Saturday, September 15, 2012


Forgiveness........is it possible?......do I have to?..........

Well, I have been gone longer than I expected!  I have been working very hard in my job as a nurse and a lot has gone on that has kept me away from my personal time on the computer but I have not forgotten my readers and I have missed you!.  I have been praying for you!  I have a large map on my study wall and I have marked all the countries where God has allowed my words....which I believe have been His words spoken through me...to be heard.  I look at them often and whisper a prayer for my readers.

The last few weeks I have had a heavy heart and tonight I bring to you what the Lord has laid on my heart.  The topic of forgiveness.  I received some bad news over the last few weeks.  Some folks I know fell hard.  Satan has a way with temptation and our human nature as a way of craving whatever it is that he is cooking up.....not taking time to fully digest the consequences.

People are mad, hurt, sad, confused and probably a variety of other emotions- all understood- even justified...but anger left to itself has done exactly what God said it would do.  It has led to bitterness, slander, hate and you can forget about satan gaining a "foothold"- Goodness, the door opened wide and he just walked right in!

Satan is having a field day right now and to be honest, my heart is broke.  Folks I know have chosen the social media to just slander and spew out words of bitterness and anger and hatred.  Supposed Christian brother and sister just slaying other brothers and sisters with their words.

I began to ask myself and my husband questions and I began to ask God some of the same questions.
"Is it justified?  After all, what happened was horrific...."
"Is it beneficial?  After all- the sins were ones that disqualified a man from ever preaching again and it was a criminal act- they must be punished"
"Is forgiveness letting them off too easy?....should they pay through such public slander and gossip....after all what they did was pretty bad"

The verse that came to my mind immediately was Ephesians 4:32-" And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

Well, I just kind of quickly thought over that verse in my mind as I had memorized it years ago in jr high Bible class.....been there, memorized that, let's move on.  But God said "NO!  Meditate on this verse for a while."  I invite you to journey with me into true forgiveness as we tear apart Ephesians 4:32.

 The verse starts with the word "AND"- Chapters and verses in the Bible were not determined by God.  When the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the books He did not say "verse 32......."  Nonetheless- when a verse begins with "and"- it reveals a continuation of something and I need to go to the verse before and find out what it is.

So lets look at verse 31.  It reads:

" Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice"

Next: I want  to look up definitions of these words:

Wrath-Forceful, often vindictive anger; wrath is forceful anger with a desire to swiftly punish or retaliate.

Anger- A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility.

Clamor- A loud and confused noise, especially that of people shouting vehemently.

Evil speaking-Includes all defamatory or injurious remarks against others- words of hatred, malice envy or strife- everything which would injure another to any degree.  Even an uncomplimentary remark respecting another, injuring his reputation, is evil speaking, although the statement may be true.

Malice- The intention of desire to do evil; ill will.  Wrongful intention, especially as increasing the guilt of certain offenses.

Now that we've learned what we are to put off, let's return to verse 32 and look at what we are to put on-  as it is laid out in verse 32.

"Be kind to one another"- 

Kind- Showing sympathy or understanding; charitable.
Forbearing; tolerant;
Generous; liberal
Agreeable; beneficial


"Tenderhearted, forgiving one another"-

  Tenderhearted - easily moved by someone's  distress; "a noble tenderhearted creature who sympathizes with all the human race" W. M. Thackeray

Forgiving- To excuse for a fault or offer pardon; To renounce anger or resentment against


Even though all  that has been said in this verse so far has been difficult at times to apply to situations- nothing was as bold and thought provoking as the following words

"even as God in Christ forgave you"- I am not to just show forgiveness in the ways listed above but EVEN as God in Christ forgave me.  I started this page last night but decided to go to bed and sleep on this part of the verse- " How did Christ forgive me at the time of my salvation and how does Christ still forgive me today?"

1.  First thing- (meaning the moment I ask for it)
 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved- Romans 10:13- The thief on the cross was moments away from death- he asked for forgiveness, and Jesus immediately responded.
I John 1:9  - If I confess my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive me of sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness

2.  Fully- There are no verses in the Bible that speak to forgiveness of some sins but not others.  Again
 1 John 1: 9 says ALL unrighteousness

3.  Freely- Forgiveness was the most costly gift I've ever received- It cost God everything but it was freely given to me.

4.  Forgetting- "I will remember them no more"- Hebrews 8:12, Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 31: 34

5. No Fishing- I love what Corie ten Boom said "When God forgives our sins, He throws them in the depths of the sea and puts up a sign "No fishing"- Micah 7:19- He tosses our sins into the depths of the sea

6. Forever- Is this forgiveness something we can lose?  I don't see one verse in the Bible supporting that, in fact  just the opposite.  A few come to mind

King David- You probably know the story...King David should have been with his men in battle but he was not, one glance at a woman led to lust, led to adultery and then the problem snowballed as King David tried to cover up adultery and the pregnancy which resulted and went as far as to murder his friend.  Pretty "big sins" huh?  Surely King David lost it all with God....or did he?  Read Chapter 51 as King David prays for repentance- In verse 12 David says "Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation"  King David had not lost his salvation- he lost the joy of fellowship with God and the JOY of salvation- Sin has a way of doing that.

My salvation is not, nor has ever been in my possession- How can I lose it?  It is in the safekeeping of God Colossians 3:3 says that I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God-

I must stop for now- please think about how you can apply this to your life....I will do the same.  How do we  learn to forgive "even as Christ forgave you"- What about criminal acts?  What if it is a repeated offense?, What if I don't think the apology is sincere?

Tomorrow we will pick up where we left off....looking at the tough questions

To God be the glory