Tag Archives: Forgiveness

Faith, Observations

The Looking Glass


In my dreams. Photo by E. Tom Hussey

In my dreams. Photo by E. Tom Hussey

JAMES 1:23-24 – For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

We interrupt this series on values to bring you this message.

I Corinthians 15:49 – Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

A few days ago, I was talking to a friend about how our perception of ourselves affects what we believe is true about ourselves.  For example, I have this self-image of me from when I was in peak athletic condition.

In my minds mirror, I see me as still being fit, muscular, coordinated, strong, with real strength, not bottled strength.  In my minds mirror, I still have long, curly blackish/brown hair, full of waves and curls.  In my mind’s eye, I am still wearing 32 inch waist pants.

What the mirror in my mind ells me.

What the mirror in my mind tells me.

The mind can be a tricky thing, and can lead me to many false assumptions based on what I think is true.  Often, my warped ego guides me to many fallacies and false assumptions.

The other day, I did something I honestly RARELY ever do.  I looked at myself in the mirror.  My first impression was, “Hey!  That’s my Dad!  I thought I buried HIM in 2005!”  But when I moved, so did the man in the mirror.  Then it dawned on my conscious mind, and my ego mind, that is not my dad, but ME!!

It was then I realized why I don’t look in mirrors.  I am not that guy my ego told me I am.  I am the very image of my Dad.

IN THE BEGINNING

When God created us, we were made in the image of God, meaning we looked like he looks.  We were also made in the likeness of God, meaning we used to act as He acted because we saw what he did.

AFTER THE FALL

After the fall, we lost touch with God, and lost what was His likeness.  We were not able to return to our glorified state.  No work we could expend any effort on would make us righteous in God’s eyes, even though we became self-righteous in our own eyes.  The ego can really fool a person.

THEN CAME JESUS

Yes, Jesus is the Son of God.  God said so rather loudly at Jesus’ baptism.  But it was the Son of Man that faced temptation.  It was the Son of Man that asked God to take away the cup.  It was the Son of Man that faced God’s wrath.  It was the Son of Man that rose from the dead to prove he is the Son of God, too.

The Image of Christ

We are asked to be like Christ, but we, on our own are not capable.  The best we can do is try, but we eventually fail.  But the scripture says we need to become like Christ.  Peter was the first person to prove that, if you don’t keep your eyes on Christ, you will fail in your effort to be just like Jesus.  The labor into the rest of Christ likeness was that all Peter had to do was keep his eyes, and faith, on Jesus, and he would have walked on the water, by faith, as he was already doing.

In the Garden of Eden, the wind and waves Adam and Eve faced was the lie that doing something else will make you just like God.  They then doubted they were already like God.  They took their eyes off the facts, and the truth, and considered a lie, and a false premise based on circumstances.  Forbidden Fruit.

THE EXCHANGE

If you will consider this, instead, and accept it as fact, instead of believing what you think you apparently see, you will learn that you are already like Christ, if you have accepted His death and resurrection.  When Jesus became all your sin, you received, in exchange, all that Jesus is.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

II Corinthians 3:18

It is all a matter of what we focus on.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8  

Just like Jesus died of our sins, voluntarily, we are able to die to ourselves, voluntarily, as we labor into the rest of accepting that, all that Jesus was, we inherited when He arose from the dead.  When we keep our understanding on this truth, when we comprehend this exchange, and when we accept it in faith, no matter what we think we look like, you will look to God, like His Son, Jesus, and you will eventually appear to others to have the likeness of Christ, too.

After all, that is why you weren’t raptured the second you believed.  You are the only Jesus people will see.  When they see Jesus in you, they will want to know what happened to make you this way.

We are transformed in to the image of Christ

We are transformed in to the image of Christ

Let’s Be About It!

I love you in the Name of Jesus

David G. Perkins

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Faith, Observations

What Were You Looking For?


what-we-see-depends-mainly-on-what-we-look-for

Philippians 4:8-9 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”   Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

When I was a teenager, my Dad decided it was time for me to learn how to fly one of his several airplanes.  Considering my driving history, I thought he surely had a screw loose, somewhere.  By time I was 16, I had already totaled a few cars.  Still, I do love to fly, and had always wanted to fly right seat with my Dad on his adventures.

Our airport was the municipal airport in Plainview, Texas.  At over 3300 feet, altitude, the airport has a whole lot of sky to fling your airplane into.  Dad made sure the wind was relatively calm before he would let me take off.  The high plains are very windy much of the time.  There is a saying in Lubbock, Texas (45 miles south of Plainview), that if the wind ever stopped blowing, everyone would fall down.  Wind is a fact of life, there, and you adjust your walking by leaning into the wind.

Taking off into the wind made flying that much more fun, as I had to generate less lift with the engine.  Flying in the wind, however is a challenge.  This is where the word attitude comes in.  In flight, your attitude is the approach you have to take to flying in the wind, ESPECIALLY when you are landing an airplane.  Landing an airplane on a calm day was challenging enough for me, but landing in high wind was a contest between me and the wind to see who will master my aircraft.  This is when attitude becomes everything.

When nature threw strong wind at me, I had to turn the airplane into the wind on approach to the landing strip.  This is called “Crabbing”.  I am approaching a runway almost sideways, and at the last-minute, I correct my attitude so I can land moving in the right direction.  Another factor in landing attitude is that I could approach the runway only in a narrowly defined angle.  This is called the “Glide Path” .   As you approach the runway, you will see a group of lights.  If my glide path is too low, I will see three or more yellow lights.  If my glide path is too high, I will see red lights, if my glide path is correct for the landing approach, I will see green lights.

Maintaining the right attitude for landing is everything, too.  I am already crabbing in to the runway because of a wind situation, and I also must keep my approach angle right.  If I am yellow on approach, I will not land on the runway.  If I am red, I will land too far in on the runway to keep from overshooting.  I must crab in on a green light.

While I am worried about those two aspects of attitude, I also have to make sure my wings are as level as I can keep them on approach, and that my nose is not too high, or too low.  So, there are possibly 4 parts of attitude I must pay attention to when I am landing.  Overdoing or under-doing any part can mean a bad landing.  Bad landings can complicate your life in ways you don’t need.  It was all about attitude.

 

“WELL, THE METAPHOR IS OBVIOUS, ISN’T IT?”

I hope so.

At CATES (Where I work), one of the twelve principles we live by is: “ATTITUDE – We choose to be positive”.   If you want to approach a subject and land on it with successful outcomes, it helps if your attitude is positive.  Being positive makes all the difference in the world.  It is fairly clear, after over 8000 years of examination, that God has given us the ability to affect the outcomes of every aspect of our lives, simply by determining what we believe is true about it.  Our beliefs change every aspect of our life.  If you believe things will always go wrong, then you will experience that outcome.  If your approach to your fellow-man is negative, then you will reap the benefit of your view of others, and have no genuine friends.

Attitude is one of the very first things the Lord had to really work with me on.  I was a negative and pessimistic individual, whose attitude was reinforced by the outcomes of my life.  My assumption was that I was right because everything always turned out exactly as I thought they would.  God showed me that attitude is a choice.  How I choose to approach anything will directly affect the outcomes.  Attitude is a choice.  It is a habit.  It comes from the heart.  It becomes positive when you learn to look at the world differently.

 

“HOW DID YOU DO IT?”

I’m glad you asked. I didn’t.

My attitude about life, work, love, marriage, co-workers, clientele, family, or anything didn’t change until I fully understood what the finished work of the cross gave me.  When I accepted that Jesus BECAME all sin for all time, and took on the wrath of God in our place, and in exchange, God poured on us all the benefits of being His child, an heir to the throne, a member of God’s family, a love beyond measure, and total forgiveness for all my sin, I finally understood what it felt like to see the world and people the way God does.

I learned to love because God loved me enough to bury my sin with Jesus, and raise my dead soul into a new life.  I had been born in the spirit.  Where I was dead, Jesus’s resurrection gave me life in Him.  The Spirit of God cleansed me and changed my attitude. I began thinking new thoughts.,  I loved for the first time.  I saw people as my brother or sister.  While I am aware of my and others continuing failures, I felt only love for them, and chose to show grace and mercy.  It was easy to do this because this was what God showed me.

So, frankly, I didn’t change my attitude.  Experience has taught me that, I can fake a good attitude only so long, but whatever is hidden in my heart will become manifest over time.  On my own strength I do not love long, I show no mercy or grace, and my attitude is very rotten.  Since I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, I am able to be like Christ and love, show grace and mercy, and look for opportunities to give with a positive attitude.

 

GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS

 

I cannot, by my own strength, maintain this loving attitude.  Only when I guard my thoughts am I able to be filled with this powerful love.  I can break my connection to God simply by going back to my old way of thinking and behaving.  God leaves this up to me.  The way I maintain a good attitude is by staying in the word, praying continuously, and submitting to Gods love and will.  It is only by the continual renewing of my mind that I can be a blessing instead of a curse. I am confident in Christ enough that I know I am weak, but Christ in me is infinitely strong.  If I catch the old self trying to assert his attitude and beliefs, all I have to do is remember that my old self died with Christ, and my new self, the child of God, is who lives through Christ.

Attitude is a choice.  When the blowing wind of earthly things challenges my attitude, when the weight of the world wants to crush me, when my co-workers decide to be peevish and negative, when a thoughtless and selfish humanity threatens to ruin my day, I simply remember who I am in Christ, and ask the Spirit of the Living God to sustain me so I can be a witness to all the things that would otherwise drag me down.  A simple choice of attitude can turn things around, and your witness can cause others to want to know where you have this strength of character.  Then you can tell them why you are joyful in the face of adversity, and strong when temptation desires your soul.

Think on the good things of God continuously, and you will see the world in a very different lite.

It is all a choice, a labor into the rest of the finished work of Christ.

You will always get what you are looking for.

Let’s be about it

I love you all,

David G. Perkins

PS – Click HERE to see how the Bible addresses ATTITUDE.

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Faith

Our Position in Christ: When Trouble Comes Knocking


Forgiven“One of the great inhibitors to our boldness is the responses that people in our lives give.

Although God is merciful and ready to forgive, people are not.

We cannot let the responses of people affect our honesty before and our trust in the Lord.

Though people may reject us, God does not.”

Richards, James (2001-12-01). Grace: The Power To Change (Kindle Locations 542-544). Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.

THE WORLD

When the world says I am a loser, I am too old to be part of what they are doing, or too fat, or overqualified, or under-qualified, or whatever excuse the world offers because I am not in my 20’s or 30’s and that is all they are looking for, it is easy for me to get discouraged.

When old friends or family know that I am a new creation in Christ, and say they have forgiven my past, but still treat me as if I am still that same old self, or they are so in love with their opinions and assumptions of me that the facts and evidence do not count for anything, it is easy for me to get discouraged.

MY MIND

Discouragement temps my mind to resort to old beliefs, to old habits, to old methods of acknowledging to opinions of the World and Family.  I find it refreshing that because I am a new creation, I have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16 – For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.  KJV

Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. KJV

When I rest in the Lord, I find what His mind desires for me.  When I find that He desires the fruit of the spirit of God, then I am able to rest in Him and walk after Him.  Then I am not discouraged, or angry, or disappointed.  My temptation to be my old self literally vanishes.  I find that instead of discouragement and anger, I have joy and peace.  I see the Grace and Mercy He purchased on my behalf, and receive it, and am filled with it, and understand how Godless and Religious people have missed it.  It is impossible for me to resort to my old self when I pray for these circumstances.  I have tested the claims of the scriptures, and find that they are true.  They are true because I have placed my faith in the Grace of God and His mercy.

Because of the Hope He has given me, my mind calms down, and I can wait on Him to see what he has already set in motion for me.  His ability to keep me focused on His will makes it possible for me to Wait on Him:

“O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him, and He shall give thee thy heart’s desires.  Commit thy way unto Him, and trust in Him; and fret not they self because of evil doers.”

If I try by my own strength to follow the will of God, I become a law unto myself, and forgo the Grace (Ability) of God.  Then I have to try to do everything right, even though all my effort will never be enough to please God or get me saved, or change me into the likeness of Christ.  If I fail in any single thing by my own effort, then I have failed completely.

There was only One who lived a sinless life, and who walked in the will of God.  Jesus’s promise to us is that, when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior, WE will have the same ability as God poured into Christ.

ABIDING IN HIM (The Mind of Christ)

There is a verse in the Bible that talks about ABIDING.: 1 John 2:6 – “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

The Greek definition of the word walk could more accurately be translated into this phrase: rest in the Lord so HE will cause you to walk.  If I try to walk on my own strength, the best I can do is produce what is NOT the will of God for my life.  I know this because I just spent the last 20 years doing that very thing.

It is because Jesus rested in the will of God that He was able to know and do the things He did: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him (God the Father) who sent Me.” John 6:38 NASB  Parenthesis added by me.

Our position is one of rest in Christ, who set the example by resting in God and His will.  When we do that, life becomes clearer and simpler.  By resting in Him, a very intimate relationship in the Greek language, we get to know Him and His thoughts and His will.  This intimacy causes our love and dependence on Him to grow geometrically.  After doing His will in your life, sin and temptation become apparent for what they are:  Death and Destruction.

God has placed a new desire in my heart.  It is become apparent that I cannot, nor do I want to, return to the world I left behind.  All having my way has gained me is loss and destruction.  Now I am beginning to see glimmers of what God wants for me, and I can wait on Him because Christ did the same.  Christ makes me able to rest in Him.  Christ makes me able to walk after Him because HE is my motivation and ability and power.

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

I tell you all this because I know you are human, and go through the same temptations.  Believe me when I tell you that the gift of God’s grace (ability, will, mind, power) comes as you surrender yourself to it.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

In Christ there is rest.  In my own will there is the sweat of my brow that leads to failure.  I know that my present circumstances is not the judgement of God on me, but simply the logical and natural consequences of living by my own will instead of trusting God.

God is with you if you are going through this, too, if you believe in His Son.  His Mercy has forgiven you and His grace sustains you.  Rest in Him, give whatever it is you are going through to Him.  He will show you a better way than any way you can come up for yourself.  I know this, too, is a fact.

You are His beloved.  You are an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven.  He is longing to help you if you will rest in Him.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NASB

PRAYER:  I thank you Lord for this opportunity to share this topic with my brothers and sisters who are going through the storm of doubt, frustration, disappointment and anger.  Because you have delivered me from these things, I desire to share this with anyone who will listen, and I pray you pour your Holy Spirit on those who read this message and take it to heart.  I love you God, that you have sent Jesus Christ who died for our sin, and in our resting in Him, we are led to the green pastures and clear water that is your will for us.  Reveal to each of us your will for our lives.  I pray this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. AMEN

Let’s be about it!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Faith

Growing In Christ – Dealing With Your Past


English: Broken Heart symbol

English: Broken Heart symbol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This tome is written to men and women who, like me, strayed from the Love of God and the Joy of Salvation, and lived a life that you’d rather forget ever happened.  I am writing this to you.  I am writing this from a lesson I am going through as we speak.

I want to try to prepare you that this is coming.  I knew in my heart of hearts that, eventually, the Lord will deal with this issue in my life, but was still blindsided by the intensity of it.  Not every act of obedience will bring immediate joy, but it will eventually lead you to a joy that you will never understand until you grow in Christ.

God’s discipline is a good thing, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.  Remember, God disciplines the ones He loves. When He disciplines you, it is in love, not wrath.  Jesus already took on the wrath of your sin.  What God is doing is a gift of the Holy Spirit, so that you will grow to be like Christ in all things.

The hard work of the walk is, after redemption, you still have to deal with the mess you made in the wake of your fallen state.  You will have to deal with the forgiveness and contempt you hold for yourself.  You will have to deal with the anger and unforgiveness of others.  You will get to learn what grace feels like when others forgive you, and mean it from their hearts.

God wants to take you from where you are positionally in Him, forgiven and complete, to where His view of you in Christ is materially obvious to others, so that, when you live, you will live in the image of Jesus Christ.  There are still lost souls out there who need to know that it is possible to get from where they are to where God is.

First, I need to define some very real truths:

1.  Accusation is from Satan.  When the enemy (Satan, the World, etc) decides to point out your flaws, you will feel condemned, unworthy of the love of God, and basically, despair.  The accusations of Satan are like tormenting fires.  His accusations are arrows that hit you and burn you.  The goal of Satan is to get your eyes off the work the Spirit of God is doing in your heart.  The goal of Satan is to get you to take your eyes off Jesus.  The goal of Satan is that you forget the joy of your salvation.

2.  God is Love.  God, in His love of you, disciplines you.  He does not condemn.  Your condemnation was taken care of on the Cross of Christ.  If you have accepted the Salvation of Jesus Christ, then your sin is forgiven.  The Bible makes it clear that there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.  You are not going to Hell.  You are saved.  Nothing can take that away from you.

3. We have to grow up, sometime.  God insists you grow up in all ways to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.  You were not raptured the second you believed because God intends to use you in His service.  He wants to make you into something beautiful so that others will be drawn to the saving glory of Jesus Christ.  He will not allow you to be comfortable in your old habits.  However, this, too is optional.  You will grow into Christ likeness only as you are willing to grow, and eager to surrender your old ways to His new ways.

THE SUBJECT AT HAND

The groundwork is laid, and I hope you got it.  I am deeply sorry if I have done an inadequate job of not making the above clear.  But if this is you, you will know it.  If this is not for you, please pray for the person that is going through this.

A: The Unforgiveness and contempt you hold for yourself.

This is a tough one.  The more tender-hearted you become, the more you realize what a large swath of pain and confusion and anger you have left in your wake.  This is, perhaps, the strongest shock to your system you will face.  This is where you have to learn some important lessons.

LESSON 1:  You are Forgiven. 

Where did your salvation come from?  It came from the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross.  The perfect human took on all our imperfections and our sin and was nailed to the Cross and died for them.  In His dying, Jesus absorbed and accepted all the complete wrath of God.  “For the wages of sin is death.”  And Jesus paid that wage for you.  When you realized that you were in sin, and you were led to the Cross of Christ, and confessed your sin, you immediately felt the forgiveness of God, and His cleansing Breath (Ruach Ha’Kodesh – The Holy Spirit) enter you and cleanse you of the stain of your sin.  You are forgiven.

LESSON 2:  Forgive Yourself.

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

It is hard to look at the destruction our pre-Christian lives left behind.  And if you took the time and diligence, as I did, to make a thorough mess, there will be more to face and deal with.  Sometimes you just have to take things one at a time.  Sometimes, you will have to face it over and over.

Sometimes Satan, the World, and others, will not let you forget what you have done.  This feeds the fire of your unforgiveness of yourself   Here you have to cling to the truth that God has forgiven you.  He has cast your sin as far away from Himself as the East is from the West.  God has chosen to forget your sin.  When God sees you, He sees His beloved Child, covered in the blood of Christ, who died for that very sin you are beating yourself up over.  When others want to rehearse your sin, when YOU want to rehearse that sin, you have to return to what you know.

You know that you are forgiven.

WHAT ABOUT THE PAIN?

The grief you feel is the grief God felt when you did all that destruction.  It is actually healthy.  Before you were saved, you may have felt a bit guilty, or not.  You probably went along justifying your actions, like I did.  Eventually, you built up a wall around yourself so that other’s couldn’t bother your conscience.   The thing about walls, while they effectively keep others out, they also keep you imprisoned in your own world.  You become unapproachable, unteachable, unassailable, and unwelcome.

There will be some measure of pain when this wall is torn down.  The reason you feel this pain is because you finally have a conscience.  Embrace the pain, and take it to God.  Don’t deny the pain you feel.  It is normal.  It is what remorse is supposed to feel like.  You feel remorse because God intends to grow you up, and teach you how to deal with your messes.  Learn from this remorse, and see what God wants you to do with it.

The Evangelism of today teaches something quite different.  It teaches you that you can just walk away from all your past without a second thought of the harm you have done to others.  This is an ungodly teaching.  Modern Evangelism teaches that there is no need to repent of sin, or regret your sin, that that is an unhealthy emotion that is bad for your self-esteem.

The Good news of being a Child of God is, you are no longer the sinful you.  It stops being about you.  It starts being about being remade into the image of Christ.  In that rebuilding process, you will find freedom and joy.   To assume there is nothing to go back and make right is one of the most self-indulgent things you can ever believe.

The pain of seeing, finally, what you have done to others is healthy.  It is so that you will be able to see outside of your own self-interest and see what others had to endure because of your sin.  This pain is actually the road to your freedom, as it drives you to obey God and make things as right as you possibly can.  How rich and joyful is the Grace of God, and His mercy.  What a sense of freedom you will know when you obey God, and do His will.

Part of the pain is that the old self just doesn’t want to die, and the new self doesn’t need all that baggage your old self left at the door.  The New Self, the new creation, has to deal with this.  The new self can deal with it because Christ makes you able.  In Him is your strength.  You can do all things through Christ.

You will have to deal with the anger and/OR unforgiveness of others.

This is where you get to have YOUR grace and mercy tested.  WHere it is at all possible, find the people you caused harm to, find the people you lied to, the people you used, the people you led into sin.  Confess what you have done.  Seek their forgiveness.

What you will discover:

1.  Some people have already forgotten it.

2. Some people remember it, but don’t care.

3. Some people remember it and forgive you anyway.

4. Some people remember and will not forgive you.

5. Some people remember it, will not forgive you, and want you to suffer for it.

6. Some will say they forgive, but the anger that shows in their eyes tell you other wise.

I can go on and on, here.  I know about this because in my efforts to make restitution, I have faced everything from happy tears to death threats.  And I am not making that up.  I have tried my best to exclude exaggeration in my discourse, unless I am trying to emphasize a very obvious point.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THESE PEOPLE?

To those who have genuinely forgiven you, and have shared the fellowship of Joy in the Lord, you have gained a brother.

To those who forgot, you still seek forgiveness, but don’t rehearse the issue.  Let it go.

To those who say they have forgiven you, but the look in their eyes tells you otherwise, all you can do is ask their forgiveness.  You probably have given them a good reason to write you off, but you cannot beat yourself up over it anymore.  You can pray for them.  Their anger is their poison.  Your prayers are the antidote.  Leave it at God’s feet.

This is especially hard when you encounter this attitude with people you genuinely love, and want to have fellowship with.  Some hurts never heal.  Some people will never like you, or accept you.  That is the hard part.  But you need to take it to God.  And you need to leave it with God.

HERE’S THE GOOD STUFF:  You will get to learn what grace feels like when others forgive you, and mean it from their hearts.

This is definitely the good stuff.  How sweet it feels when a brother genuinely forgives you and shows it.  It is a wonderful thing to gain a brother.  It is good that you have a new friend in Christ.

Being shown Grace is powerful.  It is the genuine reflection of Christ in others.  It teaches you that Grace is obtainable.  It teaches you that you can do the same thing.  Grace is a gift, and when you receive it, and you give it, it multiplies.

How sweet are the tears that forgiveness brings.  How deep is the laughter and joy when you are clean of this sin.

This is what really makes it worth it, from a human stand point.

Being shown grace does wonders for you.  It gives you hope, and teaches you that YOU TOO can be Christ like.  A living example of a brother showing the character of Christ is good medicine.

It is true that some people are just plain weary of dealing with you.  But it is a genuine joy when you encounter real grace.

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET:

Now that you have reconciled with Christ, all the skeletons get to come out of the closet.  As scary as this sounds, this is a good thing.  God will take your past and turn it into a blessing.  If you have told God you want Him to make you into the image of Christ, and into His Character, then all the closets, both obvious and secret, will eventually have to be dealt with.

Don’t be afraid of the skeletons.  They are dead.  If you are in Christ Jesus, you are a new creation.  Let love have her perfect work.

Let’s Be About It.

I Love You

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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So Was Jesus


Endure“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16 NASB

I Prayed to God:  I confess…

…I am tempted to lust

God Answered me:

:So Was Jesus

….I am tempted to steal

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to lie

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to covet my neighbor’s wife, car, home, children, bank account, way of life.

:So was Jesus

…I am tempted to Murder

:So was Jesus

…I am tempted to blaspheme

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to bear false witness

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to never forgive, never forget, and hope that my enemy suffer greatly

:So Was Jesus

…I am tempted to get jealous and envious

:So Was Jesus

See…the covenant written long before the creation of the earth, before the angelic wars, before Lucifer fell from Grace is, “The Wages of Sin is Death”.  God will not tolerate sin in His kingdom. Sin is what ever I do that separates me from God.  I discovered there is nothing I can possibly do to cover my own sin…it lays me naked before God.   I need a cover because I am ashamed at being cold and naked in front of God. My best efforts at covering myself are transparent and useless.

God created me in His own image, and in his likeness.  I look like Him, and I am supposed to have His character.  I don’t.

I want to do God’s will and be pure before Him. I already know that I have nothing that will satisfy God in this regard, but, If it were possible, I am tempted to give everything I have, own, or can offer, everything that is me if it means saving me, or any other Human God created.

God answered me

:So Was Jesus  – And that is what counts.

 

Let’s Be About It

I Love You

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Hearing The Holy Spirit, or Not…It’s A Choice!


God is there for you

“If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not bring death, he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who commit sin that doesn’t bring death. There is sin that brings death. I am not saying he should pray about that.” 1 John 5:16 HCSB

What is this sin that brings death? This death is the death of your soul.  NO eternal life for this one. Jesus said:

“Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ”   Matt. 12:31 HCSB

Here is why I am writing about this.  It is an issue I have to fight daily, sometimes minute by minute.  I have submitted it to the Lord God, and He is dealing with me.  And this is a tough one.

HEARING THE HOLY SPIRIT, OR HYPOCRISY…IT’S A CHOICE!

This is an issue that hit me by surprise.  Having been the recipient of hypocrisy over these last 11 years, you’d think I would not have trouble recognizing it in myself.  But alas, and alack, here I am struggling with this.

If I am not paying attention to the way the Holy Spirit is working in me, I am in danger of becoming a spiritual hypocrite.  I have prayed to God that I should be remade in the image of Christ Jesus, My Lord.  And this is a work the Spirit of God has begun in me.  Sometimes, He deals with several issues at once, but the issues I refuse to hand over willingly, He confronts in me, when I chose to rebel against His work in me.

Positionally, God sees me as complete in Christ.  I am still alive and on Earth, and am being made into the image of Christ over time.  I will be actually complete when my life is joined to Christ in fact.

But the danger of my hypocrisy comes when I see other Christians failing, and the Spirit of God makes me aware of it, and instead of interceding on their behalf, I turn my discernment into criticism of them.

This revelation was not made to me by any acuity of mind, but by the insistent and immediate penetration of the Holy Spirit.  If I fail to pay attention to the SOURCE of this revelation, I turn into a gossiping critic of that person instead of remembering that God said: “…he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who commit sin that doesn’t bring death. “

I have to really be careful that I don’t play the hypocrite by spending all my time trying to get everyone else right before I worship God myself.

The subtle burden that the Holy Spirit places on all Christians is this discernment concerning other souls.  God reveals things to us, concerning other souls, saved and unsaved, so that we can take their burden of sin before the throne room of God, and intercede on their behalf.   This is where the mind of Christ is revealed in us.  As we intercede for others, in the way Christ would plead for them, God says He will give us “…life for them that sin, not unto death.”

I am not bringing God into touch with my mind.  I am bringing my mind into submission to the Holy Spirit to the point that God is able to convey His mind to me about the person I am interceding for.

I used to work with an Engineer who was from England.  He used to call me his “Flaming  Jackass!”.  He knew that I would kick the door down, shoot everyone in the room, and THEN try to discern who is innocent.

God has made MAJOR changes in me since then.  So, even today, when I see someone, ANYONE who is knowingly or unknowingly in sin, The Spirit of God calls to my heart to step into the throne room and intercede on behalf of that person.  It is important that I give all my fleshly will to Christ so that He can remove it and replace it with His character.  This is all part of the process.

DOES Jesus see the travail of His soul in me?  Jesus cannot unless I am SO identified with Him, that I am wakened to the realization that I need HIS view about the people who I pray for.  This takes the sacrifice of the flesh.  I have to be willing to suspend my desire to judge someone, and allow the Holy Spirit to show me how Jesus sees them.

My Prayer:  My Dear and Holy God, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, My Lord and Savior, that Jesus will be overjoyed with me as an intercessor on behalf of those who He shows me need His touch and forgiveness of sin.  Teach me not to Judge, making me a hypocrite, but teach me to show your grace and mercy, just as you showed me when I was swimming in sin.  AMEN

PS – The last 11 years of my life served as a living opportunity for other Christians to practice this.  Dear God, I pray that you forgive me my attitude, knowing they failed, teach me to see them the way YOU see them.  Teach me to intercede in Love on their behalf.  Take away my hypocrisy by filling me with Your Spirit, and teaching me your Love, Grace and Mercy. AMEN

I love you

Let’s Be About It!

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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COME HOME: Do You Like Apples?


  • ἀφίημιaphie¯mi

    af-ee’-ay-mee

    an intensive form of εἶμι eimi (to go)); to send forth, in various applications: – cry, forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.

Remember when you knew you were saved?  Jesus Christ had genuinely and truly become your savior.  You believed in your heart that John 3:16 – 17 is absolutely true:  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” – KJV

What a great feeling that was.  You were clean.  You knew you had been forgiven.  You understood that, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, you are forgiven and have eternal life.   You actually felt the burden of your sin lift from your shoulders.  And that is exactly what happened to you.  But something happened between THEN and NOW.

Chapters that need unpublished

After a while, you had quit praying, going to church, and reading the word.  All the joy you had was gone.  Since then, your life has not been what you would say was a shining example of salvation at work.    The things that you have done since have been nothing short of a betrayal of Jesus.  If you were to mention Jesus at all, it would be to say it as an expletive.

I want to tell you something.  I can tell you about this because I have been in this place, just like you are, right now.  I know things look dark.  All your former Christian associates have stopped having anything to do with you.  If you were to tell anyone that you are a Christian, there would be no compelling evidence to prove it.

Here is what I want to tell you, from the very mouth of Jesus:  “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.‘ John 6:36-39

You may have forgotten about Jesus, but HE has never forgotten about you.  This is WHY you still feel the loss of His fellowship.  No matter how dark things look now, you have NEVER been removed from Jesus, because God has given YOU to Jesus as a GIFT.  And God’s gifts are without repentance :

God has not repented that He has given you to Jesus.  You could never have come to the understanding of the saving Grace of God through Jesus, unless, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God had drawn you to this understanding.

Later, in the same book of John, Jesus said this about you:   “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”  John 6:64-65 KJV   And when you understood, you believed in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, who died for the remission of ALL sin, and you confessed with your mouth that Jesus rose from the dead.  This understanding is why you have eternal life.

So why, after all this time, do you burn in your heart this much?  Why, now, after all this time, do you suddenly find all you want to do is come home?  It is because the Spirit of God is luring you home.  You have a call on your life, and you are chosen to answer that call.  This is the influence of Jesus Christ as Lord.  He wants you to serve Him.  From here, all you have to do is return.  You will have some repentance to do.  You will have to try to mend a few fences.  But the most remarkable thing is, when you come home, your life will begin to change.  You can still sin as much as you did before you came home, but, the truth is, you aren’t going to want to.  The more of yourself you give to Jesus, the more you become remade in His image.  After that, all you will want to do is serve Him.

From God’s point of view, HE chose you.  He drew you to His Son, Jesus.  You are His gift to His Son.  Nothing you have done since your salvation can remove you from His hand.  You are eternally His.

The reason you hear His call now is, He loves you, and wants you to know that you have done nothing that can take away your salvation.

Come Home

You are saved.

HOW DO YOU LIKE THOSE APPLES???

Forgiven

I love you in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

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Forgiveness, the Test of Authenticity


“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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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

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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.
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, 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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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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