The measure of a man can be seen in what he does when no one else is around. It can also be seen in the way he spends his time compared to most people. When everyone else was going home, Jesus was going to the mountain to pray. I’m reminded of a quote from Longfellow which speaks to this:

“The heights by great men reached and kept
were not attained by sudden flight, but they,
while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Not only does Jesus stand out because of Who He was, but He stands out because of what He chose to do. This simple sentence starting off the story of the woman caught in adultery  can pass by without much notice , and it points towards the strength behind Jesus’ ministry. When others were at their homes sleeping or playing, He was on the mountain praying and meeting with the Father—while His companions slept, he was “toiling upward in the night.” It was this vital time on the mountain meeting with the Father that prepared Him to face the challenging circumstances that He met day after day, and also for this particular instance just around the corner with the adulteress woman.

Jesus had pressure upon Him. He often sacrificed what He might prefer to be doing in order to meet the needs of the people who were constantly asking for His attention. When He heard that John the Baptist was killed, He was sad and hurt and wanted to go away and be alone. When He tried to get away, He found a crowd of people begging to be healed. So He stayed with them and ministered to them. The enabling power to act in such a way is instilled upon the mountain with the Father. Each day He was faced with challenge after challenge from the religious leaders, questioning Him and testing Him. The power to endure and to stand up skillfully against the challenges was found on the mountain with the Father. Each day He was faced with followers who lacked faith and understanding. The power to love them and continue to give them grace and encouragement was found on the mountain with the Father. It’s in the quite place that we find the power to endure and stand victorious in the time of testing.

What are you doing when other people are asleep? I can promise you that the quality of life is greater when it’s empowered by spending time alone with God. We never know when the moment of testing or trial is going to come, and my hope for you is that when the story of your life is told, that right before the moment you face your greatest trial, you would be found to be “toiling upward in the night.”

One of the key issues in being a follower of Jesus is to place our total dependence upon Him to sustain us, provide for us, and to make our paths straight or blessed. It is choosing to no longer trust in ourselves, but to fully trust in Him for the entirety of our provision, not just for ourselves, but for our entire household. The devious man and the violent man mentioned briefly in this verse, are the epitome of not honoring or trusting God. They trust fully in their own strength or smarts to be successful or to acquire more in life. They are an offense to God for two reasons. First, for trusting in themselves rather than God. Second, for trampling on others so that they can promote themselves and their own agenda.

An important result of truly trusting in Jesus for all of life is that it causes us to appreciate and care for other people more and more. We are gradually learning how much God cares for us each and every time He provides for us, and in so doing we are growing in our understanding of how much God cares for everyone. This understanding begins to change the way we think about other people and how we treat them. The Bible says to think of everyone above yourself.

In this verse we are being told not to envy the violent man and the devious man. It’s easy to see people in life who appear to have much–regardless of how they attained it–and to wish we were experiencing the same. It’s possible in life to obtain a lot if you’re willing to be violent and devious. Those words are a little over the top-how about instead of violent, it’s just being willing to hurt others for your own gain. And instead of devious, sly and manipulating in order to get one’s own way. That might hit home a little more. I believe all of these are intended from the verse, and we can often be tempted to envy what some people have who’ve obtained it in ways that don’t honor God.

The key thing is to not envy in the first place, but put your trust and hope in Christ. Obedience to Christ is the best road to be on and leads to the greatest blessing. If you will invest everything on this road, in the end you will be the one that others will be tempted to envy.

]]> http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/do-not-envy/feed/ 0 Gary http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/john-519-20-knowing-and-doing-the-will-of-god/ http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/john-519-20-knowing-and-doing-the-will-of-god/#comments Sun, 18 May 2008 21:10:47 +0000 Gary Douglas Wright http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/?p=65 ]]> John 5:19-20 – 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

“the Son can do nothing of His own accord.”

Jesus was unable to do anything on His own. This is the exact opposite of us. We are unable to do anything other than our own thing. Just as Jesus would only do God’s agenda, we are wholehearted servants to ourselves and slaves to our own agenda. We need a miracle from God to change this reality. Only God can free us from being slaves to ourselves.

Why is doing our own thing so bad? It’s because of who and what we are. Here’s how the Bible describes us:

Romans 3:10b-12 – None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ………(Amplified Version) – The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

Because of who and what we are, we are incapable of doing God’s will. We are incapable of truly seeking God and knowing His will, because all that is in us is corrupt and we are brainwashed by the world’s way of thinking and chained to our own mind, will, and emotions. Only God can change us and here’s how it happens: when we put our faith in Jesus, two miracles take place. The first is instantaneous, and the second is continual and will take the rest of our lives. The first miracle is the new birth where God opens our eyes to Him:

John 3:3 – …unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Without this miracle, we are incapable of seeing God, or understanding anything about His reality and His Kingdom. When God opens our eyes to Him through the new birth, a door is opened to a world that we’ve never known before, the world of the Kingdom of God. Only then are we able to start living in such a way as to honor God and to experience true life.

The kingdom of God was always there all around us, but we were unable to see it. Without being born again, something only God can do, we would never see or understand the reality of God. Paul was clear that unbelievers—the lost—are incapable of seeing God and His truth:

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 – And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Until God shines His light into our darkness, we will be blind to the truth. God speaks “Let light shine out of darkness,” and then we are able to see. This is the new birth, and it opens the door to experiencing God and learning to live according to His will and purpose for us. We were unable, but He makes us able.

“…but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

The best way to illustrate this truth is found in the Old Testament, and it centers on how God led the Israelites in the wilderness. He led them by a pillar of cloud in the day, and fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). Whenever the cloud or fire moved, the people moved. They never knew when it would move or how long it would stay in one place. Here’s the Bible’s description of this:

Numbers 9:15-23 – On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. 18 At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. 21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

The way God’s people knew God’s desire for them was by the cloud & fire. If the cloud stayed, they stayed. If the cloud moved, they moved. Sometimes it would stay for weeks or months or years. Sometimes it would stay one day. The people never knew how long they would be in any one place. All they could know is that right now God wanted them where they were.

For people who desire to follow God wholeheartedly, walking in full obedience, and who equally desire to be used in a special way for God’s glory, this passage of scripture detailing how God led the Israelites is of utmost importance. There’s no better example in scripture of what it looks like to follow God with your life. The key for wherever you are or what you’re doing in life is whether or not God has led you there. How long you stay is up to God, not you. He doesn’t share that with us. He only expects us to move when He moves, and to stay when He stays.

Jesus operated according to this principle. He only moved when He saw the Father move. He might be on his way to heal someone but have someone else call for Him needing help. He would stop and help, and then move on to heal the other person. He might be trying to be alone in order to mourn the loss of a friend, but find a crowd of people looking for Him. Instead of being alone and mourning, He would minister to the people.

The Bible doesn’t state whether Jesus’ liked or disliked these interruptions. We only see that He was very flexible and willing to adapt His schedule to meet the needs of people. When Jesus saw that the Father was bringing a person into His path, Jesus was faithful to be obedient and minister to them. It doesn’t matter whether we like or dislike interruptions either, all that matters is whether we are obedient when God interrupts our plan. When we are going about our daily routine, it’s easy to be bothered when God puts a quick change of plans or an interruption in the schedule. Most of the time we are planning our days according to what will make us happy or accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish, and we usually are oblivious to what God is aiming to accomplish during our day. I’m sure it would be nice if He could shoot us a memo or something giving us the run down, but that’s not the way He works. He wants us to be ready to move at a moments notice. We must follow the cloud & fire. When we sense the Holy Spirit is moving in something, we must be obedient to follow. When we sense the Holy Spirit is not moving in something, we need to pray and ask God if we’re wrong and if we’ve missed Him somehow.

Whatever is not done in faith is a sin (Romans 14:23). If we’re not following the cloud, we’re out of the will of God and it is sin. When you take a job or choose a career, you better do it because you are convinced this is where the Holy Spirit is leading. If you’re going to marry someone, you better do it because it’s God’s choice for you, not because the person matches your “29 dimensions of compatibility.”

God wants to be Lord of every area of our lives, having us fully submitted to only doing what we see Him doing, only going where we see Him going, only moving when we see Him moving.

“For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing.”

To follow the example set by Jesus, God has to break us from our way of thinking, and to free us from being slaves to our own mind, will, and emotions and God wants to do this. He wants to show us His will and He wants to lead us in every area of our lives—every little step.

God gives us His Word. The Word of God is a tool to free us from being a slave to ourselves. It reveals what is from us and what is from God:

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

It’s our spirit that communicates with God’s Spirit. God gives us the Holy Spirit to lead us into wisdom, direction, and understanding as we pray and study His Word and as we go through life. Jesus said that part of the Holy Spirit’s mission is to lead us into the truth,

John 14:26 - “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”

John 16:12-15 - “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Reading the Bible without the Holy Spirit’s help won’t be any benefit to us. We need the Holy Spirit to, not only reveal to us the heart of God as we read, but also to bring it to our memory when we need it.

The key point is this, God wants to show you His will. He wants to let you in on His plan for your life and His purpose that He has for you. He’s not going to hide if from you if you’re truly seeking to know. That doesn’t mean He is going to tell you the future, it means He’s going to lead you in the now—to keep your foot from stumbling and to keep you in His perfect will.

Something about neighbors, if we don’t really know them, we don’t feel as much of a compulsion to care about them. We don’t really know what they do, what’s going on in their lives, or what they think about anything, so they’re not really a thought in our minds with the exception of when we see them going in and out of their house. Have you ever had that neighbor who rarely cut their grass and made the neighborhood look bad because their yard always needed cutting? Or maybe the neighbor who let their dog run free? When we don’t know our neighbors, it’s easy to allow negative thoughts to enter our minds and to secretly wish something bad upon them.

Likewise, the people we work with can often not get the same attention we give friends. Often times there’s a work mode in us that is cordial with people but doesn’t go deep enough to establish a genuine care or concern for them. Maybe their personality gets on your nerves a little bit and they don’t really seem to be a good worker, so quietly you wish they’d end up leaving somehow. Maybe you know they make a little more money than you or have a higher position, and you believe you’re more gifted and able than they are secretly wishing they’d do something wrong and get fired.

As believers we have to fight the impulse to have thoughts that dishonor God. We’ve got to come against those thoughts and remind ourselves why God has us where we are and how He feels about people. My neighbors are my neighbors for a heavenly purpose, and I must be open and willing to obey God to follow through to see that purpose fulfilled. My neighbor is not just the guy who lets his dog run free, he’s a man loved by God who needs to know about what God has made available to him. Additionally, my co-worker is not just the person who’s overpaid and under qualified, they are a person that God has placed in my life that I might show and share the love of Christ with them.

Just because we don’t have a personal connection with someone does not mean we lack responsibility with them as ambassadors of the Kingdom. For us to entertain bad thoughts towards them is to set us at odds with God Himself. Look and pray for the open door to establish that personal connection and to bring them one step closer to knowing God.

We don’t like being inconvenienced. We’ve become so used to living in our own family bubbles, that we don’t care for that being interrupted. That’s at least the way many people have become. Don’t come bother me in my house, might be the inner response if someone comes knocking—especially if it’s asking for something.

Lately I’ve had to start changing my tune. When you start investing yourself in helping people who need help, they take more liberties in asking for more help. My friend whom I mentioned in Do Somebody Good, finds ways to need money or other things at the strangest hours. On several occasions he’s called me after I’ve been asleep to ask for some money. Once he was asking for $20 to buy gas for a lady who’s son was stranded downtown with a flat tire.

Every time he calls asking for money, I have to fight a natural impulse to be bothered by it, especially if that call is while I’m sleeping. Sometimes it is a legitimate need, and sometimes it something he could do without. Each time I’ve got to ask God for discernment to know whether or not I should help.

The point is not whether I should give money to someone who calls me in the middle of the night, nor is the point about how to discern when to give and not to give. The point is this, am I a person that is able and willing to give. There was a time when I was not such a person. Today, I’m a new man. I’ve learned to be a giver more than I ever have before. Not giving for my own gain, which was a part of the old man I was, but for the sake of helping someone. Sometimes we give only according to how it might help us in the long run, and certainly that doesn’t honor God.

What I must ask myself is this, “If someone asks something of me, is my first impulse to give or to not give?” These days, I’m much more likely to give, and I pray that I become more and more likely to give. In addition, I pray God blesses me more and more that my ability to give increases greatly. Part of me is convinced that God’s blessing to us is equally proportional to our willingness to bless others.

The room was not a welcoming environment, dimly lighted and uncomfortable. The rows were packed tight with people of all different sorts, from all different places and looks, but all with one thing in common, they had business to do with the judge. It was the circuit court located in Bessemer, Alabama. On the front row sectioned off by wood railing, was a line of orange clad prisoners in handcuffs. One of those prisoners was my friend Tim. We’ve only known each other for about a year, and it’s been action packed from the start.

We were in this courtroom because a warrant had been improperly issued for Tim concerning something from ten years earlier. As unfair as the warrant was, there was still a process that had to be followed to see it withdrawn. This process would not be easy and it required my help and that of my brother, Tim’s attorney.

I watched for about an hour and a half as one by one each of the prisoners would walk up to see the judge. Each one appeared to have an extensive and tainted history. Before I met Tim, I might have looked upon these people as the “scum of the earth” deserving of the punishment they were receiving. Now I viewed them wondering how they ended up in the position they were in and had there ever been any help for them.

It finally came time for us. The judge called out for Tim and as he walked up to the bench and my brother stood beside him I felt very fulfilled and blessed to be there. I knew Tim had never had anyone standing beside him with a passionate desire to help him succeed, and he’d never had anyone sitting in the courtroom on his behalf to see him through. Today was different, he would have whatever was necessary from my brother and me to see that he was treated fairly and released.

I wonder how many people in this world have never had an advocate or a friend to fight for them. There are many who’ve had the weight of the world against them from their first breath, having to fend for themselves and suffering greatly for all that they lack.

The world is set up differently for some people than others. I’ve always been blessed. I’ve always had people on my side. I’ve always had my needs met and my dreams find a way to come true. But most people aren’t blessed as I have been. Many will never taste the beauty of being treated with good, rather than evil.

I believe this is a lesson from this passage of scripture for us. Find someone who is “due” some good. There are many out there and they aren’t hard to find. When you find them, pour yourself out in order to do good to them. You will never be the same, nor will they.

FORGIVENESS - “The act of excusing or pardoning others in spite of their slights, shortcomings, and errors. As a theological term, forgiveness refers to God’s pardon of the sins of human beings.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

FORGIVE - to give up resentment of, ‘forgive an insult’ : to grant relief from payment of, ‘forgive a debt’ : to cease to feel resentment against (an offender) : pardon, ‘forgive one’s enemies’. (Meriam-Webster.com)

One of the hardest tests we face as followers of Jesus is that of forgiveness. There’s two areas we are met with this test: forgiving ourselves and forgiving others. Neither of these is necessarily easy.

Many people have difficulty forgiving themselves because they have a hard time accepting God’s forgiveness. They think their sin was so bad that God couldn’t possibly forgive them. We won’t be able to forgive others until we can learn to accept God’s forgiveness for ourselves. In addition, we have trouble forgiving others because we have been hurt so bad by them and we don’t think they deserve it.

Forgiveness is One of the Great Battles in Our Spiritual War

Our greatest hindrance to being able to forgive ourselves and others is due to a lack of understanding the truth, God, and the battle we are in.

Attack on the Mind

The enemy attacks our mind. All of us have a past of some kind, some of us much worse than others. For some of us, the enemy has a big opportunity to hold us back because we have a tainted past. Satan knows this, and he works overtime to exploit it.

It’s easy, when there is a shameful past, to allow Satan to haunt us continually with guilt and shame. Satan tries to make us believe that we have to work to obtain forgiveness by doing good to make up for the bad, and that we are not even close to doing enough good to make up for the bad we’ve done. And he lies saying that we will have to pay for our past by not experiencing God’s blessing in our lives. I remember thinking that I would never have the godly wife I’d always prayed for because I had so dishonored God in the relationships I did have. I thought my punishment would be that I would never be blessed with the wife I longed to have. This was a lie from Satan. God certainly blessed me beyond all I could have imagined!

The lie he tells me now is quite similar. He says that since I allowed myself to be prideful and self seeking in my ministry before, that now I will never experience the great ministry that I have always believed God has destined me for. I’ve known that God has a special call upon my life, along with special blessing and favor. And I’ve been believing that that would lead to a ministry that is far reaching and with much fruit. The devil now tries to get me to believe that this dream will never come true now because I was so off-base before chasing the wrong things. Each time these thoughts come to my mind, the Holy Spirit brings a verse to me: “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).” So I have to chose whether I’ll believe the devil or the word of God.

How do we know when it’s the enemy talking and not us? It’s in third person, “You’ll never have that, God won’t do that for you now,” and etc…. We must understand that we are in a spiritual war and it is fought with spiritual means:

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

The only way we can take every thought captive is by learning and knowing the Word of God, and learning to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit knows when something is a lie, and He prods us that we might know. There have been times in my life when something was being said to me that was a lie. My mind might have had no proof that it was a lie, but my spirit was quite uneasy. Later I would find that the uneasiness was the Holy Spirit warning me of the lie, which later I would find truly was a lie. This is a skill that every believer must develop in their walk with God. It’s absolutely necessary in this war we are in:

12 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. (Ephesians 6:12)

Attack on the Heart

When it comes to forgiving others, the enemy likes to attack our heart. He doesn’t want us to be willing to forgive. If our hearts remain bitter towards a person for what they’ve done to us, then we won’t be able to forgive them. So the enemy tries to keep our hearts hard towards the person or people that we need to forgive.

As long as our hearts stay in this condition, it will impact our entire lives. It will keep us from experiencing the fullness of joy that God desires for us. It will keep us from experiencing the fullness of God’s forgiveness for us, and it will keep us from experiencing the freedom of forgiving others.

A hard heart is a painful and devastating thing. Life stinks when you have a hard heart. Every little thing that happens is just one more bad thing on top of all the other bad things. It is a bad attitude waiting to pounce at any moment. It hinders our ability to have quality relationships with others because of the tendency to believe the worst in everything.

When we don’t forgive, it only hurts us. We think we’re hurting the one we’re not forgiving but all it does is cripple us and ultimately robs us blind.

How To Treat Those Who Hurt You

The Bible commands us to do good to our enemies and to help them when the opportunity presents itself.

4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him. (Exodus 23:4-5)

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him. (Proverbs 24:17-18)

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

Jesus modeled this type of forgiveness while He was on earth. He washed Judas’ feet along with the other disciples although He knew of his betrayal. And then we see this while He was on the cross:

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” (Luke 23:32-38)

Stephen modeled this kind of forgiveness as well:

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:54-60)

One of the greatest examples of forgiveness and being nice to your enemies is from Joseph. After his brothers had sold him into slavery causing him years of pain and disappointment, he was willing to forgive them and bless them greatly. Here’s the episode right after his father, Jacob had died, when his brothers became worried that he would seek retribution thinking maybe he had only been nice to them for their father’s sake:

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:15-21)

If anybody could have reason not to forgive, it was Jesus, Stephen, and Joseph, yet they all modeled a grace and mercy that seems crazy to our world and beyond what we’re used to seeing.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Reason Why We Should Forgive

Because God has forgiven us.
To lead others to repentance.
Because God is sovereign.

Reasons We Don’t Forgive

We want retribution or revenge.
We don’t understand the forgiveness, grace, and mercy of God.
We don’t understand the sovereignty of God.

A Few Extras on Forgiveness – (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

- No religious book except the Bible teaches that God completely forgives sin (Ps. 51:1, 9; Is. 38:17; Heb. 10:17).
- The initiative comes from Him (John 3:16; Col. 2:13)
- because He is ready to forgive (Luke 15:11-32).
- He is a God of grace and pardon (Neh. 9:17; Dan. 9:9).
- Sin deserves divine punishment because it is a violation of God’s holy character (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 1:18-32; 1 Pet. 1:16), but His pardon is gracious (Ps. 130:4; Rom. 5:6-8).
- In order for God to forgive sin, two conditions are necessary. A life must be taken as a substitute for that of the sinner (Lev. 17:11, 14; Heb. 9:22), and the sinner must come to God’s sacrifice in a spirit of repentance and faith (Mark 1:4; Acts 10:43; James 5:15).

Why Can We Be Forgiven?

- Forgiveness in the New Testament is directly linked to Christ (Acts 5:31; Col. 1:14),
- His sacrificial death on the cross (Rom. 4:24), and His resurrection (2 Cor. 5:15).
- He was the morally perfect sacrifice (Rom. 8:3), the final and ultimate fulfillment of all Old Testament sacrifices (Heb. 9:11-10:18).
- Since He bore the law’s death penalty against sinners (Gal. 3:10-13), those who trust in His sacrifice are freed from that penalty.
- By faith sinners are forgiven-”justified” in Paul’s terminology (Rom. 3:28; Gal. 3:8-9).
- Those who are forgiven sin’s penalty also die to its controlling power in their lives (Rom. 6:1-23).

Christ’s resurrection was more than proof of His deity or innocence; it was related in a special way to His forgiveness. Christ’s resurrection was an act by which God wiped out the false charges against Him; it was God’s declaration of the perfect righteousness of His Son, the last Adam, and of His acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice (1 Tim. 3:16). Because He has been acquitted and declared righteous, this is also true for those whom He represents. Thus, Christ’s resurrection was a necessary condition for the forgiveness of human sin (1 Cor. 15:12-28). To be forgiven is to be identified with Christ in His crucifixion and resurrection.

Christ has the authority to forgive sins (Matt. 1:21; Heb. 9:11-10:18). This forgiveness is an essential part of the gospel message (Acts 2:38; 5:31).

- God’s forgiveness of us demands that we forgive others, because grace brings responsibility and obligation (Matt. 18:23-35; Luke 6:37).
- Jesus placed no limits on the extent to which Christians are to forgive others (Matt. 18:22, 35; Luke 17:4).
- A forgiving spirit shows that one is a true follower of Christ (Matt. 5:43-48; Mark 11:25).

The focus of Proverbs is wisdom, it’s goal is to help us “know wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:2). Over and over again Proverbs emphasizes the blessings that come from pursuing and acting in wisdom. One that stands out in this passage is verse 25-26 that promise protection from the sudden terror that overtakes the wicked. If we’re living in a manner that honors God and acting wisely, we have a protection through every situation. So even if it appears a “sudden terror” has come upon you, you can have peace and trust that God is going to protect you.

Just this week I’ve encountered a situation that was sudden and harsh. And from all appearances it seemed that the evil side was winning out bringing great distress to my friend who is seeking to honor God with his life. In the midst of many working against what would be the right thing to do, God has intervened on several instances that have opened the door to see the situation resolved to his benefit. Going through this situation I have allowed myself to get stressed out, losing my peace, because of the actions of a couple of people. This morning I was convicted because God brought to my attention that I only get stressed out and upset when I’m not trusting Him. My eyes were on the situation and not on God. A mistake often made, I regret to say.

If we are seeking God and living to honor Him, He is going to protect us. We don’t have to be afraid when the “sudden terror” lifts it’s head toward us. God is going to make a way. It may be painful for a season, and we may feel totally out of control of the situation, but God is faithful and strong. He can make a way and He has promised to protect and provide for us.

If you’re stressed out, it’s because you’re not trusting God as you should be. The heart of everything we are about as followers of Jesus is to trust Him. The motive behind everything God allows in our lives is to build that trust and use it for His glory.

]]> http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/dont-be-afraid/feed/ 0 Gary http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/dont-despise-the-lords-discipline/ http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/dont-despise-the-lords-discipline/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 11:35:37 +0000 Gary Douglas Wright http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/?p=59 ]]> Proverbs 3:11-12 – My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Sin has consequences. We should not be surprised by this, although we often become quite upset with God for allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin. What we don’t realize is that His allowing this is demonstrating grace to us in at least two different ways.

First, God’s allowing us to suffer consequences for our sin is a means to train us to live rightly. If there were no consequences, we’d be far more likely to pursue the same route again. If we didn’t feel pain from touching a hot stove, we would not be as likely to keep our hands off of it. It’s the same with sin.

The second demonstration of grace in God’s allowing us to suffer consequences for our sin is something most of us don’t realize. We never suffer the full effects of sin. God has his grace upon us to keep sin from having its full effect. Were it not for God’s grace, we would not only suffer more for our sin, but we would sin more and more. In Romans chapter one we see some understanding of this. It states several times that as a result of sin and people’s unwillingness to acknowledge God, that God “gave them up” to sin. Here’s two examples:

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves…. ( Romans 1:24 )

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done…. ( Romans 1:28 )

Sin could fully destroy us and our ability to think or comprehend. God, through His grace, restrains the effects of sin, not just on us but upon the world. The acting out of God’s wrath, mentioned in Romans 1:18, is simply to allow sin to have a fuller effect–He withdraws some of His restraining power upon sin. God doesn’t have to destroy sinners, without His grace restraining the effects of sin, they would destroy themselves.

God is gracious to us as believers to discipline us, to allow us to suffer some of the effects of our sin, in order that we would repent and turn back to Him. He is gracious to not allow us to suffer the full effects of sin, otherwise we would have no hope at all.

God desires what is best for us. We should be thankful when we experience His discipline because it is evidence that we are loved by Him and that He is seeking to protect and to provide for us.

]]> http://lifesongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/dont-despise-the-lords-discipline/feed/ 0 Gary