angry with? What did they say or do that means they can never be forgiven? What have you said or done that means God can never forgive you? Do you want differential treatment over this issue? In order to be forgiven, you have to forgive. You cannot get rid of this anger or hurt by running away from it. You have to put your offering down and go deal with it. You have to let the Holy Spirit deal through you for healing to really happen.

Hurt is hard, Especially when it is repeated hurt, willful hurt, intentional hurt. No person who deeply loves can just switch off the hurt. It is a process. It may not come instantly.

Here is the process that leads to forgiveness. You may have to do this every 5 minutes, or every day, or as often as it takes until the Spirit of God has worked in you to forgive.

STEP 1: ANGER You have to acknowledge your anger. Confess it before the Lord. Lay it at His feet. He loves you and cares for you.

Make this confession after you have asked forgiveness for sin and anger: “Because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, I have experienced God’s total forgiveness in my life”. “I have been saved by his grace, His love, and His mercy.” “All of my forgiveness has come from God.”

FORGIVENESS is one of the very first gifts God gives you. Forgiveness is ongoing in your life, because you are human, and make mistakes. But God is HAPPY and DESIRING to forgive. It is His joy to do this in your heart. He will show you, that the forgiveness that began at the Cross, is still going on today, in you, in your life. He will give you the gift of forgiveness. Do business with God first. Forgiveness is a gift that will grow in your heart the more of it you give away. God has been doing this for you every day of your whole life.

Make this confession: “I AM FORGIVEN!” Keep doing this until it becomes real to you. It is oftentimes a process. But the anger has to go away.

STEP 2: BE WILLING. Be willing to confess your anger, hostility, rage, resentment, and whatever feelings you have toward that person. Ask God to forgive your anger and hurt for that person. BE SPECIFIC. When you are specific, it breaks the bondage. You must be willing to deal with it specifically and personally. If you are genuinely confessing something, you have to deal with it. God will wait for you to do this, and He will empower your obedience.

STEP 3: THE WORD. Learn that your unforgiveness is a violation of the word of God. If I have an unforgiving spirit, I have sinned against God and others. Know what the Bible has to say about forgiveness and unforgiveness. Look it up in your Bible index. You have to know the word, confess the word, and recognize this in your heart. Out of the overflow of your heart, comes the issue of your lips.

STEP 4: ASK GOD to forgive you. Be specific about what you have said, or done, or felt in your heart against the person who hurt you. God will take that and relieve you of it. Confess all of it. You may have to do this a few times as things float to the surface.

There is nothing in the scriptures about CONDITIONAL forgiveness. The Bible doesn’t say, “Ask your brother to forgive you UNLESS…he rejects you, misunderstands you, or it is just too painful for you.” You will not find that in the Bible.

We are to forgive no matter what. No matter the outcome. No matter the consequences. Even if that person doubles up on your pain, forgive anyway.

So, here we are dealing with the root of the problem. It is an act of will that you forgive. It was an act of will that Jesus died for you. Jesus prayed at the garden, “Not MY will, father, but thine.” God helped Jesus align Jesus will with the father’s will. In the same manner, God will empower you to align your will with His if you ask from deep in your heart. You have to be willing.

You may have to go to that brother and ask him or her to forgive you for your unforgiveness toward him or her. You have an attitude in your heart. You have judged him unworthy of forgiveness. Even IF he has wronged you, you still need to go to that person and ask him to forgive you of your attitude for him.

Pray this: “By an act of MY will, Father, and by the power of the Holy spirit that lives within me, Father, I lay down my anger, my bitterness, my ‘right’ to be offended, my hurt. I lay them all down at your feet,.”

This stops being about your feelings when you do this. It becomes an act of your will. Say, “I choose to lay it down”. You will that God takes it from you. If you leave this at the Father’s feet, God will remove the hurt from your life. Acknowledge His forgiveness as you lay down your anger. There may be MANY people you are angry with. Be willing to do this for each and every one of them.

It is a process.

God will let you know if you need to go to that person or not. God will strengthen you to admit and gracefully confess to that person the conflict, as you seek forgiveness from that person about your attitude toward him.

If God sends you to that person, and you talk to him, DON’T ENUMERATE THE LIST OF THINGS DONE WRONG AGAINST YOU. Remember what it says in II Corinthians that Love does not keep an accounting of the wrongs done against it. God is Love, and His Spirit abides in you. You don’t need to rehearse all the wrongs done against you to that person. It will only make things worse. Confess the attitude you have had toward that person, ask his forgiveness for your attitude, and leave it at that. God will do the rest.

Genuine forgiveness does not build up a legal case, or a defense for your hurt, and say, “I will forgive you BUT.” There are no buts to forgiveness. You either forgive or you don’t. Forgiveness is an act of grace, mercy, and unconditional love. Forgiveness is given with no limitations or demands.

Don’t front-load your imagination about forgiveness. In other words, don’t try to predict what his reaction will be. You may be surprised at his reaction.

When you genuinely forgive others, not only do you set yourself free of the chains that bind your walk with God, but in the act of forgiving, you also set that person free of those same chains.

There is a true and genuine feeling of freedom when you allow God to work in you to remove the stumbling blocks of unforgiveness and anger. I know this because I have been doing this. The more I do this, the more free I feel in my heart and soul. Anger becomes a last resort for me, instead of a first reaction.

BUT SUPPOSE THEY LIVE 1000 MILES AWAY, OR ARE ALREADY DEAD?

Ask yourself, “Is the unforgiveness still in my heart?” If the answer is “yes” then you have a stumbling block. Forgive them anyway.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Get two chairs. Set them 2 feet apart facing each other. You sit in one, and and you imagine that that person is sitting in the other one. Tell that person exactly what you would say if they were really sitting in that chair. Confess your attitude. Ask forgiveness. Chances are, if that person were a real difficulty in your life, you will have to do this several times before it gets real, and you forgive. Just do it. Ask their forgiveness for your attitude. (I got this exercise from Charles Stanley).

Once you deal with that issue, claim the forgiveness by faith. then tell yourself, “That is the end of THAT!” If it turns out that it is not the end of that, do it again until it is. I promise you, one day, you will get up from that chair, and you will be genuinely free of unforgiveness.

HOW Will I KNOW WHEN I HAVE REALLY FORGIVEN THEM?

I’ll tell you how you will know. And I have experienced this repeatedly, so I know this is a fact.

The next time you think about them, there will not be any “static” in your heart toward them. You will have a sense of freedom from that burden. The harsh feelings are gone. You will feel compassion for them and hope the best for them. Somehow, you will be able to accept them as they are. If the grievance is over a terrible wrong this person has done, let God have His way with that person. It is not your place to hold unforgiveness.

When you are really and truly set free, you will be able to say in your heart, “Thank you God for teaching me about your grace. Thank you for this lesson I would have not have learned if you had not brought me through this. You have genuinely turned my curse into a blessing.”

This is not a one time thing. You will have to forgive over and over in your walk. How many times? 70 X 7.

I love you in the Lord.

Let me know if you need prayer for anything.

I am your little brother in Christ Jesus.

David G. Perkins

Uncategorized

The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness Part 1

David G. Perkins

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. EPH 4:32 KJV

Definitions:

kind – χρηστός – chrestos – good, be ye good…., gracious, be ye gracious…., easy, take it easy on each other.

tenderhearted – εὔσπλαγχνος – eusplagchnos, – pitiful, tender-hearted. Have pity. The Greek workd picture here is a picture of it coming from your guts. The Greeks felt that strong emotion, passion and genuine emotion came from your guts. Have pity flowing out of you. Have tenderheartedness flow from you.

forgiving – χαρίζομαι – charizomai – to grant as a favor, that is, gratuitously (freely, undeservedly), in kindness (see def above), pardon or rescue: – deliver, (frankly) forgive, (freely) give, grant.

Keep on becoming kind to each other. Have pity, and favor, and grace, however undeservedly, forgive even as God forgave you for the sake of Christ.

A few years ago…

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Faith

The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness Part 1

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. EPH 4:32 KJV

Definitions:

kind – χρηστός – chrestos – good, be ye good…., gracious, be ye gracious…., easy, take it easy on each other.

Keep on becoming kind to each other. Have pity, and favor, and grace, however undeservedly, forgive even as God forgave you for the sake of Christ.

A few years ago, a brother in the Lord told me he forgave me. He had been very angry with me. Somehow I was not convinced that he meant it, but I accepted the effort, as I love this person, and want to grow in the Lord with him. Later on, I went to his property to help him with an electrical problem. I did the work, shook his hand, and left. That evening, someone else told me that the whole time I was there, he was bad mouthing me to anyone who would listen, and that he had been bad mouthing me all over town. As I suspected, I knew that that brother was still angry with me.

Forgiveness isn’t easy.

I am not talking about whether I forgive him, because I honestly do. I honestly love this person. I am telling you something that I would normally not consider any of your business in order to illustrate a point.

Forgiveness is not easy.

The root of unforgiveness is anger.

The root of anger is fear.

Anger is a chain that binds you to sin. Sometimes we get angry with others over things we know we ourselves are tempted to do. Sometimes we get angry for a genuine wrong committed. Sometimes we get angry because we are afraid. We know in our heads that perfect love casts out all fear. But how do we get that into our heart? How do we let go of Anger?

It is a process.

Some people do not even know they harbor unforgiveness. They remain slaves to the unforgiveness. Unforgiveness will stop you from growing spiritually. Eventually, the poison of unforgiveness will consume you untill you become heard hearted and bitter. It will rot your bones.

So a decent definition of Anger that leads to unforgiveness is that Anger is a strong feeling of INTENSE displeasure or indignation or hostility as a result of a real or imagined threat (fear), or insult (pride), or frustration (impatience), or injustice toward yourself or someone who is very important to you.

Forgiveness is the willful giving up of that rage, displeasure, indignation, hostility, threat, insult and frustration. You give up the “right to get even”.

Unforgiveness is a deliberate refusal to forgive. It is the belief that you have the right to hold a grudge because: Someone has got to pay!, He has hurt me. , She lied to me. , She said I was this or that., She didn’t say “HI” to me yesterday., He is two faced., He lies about his faith by saying one thing and doing another.

However, saying you forgive, and experiencing it are two different things.

Forgiveness says, “I give up my right to pay you back.”

Look at the book of Mark 11:25 –

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you your tresspasses. But if you do not fogive, neither will your Father which is in Heaven forgive your tresspasses. Mark 11:25

Until we can forgive, we have to lay down our progress, our gifts to god, our growth in the Spirit of God, our effectiveness to demonstrate grace, love and mercy.

What are the obstacles to Forgiveness? There may be many, but they can be reduced, by thoughtful analysis to 4 things:

1. YOUR WILL – It ias to be your WILL and Desire to forgive. Unwillingness and not wanting to forgive are deliberate acts. You have to do this on purpose.

2. PRIDE – The arrogance of pride gives you the self righteous attitude that says, He or She should come to me to ASK for forgiveness. I shouldn’t have to go to them. Or if you are the one who needs forgiveness, you say to yourself, “Sure it bothers me that this happened, but I don’t think I did any harm, and besides, I was right when I did it.”

3. REHEARSING – This one is something every humand being does. This takes real discipline to overcome, and can be overcome by a lot of prayer, and realization of just how much GOd has forgiven you. The more you go over it in your mind, the farther from grace you get. You rehearse in your mind and heart the wrongs or offenses done against you. This will only strengthen the chains that bind you, and will eventually become a poison that turns into a well spring of bitterness. The Joy of the Lord evades you. happiness becomes a memory. Anger becomes your reputation. You get stuck right where you are in your spiritual growth. Eventually, you become content with stunted growth, or your heart becomes so hard that you no longer desire a working relationship with God.

4. FEAR – Wether you are the one who needs to forgive, or needs forgiveness, FEAR can stop you dead, too. Maybe you are afraid you will be taken advantage of by the person that you need to do business with. Maybe you have a fear of being rejected. Perhaps you are afraid of rejection. These fears are real, and it is possible that these things will happen. But you have to have the courage to face this fear and do the right thing. THere is nothing you can do to control the reactions of others. You can only obey God, and leave the rest to him. This is letting go of fear.

Dealing with these 4 things above will give you FREEDOM from the enslavement of Anger and Fear. It will free you from the spirit and heartlessness of Unforgiveness. The flow of living water will return to you, and you will know the joy of your salvation again.

Sometimes forgiveness is stalled by the following things:

Friendly but bad advice. Your brothers and sisters in the lord love you, and they mean well, but they are just as human and fallible as you are. They will tell you, “Well, if I were you, I’d…”, or “He needs to suffer…” “Why don’t you just leave him, he is not good for you…”, or “Buddy, we need to go have a talk with him ‘in love’ and straighten him out”

Have you been told this? Have you said it to others. Friends mean well. You should always be glad of the number of friends you have. But you MUST ask yourself, “Is this FRIENDLY advice GODLY advice?” Do nothing that will contradict the nature of God, or reflect poorly on your walk with God. Taking matters in your hands, with the heart felt endorsement of your friends, is till wrong.

PARTIAL FORGIVENESS.

Maybe he or she did several little things, or one big and several little ones, or some combination like that. Do you list them (rehearse) and say, “Well, I can forgive that, but not this, and I can forgive those, but not these!”? Partial forgiveness is just like partial obedience. Partial forgiveness IS unforgiveness. Partial obedience is DISOBEDIENCE. Don’t take half measures when God showed His love for you by going all the way to the cross for your sins.

MAKE EXCUSES. This little fox is a sly one.

This is what some people do to avoide genuine forgiveness. They might say things like, “THey probably didn’t mean that.”, or. “It was probably a mistake.”. If you use excuses to justify someone elses wrong, not only are you deluding yourself, and setting yourself up for more of the same, but you short circuit your ability to discern between right and wrong, and you stop the other person’s chance of learning from his mistakes. Forgiveness is just as much an act of love, as it is an act of grace. When you love the unlovely, it pours coals on his heart, and will ultimately lead him to repentance. This is the same behavior you hear about when you read the testimony of the battered woman. She made excuses for the batterer. Forgiveness is not for sissies.

Unforgiveness puts you in danger of the judgement of God. “But if you do not forgive neither will your Father which is in Heaven forgive your trespasses ” Mark 11:25

You risk your growth in the Lord. You risk having God stop dealing with you until you have done business with those who you need to forgive, or who you need to seek forgiveness from.

Forgiveness sets you free. It cleanses your soul. It teaches you about Godly love in a way that no other action will. You will become like Jesus Christ the more you obey.

I will finish this up in part 2, at least this part of the facet on the gem that is Forgiveness. There is more, and it is not all fire and brimstone. Hang in there. It gets better.

OH! And yes it is a process. How long does it take until you can come clean and forgive? I don’t know. Sometimes it takes a long time. It took me a very long time to forgive someone I used to know. The hurt was deep, and God had to do a work in me. With that brother who said he forgave me, but didn’t, I am good with that, and I forgive his dishonesty, and his gossip. I am free of the harm he has done. I love this person and would take a bullet for him without hesitation.

I have to keep in mind this verse: Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. Ecc 7:21-22See you next time for Part 2 of this facet on Forgiveness.

I love you

David Perkins

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Faith

The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness, A Jewel With Many Facets – Introduction

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 KJV

A person very close to my heart told me that she would like to read about Forgiveness. So here we go.

I hope, through this series, to show that forgiveness is fundamental to our faith, our well being and our growth as Christians.

Unforgiveness has the power to destroy you, your faith, your walk with God, your health, your mind. Unforgiveness is a pernicious poison that, if not dealt with, will ultimately destroy everything you are trying to achieve. The lack of forgiveness is a stumbling block that inhibits your growth.

I have struggled with this issue a great deal over these last 20 years. I have sinned, and been sinned against. I have had to deal with both sides of the equation of Forgiveness.

I have had to forgive myself & others. I have had to seek, and am still seeking ways and means to get forgiveness from others. I have had to learn that it is not a switch that you can just flip, and voila, forgiveness happens. It is often a process. Sometimes painful, but necessary. Sometimes it is not reciprocated, or appreciated. Sometimes, others will never choose to forgive you, or receive your forgiveness.

I have discovered that, when God deals with you in the forgiveness arena, it can be painful and joyful. Sometimes the pain precedes the joy. I say this because, when God deals with you over your need to forgive, or receive forgiveness, the dirty laundry comes out.

God will deal with you over your anger, your pride, your distorted sense of God’s righteousness, and the sin of self-righteousness. If you are listening, you will be reminded of just how much you have been forgiven of – all the things you did before you were a Christian, and especially all the things God has graciously forgiven you of after you became a Christian.

This series has already become a challenge for me. In writing the outline for this series, I found I had been keeping a grievance on a back shelf. I had forgotten it was there, until I ran across a few verses that reminded me of it. I immediately had to stop what I was doing and seek that forgiveness from that person, and forgive that person for wrongs done. We both had sinned against each other, and we both had buried it deep. The effort was painful. Obedience isn’t always a “cumbayah” experience. The reward was so sweet, so good, so joyous, I wonder why I ever kept that grievance rotting in my mind. I am free from that chain, and so is the person I went to. We both needed it, and it was very good.

If you are going to be a Child of God, a Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, Forgiveness is one of the first muscles you will have to develop. Forgiveness is not for sissies. It is not for the prideful. It is not for the self-righteous. We have to humble ourselves before God in order to be forgiven, and we have to understand grace and mercy in order to forgive.

Forgiveness is more important than I realized. It is powerful. It serves you to forgive others, and it further’s the kingdom of God when you do it.

I ask your forgiveness because I cannot offer an outline for this series. I have only written this introduction and the first two parts of this series. There will be more, because, as with every true doctrine of God, every doctrine is a gem with many facets.

I hope you will get as much out of this series as I have gotten researching it.

I will leave you with this fact, and a question:

FACT: Unforgiveness has its roots in Anger. So does fear.

QUESTION: Why are you angry? What are you in fear of?

That is where I had to start.

I will see you tomorrow with : FORGIVE, Part 1

In Christ

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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My Daughter The Author

My Daughter, Hannah, just turned 15. Last year, she completed the first draft of her first book. She allowed me to work as her draft editor. Below is the introduction to her book. The working title is “INDIGO CHILD“.

This is her work, and it is copyrighted. I thought that, tonight, instead of posting more of my stuff, I would post hers. Her goal is to get this first book published before she is 16.

The only contribution I have made to it is strictly technical. The story and words are entirely her own work. While I complete the first draft edit, she is working on Book Two of this series.

Let me know what you think.

INDIGO CHILD

Introduction

”I’m not quite sure if I want to believe your story.” the Judge said to the man sitting next to me, then looked directly at me. “But I may believe the child, he looks innocent enough.” “Tell me how this all got started, boy. How did you end up here exactly?”

I wasn’t ready for that. I had been lost in this man’s office. For a brief moment I had forgotten my pain, the stitches, the healing bones. The last time I saw an office this elaborate was in that other place…that other time, not very long ago, but it already seemed like another world.

Rich dark wood and leather furniture. Bookshelves as tall as three men. Secretarial stations here and there. The sun penetrated stained glass windows, revealing the dust motes floating in all the colors of the rainbow. This place spoke of power, but not of evil. I felt a sense of weight, that whatever I did, whatever I said, it had better be the truth.

“Young man, ” the baritone voice broke through my reverie, “You are trying my patience. Speak up!”

I looked directly at him. He was old, with graying hair that surrounded his otherwise bald head. His deep brown eyes, with the circles of fatigue penetrated my soul. It was as if he were a living lie detector.

When he told me to “Speak up!”, it wasn’t loud, but carried the authority of a cracking whip.

I choked on my words, trying to put them into place so that I didn’t sound like an idiot. How could I sum up my life in one simple paragraph? I knew I couldn’t. It was just one of those stories that had to be told, detail by detail, from the very beginning.

The entire office had fallen silent. The court reporter was the only quiet movement in the room, silently and diligently recording every sound and gesture. It was as if I were suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. All eyes were on me.

It was so hard to stay brave now when I knew that if I put one word out of place, it could cost me my life.

I glanced around as I rose to my feet. I felt a warm, strong hand on my back and knew it was the man sitting next to me, steadying my broken body. Our lives depended on each other’s. I felt instant relief by his touch, knowing that no matter what, we would make it through. Like a family. Of course.

“From the very beginning?”, I asked him, making sure.

“Yes. From the very beginning, when you think this first started.”

I let out a deep breath, knowing this would be a long story. A story that would be hard to tell, one that I was almost afraid to speak of. But I had to do it. I met the man’s penetrating eyes, looking as serious as I could.

I told him exactly what had happened…from day one.

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Faith

HOW GOD SEES IT

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3: 5 & 6 NASB

HOW I SEE IT
When someone reading your blog describes it as “interesting”, they mean, “Which Zoo donated the monkey for this experiment?” In certain countries, my writing is considered a social disease, and it might be the real cause of all the trouble in the Middle East. None-the-less, I have actually had 10 readers, and a couple of them are now subscribers. Please accept my gratitude, the check is in the mail.

HOW GOD SEES IT
A recent career debacle has left me seeing that, after almost 20 years doing the same thing, I suddenly have to reinvent myself. What I wanted to do when the rug was pulled was to run around like my hair was on fire, panic, grow a healthy crop of ulcers, and basically be an insomniac. What I did instead was pray. Really, I prayed. And, this is the truth, I immediately felt a peace about all of this. I knew that since I was radioactive in my career, I would not be able to do what I had been doing anymore. I had to be remade. I wasn’t worried because, after 20 years of running from God, I had spent the last 4 years slowly returning. I found out when I did that that I had not done anything but cross the palm of God’s hand. Some of my recent blogs described my return to God, and how you can return too.

So, here I am, career-less, and wondering what to do. My wife and I prayed and prayed about this. Just a couple of weeks after being home, in between job searches, I had the overwhelming compulsion to start writing again. I had not written a thing in 20 years. Writing was not even my first love. Music was my first love. But, suddenly, I got an overwhelming desire to sit and write. So, I prayed again. God let me know through several confirmations that I am to write something every day. Not only that, I am to write a blog.

I know this might sound crazy to you, but eventually, you will see that this stuff really happens. It happened to me. Here is where Proverbs 3:5 & 6 comes in to play. I needed a new path, and God has given me a thing to do. I am doing it. I honestly do not understand the why’s and wherefore’s of this, but one thing God has made clear to me, I am to write.

I am writing this for you. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you have been through, or are going through. But I know that, as I obey God and write, He will empower my writing. He will do this because of you. Like me, you had given up on God, friends, family, and basically life itself. To tell the truth, that 20 years of working in various jobs, for various companies, doing the same or related things, was not even related to who I really am, or what I really want to do with my life. Chances are you are there now.

God restores all of us if we let him. He is calling you. The reason I am doing this blog is two fold. 1. I am obeying God. 2. God wants you to know you are not alone, that someone out here gets it. And he wants you to know that He cares for you, and wants you to come home.
You do not even have to clean up to return to Him. He will take care of that for you. All you have to do is come home.

HOW I HOPE YOU SEE IT
Personally, I hope my blog eventually takes off, but that is not my real goal. Over time I will be writing about several issues that may reach you. This is for you, not me. What I want out of this exercise is irrelevant to what God wants to accomplish.

You see, a revival is about to break loose, and God wants you to be a part of that revival. You have a role to play. You and I have to put down all our anger, desire for revenge, hate of the church, grudges, and whatever sin besets us. We need to get our own lives in order so God can equip us to lead in the upcoming revival.

By my own understanding of things, I should be panicking because 8 weeks later, I am still unemployed. But as I understand God, I simply have to trust Him, and HE will direct my paths. This is what He wants to do for you, too.

I have no illusions about being a “Great Writer“, but I know this is what I am supposed to be doing right now. I am doing this out of Love for God, and in obedience to Him, and out of a genuine desire to see you return to God, too. I do this because God has changed my heart. I no longer feel the anger I felt. I no longer hate. I now love because He who is in me IS love. And I love you, and want to see you join the battle and lead from the front in the upcoming revival.

Who ever you are, I hope this letter finds you.

Your Brother in Jesus Christ

David
sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Sometimes The Blank Page Wins

This time for sure.

I came in like a lion and placed my hands on the keyboard, ready to write words in such a way that readers would be captivated, and fellow word-smiths would stand and applaud.

The blank page looked looked scintillating; inviting, daring me to paint her canvas with a journey of delight and adventure.

My hands were poised.

My thesaurus like mind was generating explosive and compelling prose.

I embraced the blank page in a fevered grasp and started typing.

But the page was only playing with me. She let me believe I had the upper hand, that she was unable to resist the blazing presence of my fiery mind.

She stopped me dead in my tracks and asked, “Have you started yet?”

I was undone.

Instead of being steely strong, issuing wells of prose, my words lay there, shriveled up and pathetic.

I choked, I lost my momentum, the rhythm of my words were not right. I fumbled and lowered my hands.

In that single phrase, I knew there was no way I was going to have my way with this page.

The blank page won. And this is all I have to show for it.

As I left the room, I heard her say, “It’s OK, it happens to every word-smith now and then.”

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WATCH YOUR ASS!

I had a friend who I consider to be a brother. If he ever called me for help, I would be there. This friend once shared the following story with me. It helped me prioritize a few things.

A long time ago, in ancient Israel, an old man took his grandson to market with him. He loaded up his ass (That is what they called donkeys in the ancient languages) with his goods for sale, and sat his grandson on top.

In order to get into Jerusalem, he had to cross a bridge that connected his village to a neighboring Palestinian territory. As he was walking the ass, with his grandson on top, he heard two of the Palestine locals shouting to each other:

“Hey, Abdul, do you see how selfish that boy is, making his elder walk while he rides?”, shouted Ahmed.

ABDUL: “I see that, some children have no manners!”

So, the old man took his grandson off the ass and put himself on it and tried crossing the bridge again.

“Hey, Ahmed, do you see how cruel that old man is being, making that boy walk while he rides in comfort on the ass?’, shouted Abdul

AHMED: “I see that, some old men have no manners!”

So, the old man stopped, placed his grandson on top of the ass with himself, so they both can ride together, and not walk, then they started across the bridge, yet again.

“Hey, Abdul, do you see how cruel that old man and the boy are being to the ass, making the poor beast carry all that load?”, shouted Ahmed

ABDUL: “Some people don’t even care about their own livestock!”

SO, the old man placed his grandson on top of the ass, made sure his goods for sale were securely secured on the ass, and then picked up the ass and carried it.

Half way across the bridge, the old man tripped on a loose board, sending the ass, his grandson and himself in to the river below.

The old man could hear Abdul and Ahmed laughing as he plunged in to the water.

The Moral of the story: If you try to please everybody, you can loose your ass.

“When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Pro 16:7 – ESV

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Faith, Observations, Uncategorized

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

A long time ago, while I was trying to be a student at Seminary, I attended a small church in Fort Worth, TX. This particular church had more Seminary professors per square foot than almost any other church in Fort Worth. I always wondered why this church was as small as it was. The Pastor, another Phd. grad from Seminary, was trying with all his might to get this church to wake up and get about the task of evangelizing.

The Pastor was really working on this, one Sunday morning. His sermon was full of urgency for the call of Christians to obey the will of God. While he was preaching, the free verse narrative came to my mind. When I originally posted this on my old web site, I thought I was giving a clarion call to the church. What I only recently came to understand is…

…God was talking to ME.

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

I was lying there in the garden, almost asleep. A man came up the pathway, stopped and leaned his hands on the gate. He looked around and asked if the garden was mine. I told him it was not mine, butI was keeping it for my Master. He asked if I knew much about gardening.

“Well, of course I do!”, I replied.

I told him that I had been to the best schools of gardening, and would probably forget more about gardening in one day, than he would learn in a year. Inundated him with a deluge of information from my knowledge of gardening. I felt that would surely quiet my unwelcome guest.

There was a moment of silence. Perhaps I had been too hard on him. I felt justified, though, he did disturb my rest.

He looked at me and said:

Have you been a gardener so long, yet without fruit?

Do you know all about the soils, yet have not tilled one foot of furrow?

Are all the seeds familiar with you, but you have not put one in to the ground?

See, the weeds outnumber the leaves on the trees, the thistles are more abundant than the flowers.

What kind of Husbandman would let his masters’ garden fall to such disarray?

You boast of being a gardener but have no fruit for all your knowledge.

How sad for you when the Master comes to judge the fruit of your labor.

I sat there in stunned silence, at a complete loss for words. I noticed, as he vanished before my very eyes, that the gate on which he had been resting was bloody from wounds that had pierced his hands.

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Faith

FAITH TO BE RECKLESS

“FAITH IS NOT BELIEF WITHOUT PROOF, BUT TRUST WITHOUT RESERVATION.” – Anon

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb 11:1 – ESV

FACTOID: “The assurance of things hoped for (elpizomenōn hupostasis). Hupostasis is a very common word from Aristotle on and comes from huphistēmi (hupo, under, histēmi, intransitive), what stands under anything (a building, a contract, a promise). ” From Robertson’s Word Pictures

In this case, it is used as a contract of deed. Faith is the TITLE-DEED of things hoped for. It is the document that states clearly that you can have confidence in God‘s promises.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Faith is the Title Deed That says, “Because you have believed in Jesus Christ, you have inherited eternal life.” Almost everyone knows John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That is the language of the Title-Deed.

The details of that title deed are detailed in the verses that follow:

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18 – ESV

Here you can see that there is spelled out a distinction between who inherits and who doesn’t inherit. Because you have believed, your first inheritance is Eternal Life. Those words are from Christ Himself. You can rest assured of your salvation, which is the language of the second half of the verse: “the conviction of things not seen.” Heb 11:1 – ESV

The number of Humans who have been to Heaven and returned to tell about it are few and far between. Chances are that you and I are not in that group. Because we hold the title deed to an eternal life, we can hold to the conviction that it has already been granted to us. You don’t have to stop what you are doing and go see the real estate. It is already your inheritance. Nothing in the world can take your inheritance away because it was signed over to you in the blood of the one who promised it to you.

BUT WHAT ELSE?

THAT is the bazillion dollar question!

The reason we were not raptured the second we accepted Christ as our Saviour and Lord is because he has a work for us to do here. Jesus has given you the authority to do those things. Jesus said to the Disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12 NASB

Anyone with one eye and half a brain can tell things are going terribly wrong on this planet. THe reason we are still here is so we can bring the gospel to anyone who will listen. We have been given the authority to do that by Jesus Himself. You do NOT need your church’s permission to obey Christ. You do not need anything but a solid understanding of the scripture and faith. And Jesus has guaranteed that you will have all the tools He had at your disposal, PLUS more.

These facts are in the Title-Deed of our inheritance. While we are still here on this planet, we have the promise of salvation, and the promise that, if we believe, and obey, we are empowered to do all that Jesus Himself did to bring others to Himself.

BUT IT IS HARD!

Yes. It is hard. And most likely, people will think you are insane. People will hate you. People will run from you. People will lie about you, try to trip you up, and basically call you nuts…and it may begin with your family.

I can attest before God, I have, on more than one occasion, seen people try to kill me for the sake of the Gospel, but God always delivers. In fact, one of the would be assassins became a Christian, and later his wife became a Christian. Today, they live in California, and have a pretty good church going out there. They reach people that most ordinary Christians would run in fear from.

These things can be done because FAITH is your Title-Deed that assures you that whatever you ask in Jesus name will be done for you, if you are praying in God’s will. This assurance is the conviction of the thing hoped for.

“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “ – Mat 18:19 NASB

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” – Mat 7:7

“For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” – Mat 7:8

BE RECKLESS ABOUT IT, TOO.

My favorite devotional is written by the daughter of Oswald Chambers. Chambers was the Chaplain for the British Airmen during WWI, while they were stationed in the Saudi deserts. Chambers wrote a diary that later became the famous devotional book called “My Utmost For His Highest”.

In several of the devotionals, Chambers describes this faith, this assurance, this conviction of things hoped for, as something we have to throw ourselves into with “reckless abandon”. Have no thought for yourself image, for your safety, for anything other than being willing to take that one step off the cliff, knowing that God is there to see you through to a path of His design.

There is a child like freedom in this kind of faith. When my daughter was a toddler, she had no problem or hesitation about running as fast as she could and jumping into my arms. She knew without hesitation that I would catch her. We have to put aside our practical worldliness. We have to put aside all concerns for how we will look to others. We just have to have the Joy of our salvation, and the faith that whatever it is that God asked you to do, you can do it with out fear or concern. Jesus promised you that you have eternity as your reward, and all the power in the Kingdom of Heaven to accomplish what God has asked you to do.

Do we really want revival? Start with yourself. Be recklessly abandoned to the assurance of the things hoped for, and stand on the conviction of the things not seen.

We need revival in this land. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do that thing that God has asked us to do. We can do this because we have our salvation. We have our salvation because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The fields are ripe for harvest. Let’s be about it.

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The Return To God: Part IV – God Will Send You …

I recently re-read the book of Exodus. Imagine how mind blowing it was to be Moses and go through all that. I got the following things out of that story of Moses on the Mountain with God (Exodus Chapter 3).

God will send you to do a task.

The craggy earth gave way to what appeared to be good grazing ground, and a pool of water. Mount Horeb was considered a holy mountain, but Jethro, his father in law, happened to have exclusive rights to that stretch of real estate. One minute, you are a prince of Egypt, and here you are, 40 years later, herding sheep that don’t even belong to you. But, since you married the bosses daughter, you need to do your share. Ahh Zipporah, what a babe. Moses knew he had really lucked out when he married her. In their more frisky moments, he called her “Zippo“, because she was such a fiery wench. Little did Moses know that Bikers all around the world would be lighting their cigarettes with a lighter named after her. Her fiery disposition could, however, be a bit difficult to deal with. She was a hometown girl, and had a good gig what with her dad being the High Priest of Midian, AND a wealthy land owner. She wasn’t all that impressed with that whole, “I USED to be a Prince in Egypt.”, thing. Oh well, the land of the Midianites wasn’t so bad, and life was sure simpler out here than it was in Egypt. OK, maybe people didn’t blow trumpets and bow every time you entered a room, but still, being the son-in-law of the boss had its’ advantages.

The sheep were irritable and wanted to stop, and were giving him little irritated glances that told him “A Shepherd SHEPS, so step on it!!” He let them find the grass, and decided he’d grab some water, eat a snack, and maybe relax a bit. But as he was walking to the pond, he saw a thing he never had seen before. A bright light, looking like fire, inside a bush, and the bush was not being burned. He definitely wanted to check that out, as all he had been seeing for days was the rear ends of sheep. The change of scenery was inviting.

He approached the burning bush with some sense of amazement. The closer he got, the faster he wanted to go. This is where he later wondered if he’s been better off taking that left turn at the base of Horeb. He heard a voice call to him, “Moses, MOSESSSSS!” (Well that’s how it sounded when Charles Heston was Moses, OK!) His left brain, the logical side, said in way that nasally way most tax accountants use when they tell you, “you cannot possibly deduct dental floss as a business expense!”, his left brain told Moses , “Shut up Moses! Don’t say anything, maybe the voice will think you didn’t hear it!“, but his Right Brain, not even being aware there are rules or social graces, said, “Here I am!!“. The left brain gave the right brain a glare that could melt tungsten. Left brain went off sulking as Moses took off his Mountain Climber Flip Flops.

We know what happened here, that God told Moses He had not forgotten His people, and that He was their God. That He had heard their cries for help, and that their Egyptian task masters were being cruel, and it was time for all that to come to an end. Then He told Moses this:

“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:10 ESV

Except for the sounds of a flame not consuming the bush, the only other sound that could be heard was the sound of sheep, nervously chewing the grass, and anticipating their first opportunity to be irritated at Moses, again. This will become a common theme in Moses life over the next 40 years. We can only hope he is taking good notes.

After looking around to make sure he wasn’t being mistaken for another Moses that might hopefully be standing right behind him, and seeing that he was, in fact, the only human being careless enough to go tromping around the Holy Mountain, Moses stood there with his mouth open, as if his jaw muscles had grown too tired to keep working, and were taking a coffee break.

He thought a myriad of thoughts that kept leaping and tripping all over each other. This was exacerbated by the fact that the Left Brain had not quite decided to let the whole Right Brain shouting out loud thing go just yet.

So, God waited.

He created Moses, just like he created the rest of us. He knew that Moses would need a moment to collect himself, and to get his thoughts, such as they were, under control.

Moses finally got a grip on himself enough to ask God some questions.

What ever it is that God asks you to do, He will be with you.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He (GOD) said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Exodus 3:11- 12 ESV

See, Moses hadn’t been a prince of Egypt for some time, as Zippo was often reminding him. Besides that, there was that whole, “I murdered an Egyptian Guard” thing. Zippo was always telling him, “Moses, Moses, that was such a long time ago. You don’t even look like the Moses on the wanted posters. THAT Moses was young and handsome! YOU look like…well, lets just say that you have a lot of inner beauty, OK? ”

Once Moses got past all the excuses he could think of to NOT be deliverer of Israel, Friend of God, Law Giver, and Holy Land tour guide, he realized all he had to do now was convince Zippo that: He had a nice chat with the Living God on a mountain, and God wants him to go back to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaved and lead them to Caanan so they can take the land back from the remnants of the fallen ones, and call it Israel. All I will say of that is that the ensuing conversation is where Zippo earned her reputation for being fiery. No one dared cross her after that.

God will empower you to do that task.

Moses said to God, “Ok, so let’s say that I actually get past the guards at the gate, then get past the security check point at the palace, and get past the palace guards that guard the throne room of Pharaoh, let’s say all that actually happens. I just go up to Pharoah and say “Let My People Go!” and he’s gonna go “OK, Sure!”??

I am going to look all jumped up and crazy. How is anyone going to believe a thing I say?

The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” (Moses) said, “A staff.” And (the LORD) said, “Throw it on the ground.” So (Moses) threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—” Exo 4:2 – 4 ESV

Moses was dumbfounded. THAT was some very cool stuff the Lord had in mind. Then Moses asked “Will this trick work on Zippo??”

God will never tell you to do something except that he will be there to see it through.

God let Moses practice that “stick to snake” miracle out a few times, just to make sure he got the timing down, and that Moses didn’t grab the wrong end of the snake. While he was warming up to this idea, he asked God, “So, I am going all by myself to confront an entire nation in order to free the Hebrew slaves?” God reminded him that, no, Aaron will go along to serve as Moses’s mouthpiece, but what’s more important is that GOD will be there all the time. He told Moses:

“So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.” Exodus 3:20

Don’t be afraid to do what God has called you to do.

“Let me get this straight,” said Moses as he practiced picking up the snake again. He got it backwards the try before and threw the snake down instead of throwing the stick down. That almost turned out wrong.

“After you do all these to miracles in Egypt, the Hebrews will let me lead them out of the land of Egypt and just follow me out the gates?”

At the risk of being overly redundant, God said: “And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. “ Exodus 3:18 -20 ESV

The Blessings don’t begin until you have walked in your purpose from God.

By this time, Moses was beginning to buy in to this whole, “Deliverer of Israel from Egypt” thing. He told God he will do it, had the afore mentioned “discussion” with Zipporah, and put his sandals back on. God told Moses he had made the right choice and assured Moses:

“And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” Exodus 3:21-22 ESV

OK, So I am not Moses:

But I am a child of God.

I was created for a purpose.

Now that I have returned to God, God will show me that purpose.

I may not be asked to do the mighty acts of Moses. But I know that the acts I will do will be because God will be there to work through me. He will lead the way for me. He will be ever present through the good stuff and the bad times. He will empower me to do the things he has asked me to do. The degree of the power I see God work will be in proportion to the degree I have faith in He who sent me.

This is the same for you.

No matter how crazy it sounds, do whatever God asks you to do. You will be blessed.

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Faith

The Ethics of Hell

[NOTE: I have kept a copy of this article preserved and encrypted in the event that it is somehow altered by a person or persons other than me.]

“Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. “Ecc 3:16 -17

THE SETTING:

Ray Charles can see that the Government of the United States has abandoned all that is holy, moral, legal and right. Oftentimes, I stand in stupefied wonder that “We the People” have let this happen.

The condition we are in today didn’t happen overnight, either. I remember vividly, in the 1960’s, when God was being kicked out of school. Today, there is a concerted and overt effort to remove Christianity from the common arena.

What dumbfounds me is that:

A: What passes for a representative republic openly demonstrates, with great pride, every effort it can to destroy all that was considered good, all that was considered right, all that is constitutional, all references to the Living God, and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

B: What passes for government today openly calls Christians, and tea party members “terrorists” while giving a free pass to the people who want to kill us.

And

C: We are tolerating this behavior.

MY REACTION

I have no doubt you are aware of the same things I am. This has been a real struggle for me. I was raised in the South where being an American is just as important as being a Christian. In fact, a lack of patriotism usually meant that your neighbors will question your salvation.

I was raised to believe that we are a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. That the Constitution IS the baseline by which all laws are measured, and no law will exist that takes away from the constitution, in any form, shape or deed.

I was raised to believe it is honorable to die for your country, that the flag will not be desecrated under ANY circumstances, and that this nation exists because of the Living God.

Now that we have kicked God out of our lives, our nation has fallen to a very dark place.

So, my gut reaction is to be angry at the Government. My gut reaction, my real heartfelt reaction, is to take matters in my own hands. That is my gut reaction. I have this reaction because, in the 1980’s I swore an oath that includes this phrase:

“I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.”

That oath keep crashing against the shores of my conscience, and I am overwhelmed with the desire to keep that oath.

There’s just one problem with that…..

THE ETHICS OF HELL

“The thief (Lucifer, Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they (you and me) may have life and have it abundantly.” Joh 10:10

This part took me a while to see. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am very patriotic, that I am very willing to risk my life for my oath, that I have been harboring deep hatred and resentment in both the government for all of its blatant display of corruption, and a nation that tolerates it.

But I took my anger to God.

And I prayed.

And prayed.

All this time, God listened to me rant and rave. My anger had been kindled, I wanted to pour out MY wrath on these people.

This is when God reminded me of the ethics of hell.

The enemy of God doesn’t care where fear, anger, confusion, distrust, and treachery comes from, AS LONG AS IT IS THERE. I might feel perfectly righteous being angry, but my anger tempts me to run into sin, and not wait on the Lord. No other patriot would blame me for my feelings, either.

This scripture came to my mind: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Pro 25:28

Anyone of us can justify our patriotism. We can even look down our noses at anyone who doesn’t feel the same hatred and indignation of our corrupted government.

God showed me that my anger is misdirected and I was sinning in my heart by the things I imagined should be done to fix our government.

The ethics of hell means that you will be tempted to sin, and you will be able to justify it in ways that hardly anyone else could condemn.

My willingness to lose self control opened a chink in my armor. My anger was not God’s anger. My desires for action were not Gods desires for me. And no matter how well I could justify my attitude, all I did was open a door that allowed the enemy to breach the walls of my heart. And thoughts of evil piled on top of thoughts of evil, until all I became was an animal waiting to be unleashed to his prey.

Satan does not care how much you read the bible, pray, sing in the choir, as long as you are willing to be angry and sin. As long as you give harbor to fear and confusion, as long as you take your eyes off Christ, and look at the waves you are walking on.

Satan is the author of confusion. Satan speaks death in to everything he touches. Satan divides. Satan destroys. And he is especially happy when he can distract Christians away from God. Satan knows that if we ever stop being willing to sin, if we ever approach God and confirm God’s will on our lives, and if we ever remember that our first call is Love, then Satan loses this skirmish.

MY RESPONSE

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isa 1:18

“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. – Rom 12:17 – 21

After praying, and God pointing out that my fleshly response will not please Him, I asked, “Then what should I do?”

God laid it on my heart that my anger does not serve the kingdom. That taking matters in my own hands is not the will of God. God reminded me of my calling, and the fundamentals of all of our calling. Those of us who seek the Lord with all our hearts, who know that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and have accepted that free gift of salvation, know deep down that God’s ways are not our ways.

It is the ethics of Hell that demands you take matters in to your own hands. It is the Ethics of Heaven that reminds us:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Eph 6:12

In God’s army, our battles always begins on our knees before Him. We are to listen to Him, and obey whatever he leads us to do, no matter how contrary it may be to our human reasoning. The mightiest weapons we have in God’s army is prayer and praise.

God reminded me of the battle in II Chronicles 20 (A good read), where the battle was not won with swords, but with praise. This is where we become the most effective in the service of God’s army. Praise and prayer will bring the changes we need in our nation. Unrighteous anger just adds to the overwhelming noise that exists on this planet. But prayer and praise are inhabited by the Living God.

Knowing this, then, here is what I did.

I prayed for the Salvation of Obama. I prayed to God, and the more I prayed, the more it made sense to love my enemy. I prayed for the House and the Senate, as well as the Judiciary. I prayed that the Spirit of God descend on them, and everyone in Washington D.C. that they will be convicted of their sin and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That the powers that be have the courage to face the consequences of their actions, and to confess to the Lord, who will be faithful to forgive them.

I prayed this prayer, and it was one of the hardest things to do to say that I genuinely love Obama and care about his eternal soul.

It is not my place to attack anyone in the government. Not even in my prayers. As a warrior of God’s army, my battle begins with me getting out of the way of the will of God, and praying for my enemies in a way that is pleasing to God.

It is the will of God that no man should perish.

But for the most part, I needed help from the Holy Spirit to teach me how to pray for people that I so sincerely despise. It is written:

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Rom 8:26

and

“For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.” 1Co 5:12-13a

Do I want my sense of vengeance, or do I want revival in the land? I want revival.

Revival will begin when I pray that God forgive my attitude, and when I ask God to fill me with HIS desire for our nation. If we pray for the tyrants who rule over us, we will see a revival in our nation. But this revival must first begin when we, as warriors to God, start the battle on our knees.

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The Return to God, Part III : God Will Tell You Of His Plan.

[Dear readers, I mixed up the order of this topic a bit. I appreciate your understanding. There is a reason.]

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jer 29:11 ESV

Before you were born. God knew you would exist. He planned for you to be here. He knew you while you were being knit together in your mother’s womb. He made plans for you. He wants to tell you His plans for you. Now that you have returned, or will soon return, he wants to show you what He will do in your life.

I argued with God, “How can you say you have made plans for me when my life has been so messed up?!?”

“God, I have messed up my life so much, there is NO WAY you can restore me to the plans you made for me!”

After 20 years of running, about 6 years ago, I returned to God. I had repented. I had confessed. I felt the cleansing wash of forgiveness and grace consume me, and drive me through the rapids right over the fall, deep in to His mercy. And I was made whole again.

And He held me. He loved me. And he welcomed me home. He let me rest a bit. I was tired from all that running from Him. And he healed my hurts, most of them self inflicted, some not so much. He soothed my anger. And I am not angry, now. He fed me through daily readings of His Word. He listened as I prayed, and talked to me when I listened. For the first time in my life, I knew what it meant to be still, and know God. And it was GOOD.

And then he told me what He has planned for me. You don’t get to know what that is, because it is personal, and strictly between God, Me and my family. And it will bear fruit only when I obey and submit.

This is what God will do with you, too. He will take you through the same steps. He will then tell you all about why you even exist. That was always a big question for me. Why do I exist? Like the Psalm says,

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:14 – 16 ESV

He has known all about you, how you were made, that you are created because He has a plan for you. He has every day of your life numbered, and, if you will, He will show you what he plans for your life, and it will be Good.

What will God do for all that time you have spent away from His presence? God is in the miracle working field. It is part of His resume. He will take every wrong turn and make it make sense, and make it right, and you will learn from your past, as you forgive yourself of your past.

God will then Set your feet firmly in the eternal today. By that I mean, you will begin to recognize that, especially at first, you will need to be still, and just have today. Pray today. Listen today. Read His word today. Go to bed, and repeat that process. And as you develop obedience to this process, He will talk to you in that “still small voice”. He will make certain scriptures show up just as you need to read them, and you will begin to see a pattern. The Bible will be come for your heart and mind what good food is to your body. And you will grow.

As you grow, your love of God will grow, your praise of what Jesus Christ will increase, and you will see that you have been forgiven much, and you will know you are now the brother or sister of Jesus Christ, and He intends to share His inheritance with you. And you will see that all those broken roads have led you right to the loving embrace of Christ and his forgiveness of you. And you will understand:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 ESV

“But what about all the hurtful things I have done to others and others have done to me?”

I asked that too.

You will learn to forgive, and you will find a way to seek forgiveness from those you have hurt. You will be led by the grace of God to seek out any one you have done wrong, and seek restitution. You will understand the importance of laying your offerings down at the altar, and seeking forgiveness of others. Then you will see that your offering has been made worthy. And you will understand what it means to love one another.

This IS part of the plan. To be free from your sin and guilt, and to be set free from the debt you owe others.

“What if they don’t forgive me?”

Some will, some might not.

You cannot control what others will do and will not do. You can only obey the will of God. To be like Jesus Christ is God’s will for you. And you just need to obey. You will be amazed how free your soul feels after you have done this.

The growth and completion of your character will take the rest of your life. That is the good and the bad news. But the best news is that, in the book of John, chapter 15, we can read how Jesus promised you he will send the Holy Spirit to walk beside you, and teach you as you grow and go.

His will is that you be just like Jesus Christ.

That is His will.

And as you begin to do this, you will discover you have certain gifts, some spiritual, some material, some physical talents. And you will discover that all these gifts complement each other, and you will hear the voice of the Spirit of God guide you in the practice of using these gifts to glorify the Father, that others will be drawn to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

God will tell you of His plans for you.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

Like I said, I know what God’s plan is for my life. About 4 months ago, he began preparing me for my calling. About 6 or 7 weeks ago, he put me in a place and time that I am more able to pursue this plan.

I promise you, that now you have returned to Him, he will take you through all these steps. And He will show you His plans for you, and they are GOOD!

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jer 29:11 ESV

Faith, Uncategorized

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF PRINCESS CALLIE

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jer 29:11-13 ESV

I heard the plaintive cries of my cat Callie. Once again, she was standing in total immobility at the opened back door. She clearly wanted to go outside, but last time she made the attempt, a leaf fell off a tree, causing her to have massive heart failure. The fright was just too much for her. I, of course, applied CPR.

If you have read my earlier blogs on Callie, you know she has a certain…quality of personality ranging somewhere between stark raving fear, and unbridled panic.

I went to the door, that I had previously opened so she could go out, and waited for her to screw up the courage to do so. She looked up at me and meowed again. I knew she wouldn’t make a move unless I went out first.

I did.

She followed.

She called on me, and my presence gave her the courage to do what I wanted her to do.

Just like God has been doing for me.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psa 23:4 ESV

Faith

The Return to God, Part II: God Will Then Let You Know He Is Aware of Your Situation

Part II: God will then let you know he is aware of your situation.

(All Bible quotes used herein are from the ESV, by means of the excellent software: e-Sword. )

I think the thing that slowed my return to God was me…my thoughts, my fears, the dread of being judged as irredeemable.

I was in the way of my own redemption. I had strayed pretty far. I didn’t know how to return to where I was. I didn’t know the way back. I could recall the day of my Salvation. But it seemed a lifetime ago, and I had done SO many things, much of it on purpose, to anger the Living God. I figured I had become irredeemable. Incurable. Incapable of being acceptable to God. Chances are you might feel that way too.

I had completely forgotten what Jesus said about any who are saved.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Do you remember the day you were saved? Maybe it was a long time ago, and you have not lived the “victorious life”. Maybe the burden of separation from God seems like it is too much for you.

But take it from me, one who recently returned, Jesus meant it when He said: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. And: whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

I had forgotten this. I can remember the day of my salvation. But I had forgotten the above. When I recalled these verses, and finally realized what these verses mean, I realized that A: When Jesus said, ” and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ” He also meant that I myself cannot snatch ME out of His hand. Jesus said repeatedly throughout His ministry that we can curse and blaspheme God and Jesus, and do all manner of wickedness, and be forgiven, as long as we have not blasphemed the Holy Spirit. I knew I was saved. My doubts of being able to be forgiven was standing in the way of my redemption to God from my sins.

This Psalm describes how I was feeling:

Psalm 42:1- 2: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

I missed God. I missed serving Christ. I knew I was lost, and thirsty for the sweet presence of God in my life. I had to get out of my way. and that is when the changes started to happen.

First, I prayed:

Psalm 5:1-2: Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.

AND

From Psalm 51: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

This is what I discovered:

Psalm 145:8 – 9: The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

So I unloaded everything on God:

Psalm 55:22 – Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

And, Psalm 57:2 – I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

I have to confess. I mean I was prepared to hear Him tell me to go to hell. And I felt I deserved it. But God let me know he has been aware of what I had been up to all along, that he had never taken His eyes off me. And He didn’t do it in a way that was accusative. He did it in a way that let me know I can stop it now, and be forgiven. He knew anyway.

Psalm 44:20-21 If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

And:

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 145:8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Because you were saved, and because of the Blood of Christ you can rest assured:

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You will suddenly know: Psalm 40:1- 3 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.

God knows you are in a plight. He always knew. He quietly intervened on your behalf, in ways you will discover after your return to Him. He led you to the point where you understood how far you strayed. No one who belongs to Him is irredeemable.

You discover: Lamentations 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Understand this, when you began to feel the weight of your guilt for leaving God, it was God making you aware he knows what plight you are in. It was God drawing you back to Him. It was the Holy Spirit convicting you of your need to return. He was letting you know that He knows. That you were the only thing standing in your way.

God gives you the strength and courage to confess, to return, to repent. You have earned this right because you were and are saved by the blood of Christ Jesus. Jesus has made it possible for you to go before God and do business with Him:

Hebrews 10:19-21 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Christ prayed for you. That you will never be snatched out of His hand. He came after you because of His love for you. The fact that you began to miss God, and desired to return to Him is a sure sign that the Spirit of God was at work in your heart. HE KNEW your plight and came after you.

Matthew 18:12-13 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.

You are home now. God went out of his way to find you, and heaven itself rejoiced over your return to Him.

THIS is where things get really interesting.

Stay tuned for Part III: God has made you exactly the way you are, so that you can do exactly what He intends for you to do.

If you would like prayer, please write me at: sammysnardfarkle@gmail.com

Faith

The Return to God, Part I : When you turn to God, God will turn to you.

[NOTE TO READERS: Please accept my apologies for taking so long on this one. It took several rewrites before it made any sense.]

“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:17 – ESV

“If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” Jeremiah 18:8 – ESV

Let’s see…Hold on a sec….(Sounds of me frantically digging through my notes.) OK, here they are. You should see my desk. It looks like the International Paper Corporation exploded all over it. Alright, let’s see. “…yet I refused to repent.” Yep, that was the point, wasn’t it?

Frankly, I don’t even know where to start on this one. If you KNOW you need to repent, then this is probably not where we need to start out…I mean, well…you KNOW, right? You might as well be about it, and wait patiently for me to write The Return To God, Part II : God Will Then Let You Know He Is Aware Of Your Plight.

When you turn to God:

How do you know that you need to repent and return to God? I wish I could say that an angel will appear, or a hand will write on the wall, or the spirit of Christmas past will haunt you, but that’s not what usually happens. It DOES happen that way on occasion. Look at the Apostle Paul. Here is how you know you need to repent.

You start to realize there is something terribly out of place. You become miserable. Your conscience bothers you more and more. The fact that you even have a conscience means God still has His hands on you. You can remember what it was like when you were saved, and learning the Bible, and can tell there is no way your present life is anything close to that. You have stopped reading the Bible, but every time you go near it, you feel like you really ought to open it. You wake up one day and realize that everything you have done since turning your back on God has been nearly a complete waste of time (We will discover later that that is not necessarily true, but for now, that is how it feels). You slowly wake up and feel the weight of your sin. You wake up and feel that that sin is going to crush you. If this is you, then you are going through what I and countless other backsliders have gone through.

I woke up slowly, and in that waking I discovered I have never been more miserable in my entire life. I was doing work I hated, I was living a life I hated, I was miserable. “Somehow” it occurred to me that, if I really belong to God, where is the evidence of the walk? Where is my Bible? Where are my prayers? Could it be because there might be something amiss between God and me? “Nah…um…well…maybe I should take a look.” And that’s what I did. I stepped out of my own skin, looked at my life, noticed my life was really messed up, and that I had God riding all in the back of the bus.

It really hit me hard when I heard Carrie Underwood’s hit song, “Jesus Take The Wheel“. I thought my heart was going to tear a hole right through my chest. The thing about God is, He loves you beyond measure. He is waiting to bless you in ways you have never imagined. But, unlike modern parenting, He is not going to coddle us, and give us a trophy just because we exist. God has His own economy, and if you want to do business with Him, you need to know that you cannot have it YOUR way, and please God. He has something else in store for you.

Here’s the big deal about turning to God. It doesn’t matter if all you did was sneak that extra cookie when Mom told you to leave the cookies alone, and you lied to her about it. It doesn’t matter if you just murdered your wife, or husband, or robbed a bank, or raped someone, or are an alcoholic, or a prostitute, or a Satanist. Sin is Sin. Period. If you are a Christian, and have turned your back on God in ANY way, THAT is sin. If you are a Christian and sin, you make a mockery of the death Jesus paid on the cross.

BREAKING NEWS: There is no sin that cannot be forgiven except to blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God.

For the past several years, one prayer that has become my daily prayer is Psalm 51:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51 – ESV

Did you feel it in your heart? Is that how it feels when you look over your shoulder because you miss God? Do you miss the JOY of His salvation? I know I sure did. And more. What’s more, in the beginning of the Spirit convicting me, I still dug in. But God never gave up on me.

Because I was so damned stubborn, it took God being persistent for 20 years to break me. I really hope you don’t wait that long. Life becomes a living hell if you wait that long. And you will know in your heart that, if you wait any longer, God will give you over to your own will. In spades.

So, give it a try. Why?

God will turn to you.

In the Old Testament, when you see that phrase of God turning to you, the word picture the Hebrew paints is of a Daddy reaching his arms out, anxiously waiting to hold you again. Jesus called God the Father, Abba…it means “daddy”.

If you are a Christian, you have the right and privilege to call the Living God “Daddy”. He loves you so much it hurts good. He is already waiting right where you are. He is standing right behind you with his arms stretched out waiting to hold you again. He loves you. You are the prodigal son returning to his father after squandering all your talents doing things that served your appetites.

Did you know that the Bible describes this reunion with God actually dancing with you? That the Angels themselves throw a huge party? I can just see Jesus throwing a high five to his dad.

But that alone is not the total reason you repent. That is just what happens if you chose to repent. What happens when you repent is, God cleans you up Himself. He will lift your burden. He will pour his forgiveness all over you. Your heart will be clean again.

Let me ask you something. Do you have to bathe before you take a bath? Nope. That would be silly. You don’t have to clean up before you turn to God because, frankly, that is impossible. Because of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, you are and will be clean again when you confess with all your heart, and repent (Means to turn back, FOR GOOD).

You know, just like I knew, that you miss God. Maybe you don’t remember how you got where you are. Maybe you don’t think you can figure out how to get back home. Maybe you don’t think you can be forgiven. You would be as wrong as I was when I thought all those things.

God was there all the time. When I was running from him, all I was doing was crossing his palm. You see, the Bible tells of God’s promise that nothing, no power, no thing at all can remove you from His hand if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So, you can come home, because you are already there. He already knows what happened in your life because he saw it all. You cannot shock God. Believe me, I tried.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Give it a try. You really have nothing to lose.

Let Jesus Take The Wheel.

============================================================================

Here is an outline of my next few posts:

Part II: God will then let you know he is aware of your situation.

Part III: God has made you exactly the way you are, so that you can do exactly what He intends for you to do.

Part IV: God will then tell you of His plans for you.

Part V: God will send you to do a task. He will empower you to do that task.

That’s it so far, but there will be more in this series.

Faith

The Prayer

There is a prayer that I prayed over the last several years. I prayed this particular prayer because I was returning from my rebellion against God. I fell from his grace about 20 years ago, and it has taken me that long to get to the point where I have been willing to pray and read the Word. I admit that I did not write the prayer (below), but I prayed it almost every day for a year. I have recently begun this prayer cycle again.

I have a very strong feeling that someone out there is going through a real challenge, a real struggle. Try this prayer below. Just do it. It doesn’t matter if you feel like it or not, just commit to do this for 40 days. Whoever you are, I pray with you in this struggle. A lot of Christians have no idea what darkness lay waiting to capture a soul. It is very difficult to see this happen, and even more difficult if you are the captive. Pray this prayer, and watch your life change. Pray this prayer on behalf of the one you see struggling. God knows where you are. Let him see you obey and let him hear your voice.

THE PRAYER

I pray this prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus Christ.

In the name of Jesus Christ I bind, rebuke, and bring to no effect: All division, discord, disunity, strife, anger, wrath, murder, criticism condemnation, pride, envy jealousy, gossip, slander, evil speaking, complaining, lying, false teaching, false gifts, false manifestations, lying signs and wonders, poverty, fear of lack, fear spirits, retaliatory spirits, deceiving spirits, religious spirits, occult spirits, witchcraft spirits, and spirits of Antichrist.

I bind all curses that have been spoke against me, I bless those who curse me, and pray blessings on those who despitefully use me. I bind all spoken judgement made against me, and judgments I have made against others. I bind the power of negative words from others, and I bind and render useless all prayers not inspired by the Holy Spirit; whether psychic, soul force, witchcraft or counterfeit tongues that have been prayed against me.

I am God’s child. I resist the devil, in the name of Jesus. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. I put on the whole armor of God. In the name of Jesus, and because Jesus has granted me this power, I take authority over this day. Let this day be prosperous for me, and let me walk in your love, Lord.

The Holy Spirit leads and guides me today. I discern between the righteous and the wicked. I take authority over Satan and all his demons and those people who are influenced by them. I declare Satan is under my feet and shall remain there all day.

I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am God’s property because I have been bought with the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Satan, you are bound from my family, my mind, my body, my home, and my finances. I confess that I am healed and whole because of the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus. I flourish; I am long lived, stable, durable, incorruptible, fruitful, virtuous, and full of peace, patience and love. Whatsoever I set my hands to do shall prosper, for God supplies all my needs. By the authority Christ Jesus has placed in me, I have all authority over Satan, all demons, and beasts of the field.

God, I pray for the ministry you have for me. Anoint me, God, for all you call me to do for you. I call forth divine appointment, open doors of opportunity, God ordained encounters, and ministry positions.

By the name of Christ Jesus, I claim a hedge of protection around myself, my spouse, my child(ren) throughout this day and night. I ask you, God, in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, to dispatch angels to surround me, all the members of my family, to put angels throughout our home, around our cars, souls and bodies. I ask angels to protect my house, and all the land that surrounds it, from any intrusion and to protect me and my family from any harmful demonic mental attacks.

Lord God, I pray this prayer of behalf of my neighbors, my friends, my extended family and my nation.

I ask this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. – AMEN

Faith

The Return to God – Introduction

“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, How shall we return?” Malachi 3:17 – ESV

It is my experience that, if you really want to mess your life up, and you think you are serving God, just tell God, “Hey Big Guy! I got this. It’s all right if you want to take care of things, I know you must be really busy.” IF you happen to have any friends who actually fear God, they just might scoot over a few feet before the lightning hits you.

“Such arrogance!”, “Such hubris!”, “There is no way I would ever say that to God.” I know, I can hear you thinking it.

Don’t kid yourself, we all do this at one point or another, in small ways or big. This might be exactly why a lot of people who Love God, through Jesus Christ will not go to a church, because they see the same arrogance and hubris in that church, while that church is not able or willing to see how far it is off course.

If you are wise, and are listening to the Holy Spirit, you will repent immediately. But if you aren’t, like I wasn’t, then you might be in for a long ride down a darkening path.

I did this in really big ways. I was in Seminary. For the first time in my life, I was making nearly all ‘A’s. I was learning biblical languages. I was involved heavily in getting a few churches started. etc, etc, blah, blah, blah. – whatever.

Don’t get me wrong, I started out on fire. I was moving in the spirit. I was reading the Bible and praying. One evening, about, maybe 20 years ago, whilst sitting in services at a small church in Fort Worth, Texas, the Ministry for Divorced people was presenting services. This is when God let me know he was unhappy with me.

See, I had judged these people and said in my heart, “These people are probably divorced for a reason!”, “I don’t feel sorry for them!”, “If they had been doing the will of God, they wouldn’t be in this spot.” Crazy, right? I KNOW none of you guys would ever think a thing like this, but I did. But what I didn’t take in to account when I did that was, GOD WAS LISTENING TO THE MATTERS OF MY HEART.

God disciplines those whom he loves.

You see, by the time I had arrived at this level of arrogance, I had separated myself from God by insisting that I take the wheel, run things on my own. I hadn’t noticed that my personal life had changed, and not for the better. NOT ONLY THAT: when God told me to check my attitude and repent, I had the stones to tell God, “Really? From what? I am serving YOU, God. And, I might add, I am doing a great job.”

See what I did there?

I was ignoring the fact that my personal walk with God had slipped away from being an intimate experience, and things were drying up. I had gone from daily prayer, to no prayer. I had gotten “too busy” to read the word. I had let sins that God was protecting me from creep back in and eventually dominate my private life. I had become just like the people in Malachi, whom God had called to repentance.

He called and I said, “WHAT?!?!”

God told me in my heart that, unless I repented, he will remove me from the “status” I enjoyed. My service FOR God had taken place of the service OF God.

I refused to repent.

He called me again to repent.

I refused.

I thought He should recognize what all I was doing FOR HIM. (Yes, I am a Jack Ass!!).

See, I didn’t think I needed to repent of anything. My arrogance had driven me to the point where I had become god, and I had removed the guidance of God from my life.

God warned me. He called me to repent over and over.

Yet I refused.

Then things went to hell.

My marriage ended, I was “encouraged” to leave Seminary. I lost my job at a private Christian children’s home. The churches I was involved in, and built, were taken from me, and given to someone of a more humble nature. My prayer partners refused to have anything to do with me…

…yet I refused to repent.

Then, when things got really tough, and I was living out of my car, I decided I hated God. I blamed Him. And I spent the last 20 years hating God and running from being what he designed me to be.

Recently, I began to hear the voice of the Lord calling in my heart. It was quiet, gentle, and so sweet it made my heart ache with such longing. I learned many things from the last 20 years, and that is what my next 12 or so posts will be about. This is just the introduction.

I am writing this to show you what God showed me. I am not going to bore you with the 20 years of running. I am going to start with Malachi 3:7 – the part that says, “Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.” That is why I am calling this series, “The Return to God”.

If you are still breathing, there is hope for you, whether you are a church, or an individual.

For me to be useful in the Kingdom, I had to repent, confess my sins of arrogance, ignorance, self importance, and especially from telling God that I AM serving Him when all I was doing was drifting away from Him.

I had to understand that I had become an embarrassment to the Kingdom.

But God used those 20 years to teach me what repentance is all about. From repentance comes His presence in your life. That is what the next posts will be about. I hope you get something out of this. If you don’t, that’s OK too. I am writing this to those individuals and churches who think they are serving God, but have let the arrogance of their own ways separate them from God.

Tired of playing church? Want to know why a lot of Christians do not want to go to your church? I want to share the lessons I have learned from this painful experience. There were many tears in my journey, but it has brought me to a blessed joy that only comes from the presence of God. Part one of this series will probably be the longer of these posts.

I pray, in Jesus holy name that all that I write is the truth, represents God in the furtherance of His Kingdom, and becomes a blessing to all that read it. I pray that Jesus continue to be my Savior and Lord, as the Holy Spirit walks beside me, and teaches me how to be God’s beloved Child. – Amen.

David G. Perkins

Writer At Large

Author Archives: David G. Perkins

Misused Bible Verses, Part One: “God Will Never Put More On You Than You Can Handle.”

Forgiveness, the Test of Authenticity

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The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness, Part 2

The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness Part 1

The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness Part 1

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The Jewels in Your Crown: Forgiveness, A Jewel With Many Facets – Introduction

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My Daughter The Author

HOW GOD SEES IT

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Sometimes The Blank Page Wins

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WATCH YOUR ASS!

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HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

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FAITH TO BE RECKLESS

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The Return To God: Part IV – God Will Send You …

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The Ethics of Hell

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The Return to God, Part III : God Will Tell You Of His Plan.

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF PRINCESS CALLIE

The Return to God, Part II: God Will Then Let You Know He Is Aware of Your Situation

The Return to God, Part I : When you turn to God, God will turn to you.

The Prayer

The Return to God – Introduction

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